Some Eugenia Hedge Substitutes

Though some people seem to have luck controlling the devastating eugenia psyllid with regular applications of Orthene, others have given up and want to know what to replace their hedges with.

Nurserymen are quick to point out that there is no similar substitute--nothing grows as tall and stays as narrow, with or without the handsome reddish foliage. Nurseries are working to find new plants that look and grow like a eugenia, and there are some promising candidates, but it will be several years before any are available.

In the meantime, according to several nurserymen, good old privet may be the best bet if speed is all-important. The plain species, of wax-leaf or Japanese privet, Ligustrum japonicum , and not one of the shorter cultivars (such as ‘Texanum’) will grow the tallest while remaining the narrowest, though it will require regular shearing to even come close to a eugenia. It tolerates some shade like a eugenia.

If speed is not important, consider what one nurseryman called the “prettiest plant for the property line,” Podocarpus macrophyllus . Even better is the slower, but denser and more upright variety named ‘Maki.’ Both can be sheared to keep them narrow. Other suggestions include the narrow and long-lived Pittosporum eugenioides , but the “Sunset Western Garden Book” only recommends this hedge plant for zones 19-22 in Southern California, which excludes it from most of the L.A. basin and coastal communities, though it does not say why.

For additional information on these hedge plants, consult the “Sunset Western Garden Book.” Most nurseries have a copy you can look at.