At Hello Hello Plants we now cultivate and grow our own in-house strain of Pittosporum. We call this strain of Pittosporum Silver Stirling Pittosporum. This came about because the Tutu Garden Guru Chris noticed that with so many types of Pittosporums on the market, people were becoming confused about which one to buy and often people would plant a hedge of one type and come back in twelve months for more and find it had become unavailable, thereby making it impossible to extend or replace missing plants in their hedge. It’s kind of like buying an exotic car and finding its gone off the market in a year or two and you can’t get parts or service easily or economically. That’s why most people buy a popular model car from a strong company.

Chris’ family have a long history of growing Pittosporum, as Chris’ father Frank Lucas brought the first James Stirling to Australia in 1972. Frank still has the first James Stirling in his back yard and he has propagated hundreds of thousands of plants from it. Over the years lots of nurserymen have brought many strains of Pittosporum to Australia, and the market has become quite confusing.

Chris’ son Eugene now grows Pittosporums, so this makes him the third generation Lucas growing Pittosporums in Australia.

The strain Chris has decided upon is one that has been planted as a hedge in Australia for the last 15 years with great success in terms of growth rate, beauty and hardiness. It is much faster growing than the original James Stirling with slightly larger leaves. Silver Stirling Pittosporum, Pittosporum tenuifolium (Silver Sheen) has a less grey, brighter green, softer leaf than the James Stirling. Silver Stirling Pittosporum can grow 5-6ft per year in the first few years and when well clipped is extremely dense. Because Silver Stirling Pittosporum is very dense and leafy, yet loves to be clipped hard, it is ideal for creating tall narrow screens, even 3-4 metres tall.

For optimum growth Silver Stirling Pittosporum, Pittosporum tenuifolium (Silver Sheen) loves to be planted without scruffing up the roots, feeding regularly with Devotion Time Release Fertiliser and to be planted with no grass around their base and most of all good drainage. If your soil is heavy or wet, drain it or raise your bed.

When we were taking photographs for our web site, we saw a lovely young Silver Stirling hedge. The lady of the house was bringing in her shopping and we asked her how old the hedge was. She said that it had been planted just 12 months ago with bushy 3ft tall plants. The hedge was now 7ft tall and 2ft above the standard wooden side fence. The story of this happy gardener shows that a well planted and tended Silver Stirling Pittosporum can grow to provide the perfect privacy screen in just 12 months.