New Zealand Privet

Griselinia Littoralis Hedging

New Zealand Privet, Griselinia littoralis, is a large shrub that makes an excellent evergreen coastal hedging plant. It is hardy enough for most of Britain and it will grow in any well-drained soil. It is a dense, bushy plant that prefers full sun. It can also be grown as a small tree.
New Zealand Privet is good for hedges up to about 8 metres high.

New Zealand Privet hedge plants are only delivered pot-grown, year round.

View our selection of evergreen hedging plants or see our full range of hedging.

Choosing a size:
When you are ordering New Zealand Privet plants for a hedge, we generally recommend that you use plants that are graded at 40/60cms or 60/80cms. They are cheaper than large plants, easier to handle and they will establish well in poor conditions.
Use the larger, 80/100cm tall plants if you want a taller hedge quickly, if you want to clip them as topiary or for instant impact as an ornamental shrub.
All our hedge plants are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the pots aren't measured).

Spacing a New Zealand Privet hedge:

Plant New Zealand Privet hedging at 2 plants per metre, 50cms apart.

General description of New Zealand Privet plants:

This versatile evergreen bush has thick, leathery, glossy green leaves that clip nicely into a formal hedge and make a good windbreak. Its flowers, which are too small to really notice, ripen into little purple fruit that some birds will eat.
Griselinia tolerates a bit of partial shade, but it needs full sun to grow vigorously. It will grow on any well drained soil, including shallow chalk and very poor, sandy soils. Griselinia is suitable for exposed, windy sites, but we recommend using Portugal Laurel instead if you live in Scotland or the North East coast of England.
Griselinia is resistant to honey fungus.

History & uses of Griselinia littoralis

Griselinia is a native of New Zealand, where it is called Kapuka in Māori. Griselinia is called a privet in English because it bears some similarity to Green privet, but the plants aren't related. It was first imported to Britain in the 1850's and, because it is easy to propagate from cuttings, it soon became widely planted.