By Todd Layt
Meet Ozbreed’s New Star – Evergreen Baby™ Lomandra.
In multiple trials, Evergreen Baby™ Lomandra ‘LM600’ PBR has been at the top of landscape performance, with a low height that meets most modern-day line of site parameters.
The Evergreen Baby™ plant is unique. It is the only low growing Lomandra that has shown in replicated trials to better withstand all these listed conditions: periodic wet feet, Phytophthora ridden soils, heavy or free draining soils, minus 8°C, high humidity, dry hot heat (including 41.4°C last year and hotter in years past), most pests and diseases, and weed invasion.
Shara™ Lomandra fluviatilis ‘ABU7’ PBR was the only other Lomandra to perform so well (100% survival), but Evergreen Baby™ Lomandra is less than 400mm in height which makes this plant stand out. It stays evergreen when fertilised or in good soils. Alternatively, it has a habit of turning a highly desirable and pleasing lime colour when hungry, even in poor soils. No other Lomandra quite does this like Evergreen Baby™ Lomandra. The choice is yours: vibrant green with some fertiliser/good soils, or a delightful lime in poor soils with little to no fertiliser.
Evergreen Baby™ Lomandra a tough, low growing Lomandra
Left: Evergreen Baby™ Lomandra Right: Lomandra confertifolia
In wet feet trials with 16 other popular Lomandra, all had significant loses in wet feet and heavy soil except for Shara™ Lomandra and Evergreen Baby™ Lomandra. Root rot was the reason most Lomandra died in the trial, with only these two that did not lose one plant to disease. That’s right, over 50 plants of Evergreen Baby™ Lomandra planted and not one dead over 5 years of testing in atrocious conditions while 59% of Lomandra plants in the current trial died. Only one other Lomandra being currently sold had survival at 50%, with most being 0% to 33% survival. Half the trial was more wet, and in that section the Evergreen Baby™ plant and the Shara™ Lomandra plant showed 100% success, whilst all other Lomandra showed 100% failure. Most drought trials have shown an established Evergreen Baby™ plant to be very tough, surviving in places with low water availability. Further drought testing is underway, but real-world testing is showing that this is one drought tolerant Lomandra.
Evergreen Baby™ Lomandra excellent for roadsides, meeting most modern line of site parameters
Evergreen Baby™ Lomandra has a good spread as a clump, being as high as it is wide. It has masses of self-cleaning, yellow, male-only flowers in late spring. Its dense clumping form and fine leaf set it above other Lomandra in style and looks, making it highly suitable for mass planting. Where line of site is a concern (for safety reasons, pedestrians and vehicle traffic) the low height of Evergreen Baby™ Lomandra makes it a staple plant for landscapes all over Australia. The Evergreen Baby™ Lomandra is easy for growers to produce, which should make its availability over time more reliable than other Lomandra plants.
Evergreen Baby™ Lomandra is the safest Lomandra to use in a wider range of conditions. With a far lower risk of dying from root rot, it’s a tough Lomandra that gives a better line of site for safer roadsides. Working Australia wide, from the top to the bottom, the Evergreen Baby™ plant is an easy choice.