Trialling Banksia ‘Sentinel’

This is a favourite coastal hedging plant of mine which I have been including in my planting designs for the past 7 years or so….sorry, I’m finding it difficult to keep track of time 😉

I say it is on trial or has been on trial for a while as it does have a couple of things it dislikes and doesn’t work everywhere. Firstly, it absolutely hates being over watered, especially if the weather is warm, it doesn’t need extra moisture. It is part Banksia integrifolia which as a straight species tree can often turn up its toes if its feet get wet.

Secondly, it gets taller than the label specifies, almost double the size to be frank. This is not that unusual all plant tags need to be read with some scepticism, I don’t know why?

In the image above you can see a specimen which is around 4 metres tall and around 1 to 1.5 metres wide, making Banksia ‘Sentinel’ a wonderful tall screening plant. It can handle a front line coastal position like in this featured garden in Coledale, it also will take light frost and extended periods of drought.

It is a very useful plant to use in a native garden to add texture and colour. The undersides of the leaves are a bright silver and the new growth bronze and then light green. The upright branches prune well and contrast beautifully with more weeping foliaged plants.

I like to combine Banksia ‘Sentinel’ with lime greens or brighter silvers like in the images above with Acacia ‘Mini Cog’ and Eremophila Nivea Grafted.

It also looks lovely with the mounding habit and larger leaves of Hymenosporum ‘Luscious’ as seen above.

For me I would say the trial period is over, this useful Banksia has excelled in the many gardens in which I have specified it. I am about to plant a hedge of it in my own garden in a tight position with limited sun and if I ignore it enough I’m sure it will fulfil its role as a dense screen in a wind tunnel near the sea 👍🏼

Two more things to note, Banksia ‘Sentinel’ is not a particularly floriferous native, it should be grown for its foliage and it needs excellent drainage!

Posted

17/07/2020

Coastal, Drought hardy, Formal gardens, Frost tolerant, Hedge, Screening plants, Shade tolerant, Small tree

Kath Gadd

Tags:

Banksia ‘Sentinel’, coastal garden, dense habit, front line coastal, silver foliage, wind tolerant

Comments

12 responses to “Trialling Banksia ‘Sentinel’”

Rhiannon

21/07/2020

Thank you for a fantastic blog, I am a first time gardener and am learning so much from it and your designs.

I have been looking for the good part of a year for a good dense native screening plant that grows 3-4m tall – so I think Sentinel it is!

I am looking to plant them behind an east facing fence on a busy road so would like them to grow quite fast. What kind of growth rate does the Sentinel have? (I haven’t been able to find guidance on this on the web). The other option I was looking into was Hakea salicifolia as I understand they are fast growing – have you had experience with them at all?

Reply
Stephen

09/08/2020

I planted a row of banksia sentinel down the fence line on the shady southern side of the house in December 2019. Tricky site as it gets full sun in summer and no sun down low in winter. After seeing a banksia sentinel featured in the Mallee designs Bulli garden (and some free advice from Kath on the comments, thanks), I thought Sentinels might fit the bill. They tripled in size from 30cm to a metre in the first growing season. The upright multi branched habit will be perfect for screening our windows when they grow a bit more. I don’t have excellent drainage and they still seem to be happy even with no sun in winter (I have never needed to water them). I’m really happy with this miniature coast banksia. The hardest thing is finding a nursery who stocks them. Thanks.

Reply
1. Kath Gadd
  
  11/08/2020
  
  Hi Stephan,
  
  Thanks so much for sharing your experience with Banksia ‘Sentinel’ your position sounds exactly the same as where I just planted my hedge. Hopefully they will grow as quickly as yours,
  
  Best Wishes,
  
  Kath
  
  Reply
Cathryn Williams

16/10/2020

Hi
I’ve just bought a banksia sentinel and plan to plant it near a wall as a screen. We do have water pipes running Along the fence nearby and wondering what the root system is like and whether it’s ok to plant near pipes?
Many thanks!

Reply
Julie Burn

24/04/2021

Hi Kath,
I have about 7 of these. No flowers!!! But good sturdy hedge along a fence line and a few as feature trees. I would like a few more plants to produce nectar for birds. Should I swap a couple out for Banksia Spinulosa (although the small ones Candles and Cushions, did not like it here) what do you think? Many thanks, Julie

Reply
1. Stephen
  
  05/04/2023
  
  After 3 years my sentinels have flowered
  
  Reply
  1. Kath Gadd
    
    06/04/2023
    
    Hi Stephen, yes I have found them same, they seem to take a few years to flower then develop more and more blooms as they get older. I noticed a specimen I planted about 7 years ago is now covered in flowers.
    
    Best Wishes,
    
    Kath
    
    Reply
Alasdair

06/09/2023

Hi there

We looking to use three of these tas a screen/hedge in a small courtyard pocket. What spacing would you recommend?

Many thanks

Reply
1. Kath Gadd
  
  19/09/2023
  
  Hi Alasdair,
  
  I would recommend a spacing of 500mm-700mm for a dense hedge.
  
  Happy Gardening,
  
  Kath
  
  Reply
Petra

19/11/2023

So great to read this post – thank you!! I have been dealing with tricky south facing site where I want to plant three narrow growing natives along the fence for screening and thought of this banksia. As it gets near to no sun in winter but at least half a day sun in summer it’s been tricky. We are on the sandy soil near the beach, lots of wind, good drainage so hoping these could work. Petra

Reply
Teena

08/02/2024

Hello Kath –
Thank you for this wonderful article – the Sentinel Banksia is excelling in my coastal/high wind garden. I would like to add more Sentinels to the existing planting to form a hedge. I can’t seem to track any plants down in southwest Victoria nurseries, can you recommend where I can get several plants from or how I might be able to propagate the plants I have?
Thank you, Teena

Reply
1. Kath Gadd
  
  19/02/2024
  
  Hi Teena,
  
  Have you tried sourcing them online? please see the link below to a post on some online nurseries I have used for sourcing native plants.
  https://malleedesign.com.au/trialling-online-native-nurseries/
  
  Good Luck,
  Kath
  
  Reply