Green Bottlebrush: Callistemon pinifolius

Bird attracting, Coastal, Drought hardy, Feature shrub, Frost tolerant, Hedge, Screening plants, Shade tolerant

I know many people don’t like bottlebrush and consider them totally out of fashion and scraggly, but for me they are so useful within a garden design. This is Callistemon pinifolius, and it is a special in my eyes for the amazing flower colour, which is a subtle lime green (most of the time, sometimes they are red or gold), when this colour is combined with the burgundy of the new growth it is just lovely.

This bottlebrush also has unusual thin almost needle like leaves, soft and weeping, it only reaches a couple of metres and needs regular pruning as all Callistemons do. I think it makes a great feature, with spot flowering throughout the year and if combined with the right backdrop plants it is something special.

Posted

02/04/2013

Bird attracting, Coastal, Drought hardy, Feature shrub, Frost tolerant, Hedge, Screening plants, Shade tolerant

Kath Gadd

Tags:

Callistemon pinifolius, clay soils, fine foliage, water logged soils, weeping habit, wind tolerant

Comments

2 responses to “Green Bottlebrush: Callistemon pinifolius”

Deb

02/04/2013

So when is the best time to prune callistemons?
I have the flat green leaf variety with new foliage that turns from pink to lime green.

Reply
1. Kath Gadd
  
  03/04/2013
  
  The best time to prune them is after flowering. But as bottle brush can flower on and off all year, Autumn is a good time. You can cut them back up to a third. Or if you don’t want to do a hard prune, just prune off the spent flowers as the woody capsules that are left are what makes them look scraggly over time.
  
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