Grow and Care for Griselinia

Grow griselinia as a coastal evergreen hedge, in sun and soil that drains. The plant is Griselinia littoralis, also sold as kapuka or New Zealand broadleaf — not Ligustrum privet, and not a lawn broadleaf weed.

Give it coastal sun, soil that drains, and less water once it is established

Griselinia wants cool coastal sun and soil that drains. Inland heat plus dry soil is the usual reason a new plant stalls, so give it afternoon shade away from the coast, and keep water on until the roots take. [1] Full sun on a draining bed is the home that makes a dense screen. [2] Once it is established, salt spray and wind are fine, and you can skip extra water except in a long dry spell. [3] [4] A mature plant in a garden is often an 8 to 10 foot shrub unless you clip it. That size is normal. The first summer is not drought-proof, so water a new hedge until you see steady new growth.

Not privet — and not a broadleaf weed

New Zealand privet on a tag is this plant, not Ligustrum. True privet has smaller leaves. If the tag says Ligustrum, Japanese privet, or wax-leaf privet, it is not kapuka. Read How to Grow Privet if the leaves are small and the plant is listed as invasive in your county.

Broadleaf in most U.S. searches is a lawn weed, often plantain, or a generic word for woody plants that are not needles. Kapuka is an evergreen hedge with leathery apple-green ovals. If you searched for a weed killer, you are on the wrong plant.

Pittosporum is another New Zealand hedge, with smaller leaves and often darker stems. Read How to Grow Pittosporum if the foliage is finer. Puka, or Griselinia lucida, has much larger, flatter leaves and takes less frost — it is not the kapuka hedge in most U.S. yards. New Zealand flax is a strap-leaf plant, not this shrub. Read How to Grow New Zealand Flax if the leaves are long straps.

If a new hedge stalls, move it out of hot inland afternoon sun, keep the soil draining, and water it until new growth is steady.