Akeake (Dodonaea viscosa): how to grow one of New Zealand’s toughest hedges

Picture a hedge that turns the colour of good red wine when the wind gets up. A southerly howling in off the coast, salt on the air, and it just leans into it – leaves flickering bronze and maroon like a slow fire in the hedge line. No browning off. No sulking.

Come the dry tail of summer, when half the property is crisping and the lawn’s gone the colour of a biscuit, it darkens to a deep plum and carries on like nothing’s wrong.

That’s akeake doing what it does best.

What is akeake, exactly?

Akeake (Dodonaea viscosa) is a fast-growing native shrub or small tree with flaky reddish bark and long, thin, wavy leaves. In the wild it turns up in coastal and lowland country through the North Island and the top of the South, from dunefields and boulder beaches into coastal scrub.

The one most people plant is the purple form, Dodonaea viscosa ‘Purpurea’. Same plant, but the leaves run bronze to deep red-purple instead of green. It’s a colour sport that pops up in wild populations now and then, and it’s the one we grow.

Left to its own devices it’ll make a loose, upright small tree. Give it a trim and it tightens into a hedge as well as anything native we’ve got.

Just how tough is it?

Tough in most of the ways that matter on a real property.

Wind: it shrugs off a hammering, which is why you’ll see it doing screening and shelter work on exposed coastal blocks.

Dry: once it’s away, akeake handles a proper dry spell without folding. That’s a big tick for the hot, thirsty end of a Central Otago summer, and for a Canterbury block copping the nor’wester that pulls moisture out of everything.

Salt and poor soil: coastal exposure doesn’t bother it, and it’s not fussy about ground. It’ll tolerate all but waterlogged soil.

So for wind, dry, salt and rough dirt, akeake genuinely earns the tough label. But there’s one honest catch, and it’s worth getting straight before you plant a whole hedge of it.

So what’s the catch?

Frost is akeake’s soft spot.

Remember where it comes from – warm, coastal country up north. It’s not a mountain plant. The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network lists it plainly as frost-sensitive, even while plenty of nurseries rate it hardy to light and moderate frost once it’s established. Both things can be true – a settled, woody akeake takes a light frost in its stride, but a soft young plant can get its new growth burnt by a hard one.

What that means in practice, by patch:

• On the coast and in milder inland spots, plant away. Akeake’s one of the tougher hedges you can put in.

• In hard-frost country, think inland Central Otago, or the colder inland Southland runs like Lumsden and Te Anau, give young plants a sheltered spot and a season to harden off before you count on them. A frost cloth over that first winter is cheap insurance.

Where does akeake earn its keep?

• A wind-battered coastal boundary that browns off everything else.

• A dry bank or slope where you want cover and a bit of erosion control, and watering’s a hassle.

• A Canterbury block where the nor’wester desiccates soft hedging. Akeake’s leathery leaves don’t mind.

• Anywhere you want year-round colour in the hedge line without resorting to something exotic.

One thing it won’t thank you for: a low, wet corner. Akeake wants free-draining ground, and down here wet is the real killer, not cold. Save the soggy spots for natives that don’t mind wet feet, and keep akeake for the banks and the higher, drier ground.

How big does it get, and how fast?

As a hedge, most people run akeake somewhere between knee height and head height, say 1.5 to 3 metres, and keep it there with a trim.

Left alone it’ll keep going. In good conditions it can put on 30 to 40 cm a year, which is quick for a native, and unchecked it’ll head for a small tree of 4 metres or more. That growth is a gift when you want a screen up fast, and a job when you want it staying put. Akeake takes the shears either way.

How do you plant an akeake hedge?

The basics, in order:

• Space them roughly 1m apart for a hedge. Tighter spacing makes the plants reach up and knit together faster as they compete for light.

• Pick a spot in full sun. The colour on the purple form is richest in the open, and shade mutes it.

• Get the drainage right first. If the ground holds water, mound it up or pick a better line. This is the single thing most likely to sink a young akeake.

• Water them in properly, and keep the water up over that first summer while the roots are still shallow and can’t chase moisture down deep yet.

Get those four right and akeake mostly looks after itself from there.

Over the past few years I’ve watched a

How do you keep it looking sharp?

Trim to shape once it’s established. Akeake takes clipping well, so you can run it as a tight formal hedge or let it breathe as a looser screen, whichever suits.

Keep your cuts so there’s still foliage below the line you’re trimming to. Cut back into bare old wood and natives are slower to reshoot than an exotic like laurel, so it pays to trim little and often rather than hacking it once a year.

Green or purple: which should you plant?

Both are the same species, so both are tough.

The green (straight Dodonaea viscosa) gives you a fresh, olive-green hedge and tends to be the quieter option in a planting.

The purple (‘Purpurea’) is the showman. Bronze to maroon foliage that deepens under stress, dry, cold and full sun, which is exactly when a lot of gardens look their flattest. If you want the hedge to be a feature rather than a backdrop, purple’s the one.

So, is akeake right for your place?

If you’ve got a dry, windy, coastal or exposed spot and you want a hardy hedge with a bit of colour and pace, akeake’s hard to beat. If your problem corner is cold and wet rather than dry and exposed, it’s the wrong tool, and I’d rather tell you that now than sell you a hedge that struggles.

Get it in free-draining ground, in the sun, and give the young plants a fair go through their first winter. After that, akeake’s about as low-maintenance as a hardworking hedge gets.

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