Product Profile Lomandra 'Shara'

Lomandra Shara

Lomandra fluviatilis ‘ABU7' A, otherwise known as Lomandra Shara ^TM is a recent Ozbreed release. Impact Grasses has been trialing this plant in Queensland for over 4 years now with great results. It has been grown under various conditions in pot culture and planted in trial locations in the ground to determine its potential for the Queensland market.

Our own testing has shown it is a strong performer in sandy, loam and clay loam soils tolerating drought conditions through to temporary wet feet (i.e. heavy rains where soil is inundated for a period of up to 3 weeks). It will tolerate heavier clay soils - providing it is planted in a raised area with reasonable drainage, and the crown is not buried in soil or mulch. It prefers a full sun position to light shade such as an open woodland environment.

A significant strength is its clear resistance to common fungal diseases such as crown rot and phytophthora. We believe this is linked to its habitat. The parent plant naturally occurs in NSW along creek beds in alluvial soils to coastal areas in Southern Sydney. It has also coped extremely well with Queensland humidity a common killer of introduced varieties from further south.        

This variety can be compared to Lomandra Tanika ^TM in looks and we are recommending Shara as an ideal substitute for planting in Southern Queensland up to the Sunshine Coast.

It has beautiful fine leaf foliage to 40cm in height and 50cm spread with very subtle blue grey tones. Shara is a prolific flowerer with showy reddish brown bracts and golden yellow margins sitting well above the foliage in spring.

Recommended planting density is 8 per square metre where a thick carpet effect is required, between 3 and 5 per lineal metre for borders, or accent planting as individual specimens in pots or focal points in the garden. 

 Shara is a very low maintenance plant with no annual or bi-annual pruning required unlike some grass varieties such as Pennisetum.

 In summing up Impact Grasses has developed large quantities of this variety in 140mm pots and is planning for Viro-Tubes in spring 2011. We believe this has the right aesthetics to really stand out in the landscape and more importantly will thrive in the Southern Queensland climate.