Off the top of my head I'd suggest an Acmena, mainly because they are not prone to psysilid attack (blistering of the leaves). A. smitthii comes to mind but it'll probably eventually get beyond 5 metres, but it is dense. You might also consider Syzygium leumenii, that's also fairly psysilid free but will eventually become a large tree. You might also consider the new S. 'Resilliance', I've planted a few of them around my place the last couple of years and they are certainly psysilid free so far and growing fairly rapidly. Unsure of their eventual height but definitely worth consideration. You might also consider Photinia 'red robin', I've planted about 5 of those to block out the neighbours place and in 10 years they seemed to have reached their limit at about 6 or 7 metres. They also have good density and are trouble free.

thanx for your suggestions. Are all of them tolerant of extreme weather conditions?
What sort of width do the above suggestions get to??

The photinia are narrower than the others but mine, and I've planted 3 I think (or maybe 4) and they completely cover at least 10 to 15 metres in width, I reckon. If you have a chance to visit the Sydney Royal Bot. Gardens there's a couple of very good examples of the Acmena and Syzygiums, they are quite old and gees, I reckon would easily cover the width you need and probably more. They are both quite attractive trees, acmena and syzygiums, more pleasing to the eye than the photinias but slower growing. You really need to see them, maybe Google might help there, to decide. There are other varieties of syzygium that would suit but if you do select other than above just be aware they may suffer psysillid attack, which while it won't kill the tree, can be quite ugly. Varieties of Syzygium Austral (I've been informed) are particularly prone. When you go to the nursery, just check the leaves for blistering, easy to detect, unless they've carried out a spraying programme.
B

I've decided to go with the Acmena smithii var. minor - dwarf lilly pilly. Thanx very much for your help.

Ok, good luck with it Scundog.

B.

hi funnelweb,

i ended up planting those 2 acmena smithii minor plants in my front yard about a month to 6 weeks ago. they r doing pretty well with some new growth starting to appear. They are only about 1m tall at the moment. when do u think would be a good time to trim the lower branches at the bottom off? would now be alrite given we are heading into sum cooler weather, or should i leave it til next spring.
i want them to have a single trunk with high and wide foliage when they are older (like a mop top).
thoughts??

A bit hard to tell without a picture, scundog, however, seeing as they've only been in 6 weeks, and as such are still settling, I'd be inclined to leave it till next spring/early summer when the new growth has matured a little and the bushes have developed a little character, eg. shape or form. If you want to ensure they stay single trunked, keep an eye out for any secondary branch that seems to be competing with the main trunk and cut it either totally out (half inch out from the trunk) or if you need it as a branch, back to a bud or secondary branch. By the way, always prune to a bud if not going back to the truck so as to prevent any dieback - any regrowth on a branch will be from an existing bud, or stem. Also consider the direction you want the growth to go in, as a general rule, always prune to an outward facing bud.

Oh, and also scundog, seeing as it appears your winters are pretty cold, frosts and all, which are about to begin, I'd be more inclined to leave any pruning till spring after new growth as started. With the severe weather coming on it's advisable to let the plants gain and maintain as much health and strength as possible so as to withstand the harsh conditions.

ok thanx, will do. Also, how fast do they grow?? I mixed in a bit of slow release fertiliser in the soil before planting.

Arr, well, don't be in a rush scundog, the growth is steady during the growing season but it'll be a few years before you get the cover I suspect you're planting them for. At a rough estimate 5 years before you see anything really effective. And don't expect much more new growth this side of next spring, you're coming into the time when everything simply goes to sleep for a couple of months.

PS. Oh and feeding at this time of year isn't going to help much, and, as they are natives, I suggest you avoid fertilisers not recommended for natives.