Carissa Green Carpet, Natal Plum

Botanical Name: Carissa macrocarpa ‘Green Carpet’
Common Names: Green Carpet Natal Plum, Dwarf Natal Plum, Groundcover Carissa

Green Carpet Natal Plum is a versatile, low-growing evergreen groundcover known for its lush, glossy dark green foliage and star-shaped white flowers.

It thrives in Perth’s hot, dry climate, offering exceptional drought and salt tolerance. It's ideal for backyard growers wanting an attractive, weed-suppressing groundcover, rockery filler, or productive lower-tier planting for coastal and urban food forests.

Features:

Ideal prune height range: 0.3-0.5m (spreads 1.0-1.5m)

pH growing conditions: 6.0 to 7.5

Shade or full sun: Prefers full sun to light shade for dense growth and best fruiting

Minimum pot year 5: 15-20L pot

Time to fruit age: 1-2 years from tubestock.

Carissa 'Green Carpet' forms a thick, dense mat of rounded, leathery leaves with small protective spines. Fragrant white flowers open throughout the warmer months, emitting a sweet jasmine-like scent, followed by small egg-shaped red fruits. It copes brilliantly with coastal winds, sandy Perth soils, and heat, requiring very little water once established and minimal trimming to maintain shape.

Interesting Notes:
The ripe red fruits are completely edible, offering a sweet-tart flavour reminiscent of a cranberry or plum, and can be eaten fresh or made into jams.

Unripe green fruits and milky sap are mildly toxic, so harvest fruits only when fully ripe and deep red.

An outstanding hardy pioneer groundcover for stabilizing sandy banks, filling sunny edges, and creating living mulches in low-water permaculture designs.

Limited stock. Pickup from Parkwood, WA. Delivery to Perth Metro only.

Keywords: Carissa Green Carpet, Carissa macrocarpa, Natal Plum Perth, edible groundcover, bush food Perth, drought tolerant plant