Tolerant of a wide range of conditions and requiring little to no maintenance once established. Plant in full sun to moderate shade. It is drought tolerant once established but can also tolerate regular irrigation or even wet soils. Hardy to low 20°s. Can be cut back nearly to the ground every few years to allow young fresh leaves to emerge. Like many other Lomandra, it is a useful plant for mass plantings in difficult situations such as in the dry shade of a Eucalyptus.

We received this plant in 1996 from southern California plantsman Gary Hammer and for many years the plant has been a durable and attractive plant in our nursery garden. We originally named this plant in honor of the late Gary Hammer and began selling it in 1998 as Lomandra longifolia 'Gary's Dwarf' because it seemed much smaller than the Lomandra longifolia we also grew at the time. After having it in the garden for over 5 years we came to realize that given regular irrigation and enough time, this plant could grow to over 5 feet tall and the name "dwarf" was not fitting, however in drier locations this plant has remained 3 to 4 feet tall. We also came to recognize that the flowers and foliage of this plant did not match up with Lomandra longifolia and that it actually was a Lomandra hystrix selection. We think it is likely that this was the first Lomandra hystrix cultivar commercially grown in the US.

'Gary's Green' is similar but a larger plant in comparison to another green Lomandra hystrix selection we also grow called Lomandra hystrix Tropicbelle ['LHCOM']. We also grow the variegated Lomandra hystrix 'Sunsprite, which was a sport from 'Gary's Green' and another variegated selection of this species, Lomandra hystrix Lucky Stripe ['LMV200'.

The genus Lomandra had long been placed with the Australian Grass Trees in the Xanthorrhoaceae or in the related Dasypogonaceae and more recently in its own family, the Lomandraceae, or combined with the Cordyline into the Laxmanniaceae, but current treatment is to put it in the subfamily Lomandroideae in the Asparagaceae. The name Lomandra comes from the Greek words 'loma' meaning "margin" and 'andros' meaning "male" and is in reference to a circular margin on the anthers. The specific epithet means "bristly", in reference to the spines around the flowers and fruit and in the branches of the inflorescence. These plants are commonly called Mat Rushes in Australia because leaves were used for weaving into mats by native Australian Aboriginal people. 

The information about Lomandra hystrix 'Gary's Green' displayed on this web page is based on our research conducted in the nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also include observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant.