Syncolostemon canescens needs a sunny or slightly shaded position. It can tolerate some wind, but generally prefers a more sheltered bed in the garden. It performs best in fertile, well-drained soil, with water during its spring and summer growing season, and performs well in the winter-rainfall region, as long as it is watered adequately in summer and does not get waterlogged in winter. Prune them back hard after flowering to keep them bushy and to promote flowering. Apply a compost mulch in spring to nourish the plant when it resprouts and give an application of 2:3:2 or similarly balanced fertilizer, during the summer.

It is well suited to grassland gardens and rockeries. Mass plant for best effect, and it works well as an edging plant. Also suitable for containers. For gardeners looking for aromatic and fragrant plants, it is a ‘must-have’ plant for its unusual fruity, coconut-scented, aromatic foliage. Syncolostemons are good filler plants in a colourful, mixed herbaceous bed, shown to best advantage if grouped in threes or fives and placed more to the centre of the bed so the plant’s front, can hide their woody bases. Both the sprigs of pink flowers and purpley bronze, add attractive detail to a border design.

Syncolostemon canescens is seldom troubled by any pests or diseases, most likely afforded natural protection by the strongly fragrant oils occurring in the plant’s leaves and stems.

During late summer, Syncolostemon canescens can be propagated by semi-hardwood cuttings. The soft, green spring growth should have started to turn a light brown colour, but not yet a dark brown and the stems will still able to bend slightly when tested, without snapping. The cutting taken should have a semi-soft greenish tip and a semi-hard light brown base — this balance between the 2 stages of maturity will ensure best success of rooting. Leave the growth tips intact and at least 2 nodes of leaves present, but strip off the foliage of the last 2 to 3 nodes. Dip the cut stem end into a rooting hormone, such as Seradix 2, and place in a suitable rooting medium that remains damp while draining freely and is able to hold the cutting upright. A mixture of finely milled bark and peat with river sand, usually works well. Rooting can take up to 8 weeks. Once there is a significant amount of root, pot up and keep in semi-shade until the plant shows new growth, then plant out once it has established itself in the bag. If you choose to wait until spring before planting out into the garden, be cautious to not overwater the plants in winter.

Seed collected from the plant after flowering and before pruning, can be kept through winter, then sown in spring into a sowing medium. As the seeds are quite small, cover them with only a thin layer of sowing medium and keep moist. Keep seed trays somewhere warm, but out of direct sunlight. Seed should germinate in 3–4 weeks. The seedlings can be potted up as soon as their first pair of true leaves are well developed. Grow on, and plant out into the garden once well established.