Privacy fence in Arizona - zone 9 (w photos)
snappleg
14 years ago
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pennymca
14 years agosnappleg
14 years agoRelated Discussions
Ideas for creating privacy screen, building off current fence lin
Comments (34)The Camillia I bought last fall is still hanging in there, but hasn't done well for me so far. I covered it over with a milk crate and leaves last winter, worried that it wouldn't tolerate the cold it's first season, after I planted it in the fall and not the spring. I don't think it appreciated having that milk crate of leaves sitting on it all winter, because it dropped all it's buds before they opened, then lost leaves over the summer. But it has been in the ground for a year and it still has some healthy leaves and I think I see a couple of flower buds starting to develop. This year, it's on it's own over the winter. I am still interested enough in growing them, to give it a different location if it is still struggling next spring. And I may order a different variety of Camillia and plant it in another location and try it again. I hope it makes it through the winter and starts putting on some growth next year. I think the biggest challenge in my garden is dryness and not the winter cold....See MoreShrubs for privacy along a fence
Comments (22)Thanks for the kind comments, Marie! Here are a few photos, splaker. I hope that this helps you with your project. Before I started this project in fall 2009, I think, I tried to web search mixed shrub borders and didn't find much that inspired me. But I knew I had seen in person similar things planted various places, so I had some ideas in mind and then just winged it. My goals were to block or distract from some of the sightlines to a work area from the main entrance drive. We had just cleared a wooded area to have more sun, so I was starting from a blank slate. I knew I wanted a mix of evergreens (for winter interest) and deciduous shrubs, vines and perennials for colorful and contrasting foliage and flowers. I know I have more space than the typical suburban yard, but something similar to this could be done on a scaled down basis. June of 2010 after planting fall 2009. 3 kinds of evergreens (2 or 3 of each randomly spread down the bed length - Thuja 'Sunkist', Thuja 'Techny' and a slower growing cultivar of blue spruce that I will probably eventually have to remove due to large size or budworm damage), a few small pagoda dogwoods, a couple of Hydrangea paniculata (Quickfire and Pinky Winky), a Coppertina Ninebark, two Spicebush (Lindera benzoin), a few rhodies, some winterberry holly, and a few perennials. Before planting, I laid down a bunch of composted manure. After planting the various shrubs, I mulched heavily for moisture and weed control, first putting down cardboard and then about 6" of loose mulch that packed down to 4" or so. Perennials were planted around the edges after the main shrubs were in by cutting through the cardboard. I tried to leave enough room between the evergreens and shrubs to allow them to grow to just grow together overtime, but not be super crowded, so it was rather sparse the first year or two. I didn't do formal plans, but knew the ballpark size of the mature shrubs and the bed size, and once I bought the plants, I plopped them down in the bed and moved them around until I liked the layout, and then got out the shovel. I didn't pick out specific varieties ahead of time, but went around to local nurseries during fall sales knowing that I wanted rhodies, varied colored medium evergreens, etc. and chose from what they had available (that met my needs) to keep expenses down. Looking east from the middle Looking NE from the SW side (June 2010) In December of 2010 after one full growing season looking west from the dirt pile just visible on the right (east) side of the photo above After 4 growing seasons with some added perennials but not much in the way of added shrubs it is fairly full. Late October 2013 June 2014 looking East along the front of the bed. Looking down the back side as fall color is just beginning to develop - no perennials since this is the work area side. Here's a photo in taken late November 2014 that was from a similar angle to the second photo at the top. There have been a few plants over the years that haven't worked out due mostly to the voles that are a curse of my gardening existence, but for the most part I am quite happy with the bed. It's at my husband's shop so I don't get down to it as regularly as I might wish, but it doesn't need more than a few of hours of weeding per season and some tidying up and cutting back in the fall as long as I keep the mulch in good shape. I add more mulch every couple of years where there is space between plants. I've also added edging, a combination of the rolled edge black plastic edging from a big box store and recycled bricks lining the inside edge of the plastic (visible 2 and 3 photos up) to run the lawn mower wheels on so no edge whacking needed. Also, a couple of comments on some plants mentioned in previous comments. I have 3 Viburnum plicatums, one of which is about as old as the bed above and might be mariesiii but might be another selection. They bloom well every year (we got to -22 last winter and near that most winters) so you should be OK unless you get a whole lot colder than that. They all have great fall color. Burning bushes can seed around to wild areas, so I wouldn't recommend them for that reason, but they are also boring green blobs most of the year. Blueberries are a good replacement if you have acid soil with spring flowers, summer berries for you or the birds, and nice red to maroon autumn color. I ripped out my one Viburnum 'Blue Muffin' because it didn't bloom well, had no fall color in my garden, and was infested with Viburnum beetle. There are quite a number of medium sized/slower growing Thuja cultivars that won't get giant (as well as other conifers that you could check out on the conifer forum.) I found 3 Thuja types in good sizes in local nurseries in my quite rural area, so you have a good chance of finding some. If you have a lot of deer they may not be a good choice unless you want to spray them in winter. We have deer, but are rural enough that they don't bother the gardens for the most part. I really like the various variegated shrub dogwoods and the size of the larger ones will work well for you. Coppertina is has been a great shrub for me, but if they are prone to mildew in your area, there are others that are less mildew prone in tests. I'd love to hear how your project works out!...See MoreIdeas for Privacy - Between Fence and Retaining Wall
Comments (14)Yep, I am in North Carolina, zone 7/8. Crape myrtles are EVERYWHERE here, so I have no concerns about them not growing. I guess one of the questions I need to answer is would I rather keep the crapes and have privacy in 1-2 years, but for only 8 months of the year? Or do I want to move things around and plant a wall of evergreens and not have much privacy for 5 years. If I keep the crapes I may spread them out a bit more. Right now there is 10 ft. between each, but I would like to increase that to at least 12-13ft. I don't really like the look of a crape myrtle hedge where every tree is growing together. Another thought I had was keeping the "miami" crapes trimmed so that they grow a little bit underneath the "natchez" ones, as they are naturally smaller growing anyway. The dogwood I have planted in the photos is in a spot that has about 5 ft. of land between the fence and the retaining wall. Is this too tight? If not, I may move the dogwood and put a crape myrtle there, which may even give me 14ft. between each crape myrtle. Nope I cannot raise the height of my fence at all. My lot is sloped downward a little, so if I play fetch with my dog then my neighbors can't see me which is nice. But if we are on our porch we are very exposed....See MoreLiving Privacy Fence on hill--help!
Comments (34)gardengal48, we very rarely get snow...if we do it's maybe once a year and it's melted off by the next day. I agree about the viburnum likely not being an effective screen for what we need, since they seem to top out at 10-15 feet and we need about 18-20. You mentioned using it further down the slope--are you thinking it could be effective further down the slope when mixed in with something else higher up the slope like Magnolia trees, staggered (20-30 feet mature height)? Or do you mean just to have a nice tree to look at without an screening effect? AnnaDuke, I'm not sure what sunsails are? tatts, I've thought the same thing when looking at photos of hedges with cryptomeria or other conical shaped trees. They seem great if you're blocking the ground floor of a neighbor at the same level as you, but a different ballgame when they're located above you and looking down into your yard. I'm wondering if staggering magnolia and viburnum would be an effective screen, or if it would be too monotonous? Especially if extending the entire length of the hill (front and back yards). From what I've read, it seems the Bracken's Brown Magnolia has a moderate growth rate with mature height about 20-30 feet (we would need at least 18-20ft if I've calculated correctly)....See Moresnappleg
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14 years ago
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