privacy shrubs for open meadow?

9 years ago

We have a 3 season farm, zone 5a, in the mountains. Just wood stove cabin/barn. Garden has been in for 15yrs now, completely private by the nature of the rolling landscape.

Closed and put to bed last November...
A month ago opened up and tapped our maples trees.
Very harsh winter and somehow the neighbors managed to build a home. (we are happy for them as the process was a long one needing to keep the original footprint of their cabin...so they went UP)

After years of privacy, i can now see their upper window at almost every spot where i garden...and have an outdoor shower fed by a natural stream, gravity fed, heated by a coiled water line on a rock ledge....and a hammock under an elder plum...not a nudist, : ) ,but it has been a nice calm therapy place for years.
(nude for the time it takes to shower and dry off casually)

Fortunately, a dozen yrs ago, i did join the coop extension native plant ordering and planted a hundred various 'twigs' that gave a good wind break and some are now 6-15 ft and strong. Did get about 70% with a spade wiggle, poke and stomp, then ignored. We get good consistent rain weekly.

I put down some prep black tarps in the sight line to kill back some of the field wild brush...now need some full sun ideas for plantings. I'm soaking some red twig cuttings from the mama 'twig' that is now enormous. (a no brainer as that thing is hard to kill) But might work a bit. But not evergreen.

I'm sure when the field of wild grain, wild flowers, milkweed, etc comes up it will be private again...but this past weekend, with 75 temps and still barely any leaves, we felt exposed.

Just looking for suggestions. About a 5-10x20ft area should cover it.
The link is what i plan to do with the red twig osier as the landscape is similar. The offending window is about a football field away.

Here is a link that might be useful: transplanting red osier

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Comments (5)

sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
Original Author
9 years ago
Answering my own post and researching, (and to boot myself off the top),
I've gone back through archives and finding lots of help. Full sun, dense shade, etc.
Also finding old photos and identifying some missing links i've been curious about.

I have some options by taking some cuttings or spreading growth of an enormous forsythia, and some left-gone-wild lilacs. I also have a few loved vibernum i may try and get some cuttings from. ...and grow some patience.

I also successfully identified a mystery spreading shrub. Aralia spinosa. "This species is sometimes called Hercules' Club, Prickly Ash, or Prickly Elder"...or toothache tree.
It is about 25' by 200' right now. Only a problem where we try and keep a wandering path cleared.

Soon i will have some existing natural green and slowly add to the area where i need the fall and early spring privacy. A pic from last sept...the landscape is so naked now, i tend to forget how quickly our land in a four season climate comes alive.
Smivies (Ontario - 5b)
9 years ago
I think the mystery shrub you are thinking of is Zanthoxylum americanum....also known as Hercules' Club, Prickly Ash, or Prickly Elder.

You need a natural shrub border/hedgerow of a mixture of species so the loss of one due to disease, insects, or other scourge doesn't open things up again. Viburnums, grey & red osier dogwoods, non-native common lilac, hawthorn, prickly ash, elderberry, serviceberry, etc.
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As much as I like tea olive (_Osmanthus fragrans_), I would not recommend its use as a privacy screen in a full-sun, exposed location in Western North Carolina, halfway between Asheville and Charlotte. In recent years, we've had comparatively warm winters in this part of the Southeast; but there's bound to be a future winter in which _Osmanthus fragrans_ will be badly burned or killed to the ground by cold temperatures. It is, indeed, a fine plant and one to be enjoyed in a sheltered location; but at some point it will prove unreliable in a harsh, unforgiving exposed Piedmont location. Don't consider using it as a hedge unless you want to see it decimated. If you take a look at _The Southern Living Garden Book_ or similar books, you will find that there are several _Osmanthus_ varieties that are much hardier than _Osmanthus fragrans_. Like _Osmanthus fragrans_, they are evergreen with fragrant fall/winter flowers. These hardier strains of _Osmanthus_ would be more likely to have longterm success in a Western North Carolina landscape than the more tender _Osmanthus fragrans_. However, one wants his/her _Osmanthus fragrans_ to be near a frequenty trodden pathway or near a window where its fragrance can be enjoyed. Planting tea olive out in a hedge along the roadside would be a waste of its many attributes. Leyland cypress is an abomination. Avoid it like the plague. _Eleagnus pungens_ or _Eleagnus pungens fruitlandii_ would be a superb choice, requiring no maintenance and providing food for our songbirds. These species of _Eleagnus_ are not the Russian olive you're thinking about. A spectacular choice would be golden bamboo or black bamboo. I have a grove of golden bamboo on one side of my house and a grove of black bamboo on the other side. They provide a lush, evergreen, Oriental appearance and an abundance of privacy. Your roadway would serve as a "bamboo containment wall" on one side. Just let the bamboo colonize freely on the other side, creating a natural effect.
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My favorite shrubs for hedges are the hollies. There are many of them available and some get quite tall while others remain more compact. Their tiny flowers (so small you hardly notice them) are amazingly fragrant, and the birds love the berries, although they generally don't eat the berries until later in winter. Hollies are amazingly heat-tolerant, drought-tolerant and wind-tolerant once established. Dwarf Burford holly makes a really nice privacy screen along a fence line with the proper spacing, particularly if you let them reach their natural pyramidal shape and don't prune them. The use of the word "dwarf" is deceptive because they are dwarf only in comparison to regular Burford holly which is a huge monster. The dwarf Burford hollies we planted about 10 years ago are about 10 feet tall and each plant's spread covers 6' to 8' feet in width. We spaced them pretty far apart so they could reach their mature size without crowding one another. Another lovely shrub that is underused is Abelia. These are semi-evergreen, small-leaved shrubs that flower in spring. Their growth is quite dense and they are very drought-tolerant once established. I have a chaste tree in the backyard butterfly garden and the wildlife love it, and so do I, but it is deciduous and won't provide much privacy in winter. I've linked the website of Sooner Plant Farm for you because their website is amazingly informative. It has detailed into on many of the types of plants mentioned here, and photos for many of them, as well as many, many others. After you spend a little while looking at all the plants on their website, you'll have all kinds of ideas about what you could plant for a privacy screen. I second the idea that a mixed hedgerow is healthier because one disease can wipe out a monoculture of one plant variety. Also, diversity attracts more wildlife like birds and butterflies, for example. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Sooner Plant Farm
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Ok, sorry about that. This thread is only for the backyard where privacy is needed, and the pics are only from the backyard, I created a panorama of the backyard. In this pic I am looking at the screen-covered back porch, we have plans to re-do that back porch and create some paver or brick patio around it, but that is way far from now. I do want to throw this out there that I have been considering dwarf korean lilacs for the right side of the image ( property line) with some small line of boxwoods at their feet to cover the woody areas during when they are at their best, I mentioned that dead-looking shrub in the image is gonna go because is partially dead, I think is rose of sharon and those burgundy ones will stay in... now the original images will make sense.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1laJISNMRwY
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sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
Original Author
9 years ago
That makes more sense, Xanthoxylum americanum. In clonal growth like the red-osier dogwood and the sumac. (don't want the sumac) ...i've let a bit run rampant way down the hill.

Aralia spinosa has a similar description.

Here is a link that might be useful: aralia spinosa
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
9 years ago
Knowing your soil pH may help with suggestions that will be happy in your area. Might you ask on the conifer forum about evergreens? Around me, white pines grow quickly and are early succession plants, happy in full sun. They have a light feathery texture, and will ultimately get quite large. There also may be some spruces or firs that would offer you all season privacy and might stay in the right size range for a longer period of time than the white pine. If you are in an area without hemlock woolly adelgid, hemlocks grow quickly and at least here they are happy in either sun or shade.

Or have you considered broadleaved evergreens if you have acid soil? Some of the larger old-fashioned types of Rhododendrons such as Roseum elegans can get to 20 or 25' tall and though the leaves roll up in winter, they will be fully spread when the weather is warm enough for you to be in a three season home.

There is a huge range of Viburnums. Many will do well in zone 5-6, many are native, and most have attractive blooms and fall color. In zone 6 there may be a few that are semi-evergreen.
sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks for the suggestions. I did ok last weekend. I had layered some red twig last summer that were meant for another spot and rooted very well. I used some of those and did a few dozen cuttings...the stake and plop, walk away method. (i'm patient)

Very busy with other things...garden beds, many projects, as ownership and limited time stirs up.
I don't have a budget issue but like to use natives and a more natural setting is what we have always leaned towards.

In the pic it is not the elder barn or baby barn...but just near the viburnum on the right is the new build. Seems hidden but to the naked eye, on location, it is like a peeping tom. (we like them fine as neighbors. Just had privacy for 20 yrs)-they are not outdoors types...i see a desk and binoculars, : ) Just kidding. I don't even mind if they run across this post somehow.

We did have a devastating 2006 infesting year that did lots of damage to viburnums and a few others. I'll look into some hearty low evergreens.
The red twigs will help...grow like weeds here. Just want a natural low screen.
DH insisted on the two arborvitae and wants more...
Not my choice but a mix seems the best overall outcome.

This post was edited by sleevendog on Wed, Jun 4, 14 at 10:39

privacy shrubs for open meadow?

Comments (5)

sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
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Smivies (Ontario - 5b)

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privacy shrubs for open meadow?

Comments (5)

sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)Original Author

Smivies (Ontario - 5b)

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sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)Original Author

NHBabs z4b-5a NH

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sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
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