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Privacy hedge in shade to screen drunk neighbors

10 years ago

I NEED a privacy hedge for the good of my sanity and my local law enforment/fire department sanity. The couple that live behind me is retired,not mentally sound,and they get drunk daily. They do charming things like call the fire department to tell them that my house is on fire when I use a single citronella candle in the middle of my table on the patio. "I can see the flames dancing off their windows!!!" was her last call that sent 6 fire trucks to my house. In 2013 with modern lawsuits, they have to respond each time like there is an emergency in case she is ever right. I have a 6 foot fence, but they can see over it easily on their raised deck. I need a big green living wall on this property line. The area is shaded by the few firs on the fence line. We are in 8a, pacific northwest, and it is currently wood chipped. The soil is very rocky. HELP!!!!

Comments (2)

Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
10 years ago
Welcome to Gardenweb and OMG. That sounds terrible.

If you have not noticed the "Gallery" section of the Trees forum is less traveled than the main forum. Sorry for the delay in a response but GW likes to divide....

How high will you have to go to block their line of site and how much room side to side do you have?

I am in St Louis but will guess.

Sequoiadendron giganteum I hear does well out there as a yard tree. You should be able to get 100 foot out of it. Douglas Fir? The Green Giant Arborvitae is a favorite on the boards it seems. These are probably on the extreme end.

Is your yard formal where a row of all the same plant is what would look best or can we mix and match? A mix is more disease resistant than any monoculture.

Any chance a two foot trellis over the fence with a vine on it would do the trick while whatever tree or shrub grows?
Embothrium
10 years ago
Plant bamboo, fertilize, mulch and water it frequently or wait many years for some other kind of hedge to develop.

Or extend the height of the fence with a trellis and arbor, train fast-growing vines onto it. Clematis armandii is quick and evergreen, but will need to be pruned and trained every year - as will most others - but particularly needs to be kept on top of or it bunches up and becomes full of persistent dead leaves.

A successful planting of this can be spectacular in flower.
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Comments (5)
To jkom51: We are in the Central Valley where it is hot and dry. I'm not sure the sub-zone? I am concerned about shading the privet too much, as I still want to encourage them to grow up, up, up. Also, the soil is some clay/loam mixed with some amendments over the years. Not the worst I've experienced with pretty good drainage considering some clay in there. The line of plants are on drip irrigation. I don't mind litter from evergreens, as I think it can be charming in a well-planted neighborhood like ours. Plus, it's better than a ton of deciduous plants which would grow up to give a great block of the neighbor's ginormous Suburban guzzler, but then would leave it exposed once again come winter! Arrrrrrrrggghhhhh........ To "hosenemesis": Thanks for your nice compliment and suggestion. I have recently planted some escallonia in other parts of the front yard and was even considering filling in the ends with them. I've seen my neighbors mix up the plants in a hedge with success. I just don't know what to mix with privet. I'm unsure of the rules of how to mix plants in a bordering bed?? The nursery people suggested more privet but in shapes like cones or spheres, however, that gets pretty formal looking for my taste.
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It sounds like your options are pretty limited. Fast growing trees are going to get really big. Most fast growing trees also end up being weak-wooded and short lived. 'Green Giant' thujas grow quickly and have far few problems than Leyland cypresses (which I would definitely NOT recommend), but the Green Giants are going to get pretty large eventually (and very possibly much larger than you'd want). You may want to consider a vine-covered fence or even a hardy type of bamboo with a root barrier.
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Comments (5)
How tall are you wanting it? 6'-10' or maybe taller for some of the items in the hedge. How much maintenance are you willing to do? I have enough spare time to dedicate to maintenance, but low maintenance is always nice. Does it need to be evergreen? No. Is the area dry, wet, or somewhere in between? I would consider the soil dry because it's relatively harder (like a rock) than the rest of the soil on my property. How partial is the partial shade? I have some trees in the area right now (ornamental pears) that I am about to remove, so I don't know the exact time. It is on the North side of my house and there are some large spruces on either end of the fence, so I expect it would be about 4 hours or less of direct sun. How large is the area? About 40-50' in between two large spruces. Have you considered a mixed planting, or do you want just one type of plant? I would like to do a mixed planting for both aesthetic and disease purposes, but I would be fine if the majority of it was one type of shrub for a backdrop. Thanks again.
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Comments (13)
" As long as they don't get too big and any disease, I am fine." How big is "too big"? Leylands could certainly get big - they are a very fast growing tree and if grown in conditions they like, can easily hit 60'+. However, I'm not sure they will be around long enough to become much of a height concern. Leylands can have a lot of issues in hot, humid climates like the DC area and south. A couple of untreatable fungal blights/cankers generally decimate the trees after about 10 years. They are also prone to bag worms. I am not sure why the Green Giants would not be considered a better choice. They were developed by the US National Arboretum in DC, so obviously can handle the heat and humidity. Far less disease issues than the Leylands but can get equally as large in time. It is the recommended privacy screening replacement tree for Leylands in the south.
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