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Tree/shurb recommendations for side yard

14 years ago

My first time posting here. I need to get some advice on what to plant in front of my two bay windows that would provide privacy. I need it to be evergreen, columnar and no more then 4' wide and the height 12' or above.

I have an idea on what to plant in between the two bay window a Cryptomeria Radicans. I currently have a Red Rocket Crape Myrtles shown in the picture
http://www.design-solution.com/yard/. As you can see even if it gets big I get no privacy in the winder.

So my biggest challenge is to find a tree or shurb to plant in front of the bay windows for privacy.

Pictures:
http://www.design-solution.com/yard/

Thanks,

Shearak

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Comments (9)

tree_oracle
14 years ago
What part of the country do you live in?
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shearak
Original Author
14 years ago
I live in Northern Virginia. Zone: 7b
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Ok, as I recollect that's a suburb of Sydney, the plants I mentioned will grow ok there. If I were you though, I'd take a walk around my neighbourhood to see what other gardens contain, that'll give you a good clue as to what grows in your area. Michellia is another lovely plant and definitely worth a try, you could also consider azaleas or perhaps some of those 'Paradise' camellias, the not-too-large ones, C. sassanqua preferably. Good luck. B.
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The pictures help a little, but they are mostly individual shots and taken from long, sideways angles so can't convey the scene of "the-house-in-its-setting." Nor are they much useful for providing feedback to you, if that's a possibility. I'll try to explain again. You would need to position the camera roughly in line with the center of the house. (Maybe that lines up closely with the existing birch ...? It would help if you trim it first. :-)) You would need to be close enough to the fence that when aiming straight at the house, at least the far edge of the city sidewalk shows up in the viewfinder ... but we don't need to see much more of it. Then begin taking pictures by (while standing at the same spot for all pictures) aiming the camera toward your left-side neighbor's house. Pivot the camera rightward taking sequential, slightly overlapping pictures of the house (the border next to the walk will be showing in the pictures) until you have taken the last picture aiming toward your right-hand neighbor's property. Then people can see the entire span of your front yard as if they were standing at the same spot from where you took the pictures. And we can see how things fit together since all the pictures overlap a bit.
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iforgotitsonevermind
14 years ago
Looks a little too shady there for either really, esp the crepe myrtle but what comes to mind is emerald green arborvitae. Ask for it by that name specifically. Also look into Skyrocket juniper or Wichita Blue juniper . Both the arbs and junipers prefer sun but I'm growing them successfully in a shady spot between houses like that.
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Iris GW
14 years ago
Yeah, how much sun does that area get during the summer months?
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cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
14 years ago
Have you considered coordinating with your neighbors to create together a privacy screen between your houses? That would give you more options. You could run the trees down the middle and not be limited to something only 4' wide. A mix of deciduous and evergreen would be nice.
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shearak
Original Author
14 years ago
Unfortunately my neighbor is very nosey and director of the HOA. So I need to do this on my own.

I found two plants that may do the trick:
Juniperus virginiana 'Taylor'

Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Silver Star'

What do you guys think? Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks
0
shearak
Original Author
14 years ago
iforgotitsonevermind and esh_ga, I do get a lot of sun on that side of the house about 8 hours or so. So sun loving plants would be fine.
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Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
14 years ago
If you are in Northern VA, then you're probably in zone 7A. Pittosporum is not hardy. I'd go with either the arbs, junipers, or maybe Foster's Holly, but you'd have to do some pruning on the sides of the holly to limit its spread. You could also try Chindo viburnum.
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Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
14 years ago
You should also check out the Holly 'Oakleaf'. 'Oakland' is similar but slightly more compact. They are fast-growing, very upright hollies. I have several I'm using for screening. It doesn't look like they will spread too much, but may take some light pruning if they do.

Oakleaf Holly
0

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