privacy trees to add along block wall help

9 years ago

I had about 40ft of oleandear along two separate walls that I had removed. My neighbors have direct line of sight now and I want to put up something to block them as I have a pool and guests over often so privacy is best for everyone. I was at moon valley nurseries and after a lot of discussion with one of the guys there they recommended ficus nitida. From what he told me this seemed perfect, low maintenance, good cover etc but what he seemed to be wrong about was the root system being a deep root system so it doesn't interfere with the block wall and these trees can get up to 30-60ft which will not be good for my neighbors.

I am looking for something low maintenance with good thick cover to block out my neighbors and maybe reach 20ft as well being able to plant it within 4-6ft of the wall. I need something that won't end up in the pool each year and preferably stay thick year round. Oleanders are out of the question again.

I am most likely cancelling this order tomorrow but would like to have to something else in mind so I can still get whatever planted by the weekend.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (13)

lazy_gardens
9 years ago
Moon Valley Nursery sells Ficus as the solution to everything, because that's what they have the most of in stock.

Take your time getting the RIGHT tree. Don't settle for what's out there because you want to plant something next weekend. It's a long-term relationship. :)

Look up your specs for trees on sunset.com and see what they recommend, and then ORDER it if you have to from a reliable nursery. Moon Valley is not what I would call reliable.

Realistically, a couple of evergreen trees (Australian Willow?, Eucalyptus spathulata) in the right spot would block the view of the pool from the neighbor's upper deck.

For immediate pool privacy, how about a shade structure with lattice between the pool and the neighbor ... permanent, doesn't drop leaves, and it gives the tree time to grow.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sunset Plant finder
cold_weather_is_evil
9 years ago
>> the root system being a deep root system so it doesn't interfere with the block wall and these trees can get up to 30-60ft which will not be good for my neighbors.

Not in Arizona they won't. Not humid enough. Then there's the occasional clobbering frost.
Related Discussions
Suggestions for trees along privacy fence (PICS)
Q
Comments (48)
Sorry; I was wrong about thinking that the Corintian Rose and Mauve cultivars as being new developments. Did some checking and now realize that a few years after more nurseries began offering the Ornamental trees, I must have seen a photo of the Corintian Rose which appeared to bloom more red colored. But the latest photos I have seen of the Corintian Rose seem to reveal that tree's blooms being more true to what reported descriptions of it have been turning up. Dr. Dennis Werner had successfully developed these Corinthian peach cultivars, and reports of them started showing up in web perspectives back over the winter of 1998-99. Those perspectives projected that nurseries would be making these trees available by the winter of 1999-2000. I have not seen the standard nurseries in my area offering these trees, but after I inquired about them to my favorite nursery on the northwest edge of town. They fairly easily found some being offered to the wholesale markets from a local regional grower. My extra research about the development of the different cultivars has reminded me of what I had obviously forgotten when I posted what I replied above. The truth is that Back in the winter of 1998-99; the cultivars which had already been developed were Corinthian, White, Corinthian Pink, Corintihian Rose, and Corinthian Mauve. With the Rose and the Mauve cultivars just now showing up more often on various web sites, must mean that now those cultivars are catching the eye of people more than the White and Pink cultvars are right now. One thing I do know is that the photos on the web of these trees do not capture the dynamic beauty that one is surprised to see in any of these trees that are thriving out in their planting beds. Must be something about the camera shots being so far away that the size and shapes of the flowers appear more non-descript in the photo's and also the amazing way that the sun make the colors of those flowers to appear so stunning must be an aspect that the camera's missed capturing in those photos of these trees that I have been more recently seeing on the Web. I know that the Pink cultivar blooms certainly are such, simply because a friend of mine planted four of these trees along the narrow strip along her front driveway and that boarders her neighbor's yard. The first Spring that her trees burst out in bloom, her husband who never seems to say much about the items at her house that we have planted, well even he, was taken aback at the sight of how stunning those blooms were. At first sight he rushed to get his camera and quicky attached that photo to an email and sent it to me to let me know how amazed he was at first sight of those tree tree's bloom. That was 3 years ago, and the only other item he has reacted the same about was after he first saw blooms, on the hardy, Blue Satin Hibiscus that I had trained up in a tree form and helped my friend plant at her house. Those clear blue...
...See More
Privacy plenting near a block wall?
Q
Comments (3)
How about dwarf citrus? Or pindo palms? Both are fairly neat and I've seen many, many of them right up against block walls. Both of them are great for giving you privacy at fence level. I agree with staying away from ficus. They drop leaves like crazy, have invasive roots, and just about every one in my neighborhood still looks half dead, or actually is dead, after last winter. I did see an HGTV landscaping show where they were planting bamboo in someones backyard, but instead of digging up half the yard to bury the bamboo barriers, they just dug a hole, put a five gallon bucket 3/4 of the way down and planted the bamboo in the the bucket. Then of course covered the botton with rocks to make it look nice. I imagine if you wanted to butt right up against the wall with bamboo and not have it get out of control, this might work for you. I think you have to make sure that it's not sending out new feet outside the bucket every once in a while, but if you like bamboo, it might be worth it. :)
...See More
tall, narrow trees for privacy along fenceline
Q
Comments (9)
Perhaps when your neighbors move in, you will become best friends and invite them over for tea when they look into your kitchen. When I lived in Venice, I used to talk with my neighbors from my kitchen window, which overlooked their courtyard/patio. They were Loyola Marymount students and gave lots of parties and always invited us. Now I live in Westchester, and my neighbors don't speak with me, except one who will only wave or say hello. In Venice I knew the neighbors on both sides of me, and it was much nicer. The guys on the other side of my house had upper story windows and theoretically could have looked down into my yard, but they never did. I had a mango tree planted that blocked some of their view and also an acacia that I really would not recommend, as it grew too fast and was hard to get rid of. My roommate grew it from seeds he got at the arboretum, I think. The kitchen neighbors' landlady had bamboo planted to block the view between us, and I thought it was a pretty good solution, since the bamboo was contained by concrete on both sides of our wall. They had a tangerine tree that they shared with us, and I had a fig tree that I shared with them. I had two fig trees, and so I shared figs with a lot of people. I started locking my back yard after someone was caught stealing mangos from my yard. He was an underage surfer, according to my neighbor who caught him. BTW, the neighbor's landlady was a Brazilian chanteuse and would sing Brazilian love hits while she was working outside - it was very delightful to listen to. She also sang at some of the Brazilian restaurants in Culver City/Palms. Lars
...See More
Help with backyard privacy trees along block wall. Keep/plant Ficus?
Q
Comments (1)
I think you need a clumping bamboo that maxes out at 15 feet. Or how about mcarthur palms under planted with tecoma stans or some other pretty drought tolerant flowering shrub?
...See More
BettyJSmith
9 years ago
Eldarica Pine do extremely well in your location, won't leave a mess in your yard and grow quickly. I planted 1 gallon plants when I lived in Mesa several years ago. By year 7, they were well over the top of our concrete privacy fence. They CAN get very large and wide. I planted one to each section between the columns and they were touching after just a few years. They are drought tolerant once established.
lazy_gardens
9 years ago
Eldarica Pine do extremely well in your location, won't leave a mess in your yard and grow quickly.

Eldarica pine is too messy to be near a swimming pool. it's a constant battle to keep the filter clean because they shed needles all year.
azwickedss
Original Author
9 years ago
I appreciate the responses so far and have been looking for other options as the Ficus are def out. It doesn't have to be a tree however I thought it would look a little better and still give the back yard a larger appearance.

With that in mind maybe a full out privacy wall isn't what I need as I could do with just putting something up that will break the visual line between our two yards and still add some privacy. BottleBrush was also recommended but not to sure about those as well as they remind me of Oleanders.
1212dusti
9 years ago
I agree with lazygardens, Moon valley is not reliable for advise, several times over the years, they recommended plants that did not fit the situation they were grown in and perished. It's always better to go to a garden center or big box store, after reading up on plants, not depending on advise from staff who may know less about gardening than you.

Have you considered yellow or orange bells? They grow to around 10 feet tall, have nice blooms, easy too. One of mine is a few years old and around 7 to 8 feet tall.
richsd
9 years ago
One other option: silk oak can be planted in a row and sheared regularly to keep it low (doesn't need much water either)

You can treat live oak seedlings this way, too. Just keep them sheared to the height you want.
aztreelvr
9 years ago
More suggestions:
Hop Bush (Dodonaea viscosa)
Mexican Bird of Paradise (Caesalpinia mexicana)
Willow acacia (Acacia salicina)

Here is a link that might be useful: Online plant database - Water Saving Plants
newtoucan
9 years ago
How about Thuja Green Giant. No leaf drop and will grow into a hedge quickly.
MaryMcP Zone 8b - Phx AZ
9 years ago
toucan, I've looked at this one before but it's not rated for our zone. It won the Gold Medal Plant Award one year in Pennsylvania! Sorry, I would love a hedge of this but not interested in living in zones 5-7.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thuja Green Giant
newtoucan
9 years ago
Oh yes this will grow here in full sun. There is a house nearby with a beautiful hedge of this.
AmberOctober
9 years ago
How about lady banks roses? Don't they grow fast and tall?
MaryMcP Zone 8b - Phx AZ
9 years ago
They do and I planted a long (150') fence line of them. What we did not know then, but do now, is that you should not trim them with hedge trimmers. it has to do with how new growth is produced, but I'm short on the particulars right now. LB's are best pruned by using loppers and cutting canes close to the ground or the main trunk. This is way too difficult with a long hedge of them. Ours hang into the alley and the garbage truck driver reports us if/when the canes begin to touch his mirror so hubby has whacked them several times with the electric hedge trimmers.

So what has happened is the LB are all dead/dying in the middle and look like ...... well you know. We are slowly replacing with hop bush, which aztreelvr suggested above. I used to be on the bank wagon for LB hedges but no longer recommend for that purpose. Best if you can plant them and just let them go wild.

This post was edited by marymcp on Sat, May 31, 14 at 20:53

privacy trees to add along block wall help

Comments (13)

lazy_gardens

cold_weather_is_evil

Related Discussions

BettyJSmith

lazy_gardens

azwickedss
Original Author

1212dusti

richsd

aztreelvr

newtoucan

MaryMcP Zone 8b - Phx AZ

newtoucan

AmberOctober

MaryMcP Zone 8b - Phx AZ

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

privacy trees to add along block wall help

Comments (13)

Related Discussions

azwickedssOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

azwickedss
Original Author