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Florida Gardening

Long Row of bottlebrush hedging to row of bottlebrush trees?

10 years ago

Our driveway is lined with a bottlebrush hedge down the whole length & it's quite long (maybe 50 feet). Then there is a clump of preserve plants & pines (about 25 feet long). We were thinking of doing another line of bottlebrush after that clump of preserve area & set back about 10' past the bottlebrush shrubs & would span about 40' in length (to give us privacy from a new large 2-story going up on the lot next door). My landscaper said, "No, you cannot go from the shrubs to the trees. You must switch species. Viburnum would be best." She said it will look "stupid" if I go from bottlebrush shrubs to trees.

I think it will probably look lovely & the continuity will be nice (but also a goodchange to go from a shrub to a tree but don't want to make a mistake). Any thoughts?

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Comments (3)

cocoabeachlorax
10 years ago
My first reaction is, what a silly rule from your landscaper.

My second reaction, and most important, is that I see that you said, "I think it will probably look lovely". That is what really matters.

Also, take into consideration this, if the overall sunlight and water conditions (and soil) will be approximately the same, and your current bottlebrush are doing well, you're putting in a plant that has a very high chance of success. That's always good in my book.

My only word of caution, lack of variety puts you in a small risk of vulnerability. For example, if you relied heavily on Queen Palms in your landscape, and now we have this fungus that is wiping them out and spreading quickly, you could have a decimated landscape. In other words, if something comes along that selectively attacks bottlebrushes you may wish you had added variety.

However, that's a big "if" and Bottlebrush seem fairly solid, and you already have success, and you think it would be lovely. I think you have a wonderful idea. Good luck.
wishiwasinoz
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you Cocoabeach for the thoughtful feedback!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, isn't it? Although your comment on disease has me thinking. Gosh, if something wiped everything out, it would be a sad day. I'm going to keep thinking about this & put the brakes on asking for landscaping assistance from the landscaper. DH is a bit peeved with her, anyway.

Thank you again!
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cocoabeachlorax
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Keep us posted on what you decide. :)

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