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Georgia Gardener

Tall privacy hedge for shade - need help

12 years ago

We need suggestions for a privacy screen for shade.

We live in the northern Atlanta suburbs (Roswell). We are starting kitchen remodel and would like to add windows in the breakfast area on the end of the house. But then we would be looking directly into our neighbors' house, straight into their kitchen and den. So we are looking into planting a privacy screen but are running into problems thinking of ideas.

Problems:

1) The area is shady. There are large oaks along the property line and the screen would be planted underneath.

2) The area is narrow. It is only 10-15ft between the houses and the property line and we would need to leave space between the screen and the houses. A little over 8'-10' would be the maximum width at the base.

3) We are on a basement which increase the height requirement to screen the kitchen. It would need to be at least 15' tall (and not 15' in 15 years).

4) It would need to be evergreen trees or deciduous trees that keep their dead leaves until spring so we would have the screen year around.

5) We have deer. They eat our hostas and coral bells.

Does anyone have ideas? Right now, we are planning to forgo full windows in the breakfast area in favor of high transom windows along the ceiling because of the privacy issue.

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Comments (2)

Iris GW
12 years ago
One shade tolerant large shrub is Florida anise - Illicium floridanum is the name. If you planted 3 gallon ones, they would be 8 feet in about 3 years (most plants do the sleep/creep/leap growth thing). They like good moisture so they'd need to be watered well and mulched.

Other shade-tolerant ideas are Carolina Cherry Laurel and Hemlock. All these things are available in 3 gal and larger sizes at Buck Jones in Woodstock (on Hwy 140 going north from Crabapple about 8 miles). A non-native idea would be Aucuba japonica.

However, with such a narrow space and having to plant under oaks, I'd also consider non-planting solutions because sometimes plants just can't be the answer - they take time, especially in the shade. Could you build a pergola and train vines on it? Carolina jessamine is a fast growing evergreen vine with yellow flowers in the spring. I understand that you could not build a 15 ft fence, but you might be able to build a tall pergola/arbor. This would allow you stay inside a fixed width as well.
girlgroupgirl
12 years ago
I have to agree with Esh. I have a line of oaks at the back of my property, and they can be hard to grow under. The heavy shade in some parts and then the dry dry soil. You also must realize that planting and and around existing tree roots and also putting ANYTHING in and around tree roots can really damage the trees over time. Last thing you need is to do all that work and then have tree problems in 10 years, in a narrow space..
The vine idea is excellent and could be done with a structure and some vines so easily. I'm thinking a few poles and some wire. Pretty soon you wouldn't be able to see the structure at all!
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