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Great Lakes Gardening

Fast Growing privacy bushes in mostly shaded area.

11 years ago

What I'm looking for is a bush that grows very rapidly and reaches a height of 5'+, but I can trim. I'd like to plant four or five in a row to give my back yard some privacy as I live on a corner lot. The area is pretty much shaded except twigs of sunlight (maybe for about three hours in the AM). I live in the Ann Arbor MI area.

Something like the lilac bush, but that bush grows to slowly.

Thanks.

Lute1812

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Comments (4)

eclecticcottage
11 years ago
You might try Privet. We had a large, overgrown hedgerow of it at our Old House and some of it was directly below a large maple, so it got very little sun (but it was the same height as the ones that got some sun). It grows quickly and if planted close together, can be quite dense. We ended up taking it down because it was such a mess-little did we know we could have hacked it like crazy and it would have come back! The only thing I would mention is that for some reason I was allergic to it, it made me itchy if I rubbed against it while mowing. DH had no problem with it though. Too bad you're not closer, I have two little ones we got at a plant swap that I'm still not sure where to plant that I'd have given you (but I'm in NY)! I have found them at a few garden centers though, and they typically aren't all that expensive either.
lute1812
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks will check into it. I see they are very inexpensive as I could pick up a number and plant about 1.5' apart.
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Hi Francine, I would look at cheap, fast growing, dense shrubs common to your local area. If you can find a local wholesaler who also sells retail (because of the bad economy, many will nowadays--ask!) you can get great deals. Also try looking at your local Craigslist. Sometimes you can find people who want to get rid of some shrubs, if you are willing to dig them up you can get them for FREE. If you post a request to Craigslist you may be able to find some. Another angle to try is local garden clubs. Dedicated gardeners are often pulling stuff out and replacing it--you could ask around there for discards. Recommendations would depend on what climate you are in, which you don't say. Roses are not evergreen, so you would have a period of time when they provide no screening. In a colder climate they need more care than you may be willing to provide, unless Rugosa roses are appropriate for your climate. But they would probably be more expensive than common green shrubs. Also I'm assuming you have permission from your landlord to plant stuff. Good luck with your project!
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Your probably bang on with the cedars however they will take a long time to fill in an area. They don't require a lot of work compared to a vine generally speaking. I certainly don't recommend vines to fill your need because the privacy they give would generally be subject to the season. Below are some comments on the ones I have experience with. Most of the summer one of my chain link fences gets covered in Clematis Tangutica. I think it was called Clematis Bill MacKenzie. Its an amazing mess of yellow flowers. The nice thing with Bill MacKenzie was how fast it fills in during the spring over my other vines. I do have other clematis but nothing as bushy and filling as Bill MacKenzie. You could also look at Virginia Creeper but be careful as it can get out of control very fast. The neighbor behind our house has his crawling over his back fence snaking through the back lane and strangling parts of my garden. If you don't mind planting annuals every year you could try morning glories depending on the size / height of the area you want to cover. I've had good experience with morning glories all over my limited space. I'd seriously consider a long term investment though like cedars or some other type of bush. Evergreens for your area will give you all season privacy. Or if winter privacy isn't a big deal consider an edible bush like saskatoons. Well my 2 cents.
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A little more info will probably be needed here. What is the soil like where you want this hedge? If it is away from foundations and a touch acidic the blueberries (provided you get a variety appropriate to the local conditions etc) would probably be a good choice for the full sun areas. Blueberries I hear like azalea fertilizer and mulching with oak leaves. You said you need the plants to grow fast to at least 6 feet. Well blueberries will probably take a few years to get to that point. How tall can it be? Things like the willow or poplar will get really tall but they are probably the fastest ones to reach the 6' mark. How much width can you devote to this hedge? Keep in mind that there is no perfect living fence, they all require more space than a simple privacy screen fence does and the one that grow lick mad may require lots of pruning or be short lived. Does anyone know for certain if those hybred screen willows are really appropriate to central FL? And How evergreen are they really? I've seen some reports that they are good to zone 9 and other that say only 8. So they might be kinda short lived here. Here is what I might do for some quick privacy while trying to save some money. Plant some tall annuals Like Giant Sunflowers in the sunny parts of this fence line to give you a little screening while you work on getting your perminant solution. Unfortunately, the sunflowers are not a long term solution so as they die out perhaps you will have something to put in their place. For the shadier areas (how shady are they?) if they are not too shady, perhaps put up a bit of garden trellis and get some vines growing on it yardlong beans for summer and start the snow peas in October or something. In the mean time you can be rooting cuttings of whatever few specimens you can get so as they start getting bigger you can plant them into the line to start taking over from the annuals. How long of a hedge are we looking at here?
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Comments (19)
I agree that solid privacy fence is probably the best option, even if he/she just does that one section of view. Another thought of mine was to plant a tree like swedish columnar aspen. My initial thought was that you can keep it narrow at the base and then let it grow wider near the top, but this probably wouldn't work, since near the bottom is where they want the privacy and these trees are somewhat just bare trunk near the bottom. Cedars wouldn't work as well, unless perhaps thuja occidentalis 'degroots spire' cedar but even then it would take a while to gain any height (not to mention expensive to try to make a hedge out of many of them, might as well buy a section of privacy fence). Maybe lattice and an aggressive yet dependable vine like virginia creeper? Dropmore honeysuckle? The only downside with any vine is that in early spring, late fall and winter there would be no leaves so poochie would be able to see through. Hard to believe he/she doesn't bark when he just hears the kids as opposed to seeing them. I'm no dog trainer but perhaps the owner has to get involved and start scolding him when he growls at the fence? Somehow make him understand the kids are not in his territory? I wonder if he's one of those dogs that's just left outside alone all the time, which can lead to behavior problems too. Anyways, I hope there's a solution as I can't imagine it's pleasant for the kids to be growled at in their own back yard, nor for the neighbors who probably listen to the dog barking. Glen
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theresa2
11 years ago
I grow arrow-wood viburnum as a privacy hedge. The best thing about arrow-wood is that they grow very upright and they get about 10 feet tall. They require no maintenance because they are the perfect shape and size to function as a tall living fence. You may have to remove some suckers, but I have not found them to sucker prolifically. So far, after 8 years, I have never felt the need to remove any suckers as they are insignificantly growing under the base of the hedgerow.

I have my arrow-woods in a shady location where they get very little dabble sun. They are not as dense in the shade, but, depending what you are trying to screen, for most things they should be dense enough. I'm screening out a neighbor. I'm not sure if I would use this same plant if it were a busy highway. Remember, shrubs grown in the shade will always be more open in density, in spite of this, I've found that this shrub is still very effective as a screen.

Be careful not to plant only one clone of arrow-wood, as they will produce less berries. Viburnums need cross-pollination of uniquely different DNA to produce berries in abundance. Depending on the length of your privacy fence, you may just need one other uniquely different arrow-wood in close proximity to achieve cross-pollination. Arrow-wood grows beautiful sky blue berry clusters that the birds love! I have not found the berries to be messy, as they are tiny and firm rather than juicy. Species arrow-wood grown from seed will always produce abundant berries, because they are not cloned vegetatively in the trade.

For the most upright variety, choose carefully as some varieties are bred to be fuller. Arrow-wood is named so, due to it's straight twigs which were were ideal for making arrows.

As a bonus, arrow-wood provides a decent color show in the fall.
theresa2
11 years ago
Privet is an invasive shrub.

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