I have three together in two different areas of my yard for the same purpose. One in full sun, the other in almost full shade. They were planted five years ago at 6-7 feet and are now about 12 feet tall. The ones in full sun are very thick, but keep a little yellow tinge, the ones in full shade are green, but on the thin side. I am on the fence about them. They had a rough last couple of winters and got bitten back quite a bit- lots of brown-tipped fronds that we've been looking at for a long time till they can be cut off without damaging the palms. I also find them to be rather messy, involving picking up fronds a couple of times a week. Kind of mixed review here. They do provide good screening- especially if they get enough sun. For me, a faster growing, less needy screener has been fishtail palm. Occassional yellowing fronds. Grows into a thick, green clump. I also love arenga palms. Thick, green and only occassional removal of a frond. They aren't as easy to find around here though. Bamboo is also pretty low maintenance if it is a clumping type, but some do lose a lot of leaves or get yellowing in the winter (depends on type). Another idea is weeping podocarpus. Nice and green all the time, but can get to be a large tree. Japanese fern tree is beautiful, dense and tropical looking, but grows slowly. All have pros and cons, don't they? All can be nice, though. Good luck!

Anna

Friends don't let friends plant areca palms. I moved into a house once that had a 25' or so length of areca palm screening that was many years old. OMG - what a mess. Hated the stuff with a passion. Never could get rid of it all.

~dianne

They make a great privacy hedge, but be prepared for some maintenance. If you cut the inflorescence before they go to seed and pick up the dead fronds, it's not bad.

My areca froze nearly to death year before last. Once they get really thick, it's he!! cutting out all those dead canes when a freeze hits them, plus it takes them a long time to come back. Yeah, the dead fronds that are constantly falling off deep inside the plant are a pain too. Plus, fire ants love them.

Hmmmmm.....sounds like it's a 'mixed bag' with the maintenance and the seeds.

What makes them so attractive to ants? That's a major negative right there.

I like how the palms grow in clusters and form a screen like view and that you can trim the lower part of the palm and keep it some what neat. Plus, they seem to be a pretty palm too.

Do they creep like running bamboo does or stay in one place?

Lizzardly: how tall are yours? I'm looking for something that will grow over 15ft.

Like you, I don't mind the more 'natural look'. I don't need golf course manicured....nor, do I have the time to maintain that.

That same area currently has SkyVine, while beautiful --is high maintenance due to it's speedy growth habit and it's love of climbing everything.

Full sun today - tough for photos.

6 year in the ground areca (from 1 gallon pots) - 4 foot chain link fence

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30+ year areca - has controlled new growth in center. I clean it up a couple times a year and select which canes I want to let grow. This was originally planted against the house and was moved 8 years ago - has doubled in height since then

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Other ideas...

Jatropha interrigima - 6 foot privacy fence in background

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Fiddlewood in foreground - surprised the heck out me. Has tripled in size past two years. Again, 4 foot chain link. Behind it is a white Bird of Paradise that had been cut to the ground other than three canes 3 or 4 years ago (neighbor's plant)

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Hope this helps.

Areca's do not like cold or freeze...2 palms that grow 20 to 25' and spread 10' or more and grow in zones 7 to 10 or 11, require little care except to lop off brown, dead fronds, would be the Mediterranean fan palm (which I have) and it's huge! or the Chinese fan palm a couple of those, spaced 8/10' apart will create a fence you will not see threw in a short time as they grow fast...

Other ideas if you want a ready-made screen is a trio of cabbage palms staggered. They require once yearly maintenance- or you can even skip every other year if the dried parts don't bother you too much- from a tree person but are otherwise a sure bet, and will definitely do well... they are native. They take up little space at the bottom, which I think might be a concern for you? Another idea is mirror-leaf viburnum. I have some that are about 12 feet tall and are real pretty and tropical looking. Let grow in their natural shape they are pretty and have nice berries adored by birds. They do well and are maintenance free- completely in my yard- and are cold hardy here. I don't know if they get any taller, though. These are about 5 years old.

Anna

Previous owners of our house planted a stand of areca palms along two sides of our backyard, and I don't think it's wise to use it in this way. Both sides contracted ganoderma butt rot (google it) before we even moved in and knew what it was. It is a soil bacteria that arecas are very prone to contract and if they do contract it, you will not be able to grow any palms in that soil since you can't get rid of it once it's there (the bacteria eats away at the woody trunk of palms and enters through the roots--young palms will live but die as soon as they start trunking). Growing a clump here or there should be fine, but I would be very hesitant about pruning it too much since they are so very prone to this disease. Rats love living in them, too. :)

I don't like bamboo either, and I would only plant it if I didn't have to clean up after it, worry about it shedding leaves in my pool, and didn't care much for my neighbors who prefer their lawns free of such stuff. I find it too be too messy--my neighbor has a clump next to my driveway. :Sorry, I can't help much on the "tropical" look, but I am loving my Simpson Stopper hedge--it's a native, smells like spearmint when in bloom, and birds love eating its berries and nesting in it. It's moderately fast growing down here and is easy to maintain.

I have seen fishtail palms used as screening and they look nice but definitely get thick. Good luck with whatever you choose. :)

Hi:
One option you might consider is Italian cypress. They grow quickly when young and then slow down. You never have to prune or trim them. They are maintenance free, have a nice pine scent when you brush them. Individual trees about two feet tall can be bought at HD or Lowes for about $12.

Just a thought. I have a "hedge" of them I planted and they do fine here in West Palm Beach. They aren't "tropical" but they are very elegant.

I like the fiddlewood idea mentioned, too. Very nice plant. Native and smells nice.

Julie in WPB

Just a small correction:
Ganoderma Butt Rot is actually a fungus.

Ganoderma Butt Rot of Palms
Monica L. Elliott and Timothy K. Broschat

Summary
Ganoderma butt rot is caused by the fungus Ganoderma zonatum. This fungus degrades or rots the lower 4-5 feet of the trunk.
All palms are considered hosts of this fungus. This fungus is not a primary pathogen of any other plant species.
Symptoms may include wilting (mild to severe) or a general decline. The disease is confirmed by observing the basidiocarp (conk) on the trunk. This is a hard, shelf-like structure that will be attached to the lower 4-5 feet of the palm trunk. However, not all diseased palms produce conks prior to death.
A palm cannot be diagnosed with Ganoderma butt rot until the basidiocarp (conk) forms on the trunk, or the internal rotting of the trunk is observed after the palm is cut down.
The fungus is spread by spores, which are produced and released from the basidiocarp (conk).
Conditions that are conducive for disease development are unknown.
There are currently no cultural or chemical controls for preventing the disease or for curing the disease once the palm is infected.
A palm should be removed as soon as possible after the conks appear on the trunk. Remove as much of the stump and root system as possible when the palm is removed.
Because the fungus survives in the soil, planting another palm back in that same location is not recommended.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ganoderma Butt Rot of Palms

Wow!!! Thanks for the great ideas!!! And - the pics too!

Ladywinger: great pics - thanks so much! really helps me to get an idea of growth habit and what they look like. Do they grow canes similar to bamboo? That's my only concern as it's a small space that I have to place this.

I like the Jatropha interrigima idea as well. I liked your Areca palms a lot. I like the clumps of palms.

I don't know much about Simpson Stopper but did look at it at Lowes today, in fact. Isn't it a tree? I'll add that to the research further list.

What do you all think of several White Bird of Paradise mixed with a palm or two?

I need to research the Chinese Fan palm a little more as well.

Here's the space that I want to hide. As you can see, my neighbor's house looks right into my yard. :(

Glad the photos helped a bit.

The arecas are cane-like, just much heavier than bamboo. And it does grow in a clump, ever widening in diameter.

The white bird is only one plant (another 30+ years old one) and I don't know how long it would take to get that wide base.

The jatropha does get thin in the winter, loses quite a few leaves, but not all of them.

The stopper is on the left, senna on the right, of the grass path. Leaves smell good, the spring blooms are white and you either like the scent or hate it. Kind of reminds me of industrial bathroom deodorizer. Will get orange berries in the late summer/fall.

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This was a couple years ago and the only photo I have handy at the moment. Is about 5-6 feet tall now, not a real fast grower in height, does send shoots out at the base so in my experience it wants to be wider.

Did you get the stumpf removed that I see in the pic? wasn't it an old citrus? The palms have a very intense network of just below surface roots (LOTS of fine, webby roots) that extend beyond the canopy.

Wamin bamboo would be perfect in that spot. it's very dense, stays about 15' and is a tight clumber. Arecas would be a fine choice too. They do get ratted out in our winters though so be prepared to have to cut some dead out yearly.
Livistona chinensis (Chinese fan palms) are very slow growers.

I have not removed the dead citrus stump YET. I'm letting it die off while I decide what to replant. Then, I will dig it up. Totally dreading that...

I figure, my back may appreciate digging up a decaying stump vs. a fresh cut stump. ;)

If I were to plant Arecas, are they at risk of growing UNDER the fence line? Is it easy to control or will it run away?

I had a VERY bad experience with RUNNING Bamboo once. It was miss-marked in several DayLily containers that I had brought home and planted. Yes -- imagine my surprise!....

What a nightmare to remove...pick-axe...pitchfork...and an axe...plus two shovels. And of course, it grew all under the fence and was on the way into the neighbor's yard!

My neighbor has been rehabbing for two months and JUST moved in this weekend. He's a young musician. I expect lots of parties and loudness next door, so need to figure out what to plant in order to keep my sanity.

Personally, I much rather hear the birds and the frogs chirping at night. It's not that I'm anti-music..but, that's why they invented iPods w/earbuds....

I planted the areca about 6 feet out from the fence. It truly clumps rather than runs.

Good luck with the musician. Maybe you'll get lucky and he'll be a considerate neighbor.

Arecas behave here. No worries. I would suggest buying as large of a specimen as you can afford. It will take several years to get tall enough for the privacy you need now.
Every winter you will likely have to cut it back due to cold. They are pretty wimpy but recover quickly.
Another suggestion would be a fishtail palm (caryotis mitis)
Mine grew fast and took the last couple of winters better than the dypsis lutescens (areca)

Hmm...now that you've shown a picture of the area, one clump of areca palm might work well. I was thinking you were planning to plant 4-6 in a row. :)

I would suggest planting the one areca palm clump and keeping it a manageable size of about 6-8 mature palm trunks.

Our arecas are of varied height but the tallest is probably 15-16 feet. Ours are in a very shady area under the much taller and wider canopy of an oak tree so I think that has probably slowed their growth some. We haven't had much problem with the colder winters for the last couple of seasons. I think that has a lot to do with the fact that they are againt the rear wall of the house and under the oak.

Hope that helps.

Thanks so much for all the advice everyone!!! This was really very helpful! I think I can make a decision.

I'm leaning more towards Areca because of the clumping and variance in the height. I'd like to combine it with something else, like White Bird of Paradise or with similar foliage.

I think I may still have room for a citrus tree as well.

Thanks so much!

It's been 4 years and 3 months. Are you still happy with your choice?

While searching for info on Areca seeds, I ran across these posts. Very interesting. I have one that the previous home owner had left in a whiskey barrel. It was about 3 foot tall, so I thought it would look okay in a round planter in the patio. Little did I know.....its taller than the house and I absolutely love it!

Couldn't help but comment, even tho it's probably way too late. I bought my mobile home 7 yrs ago. Along the outside screened wall of my lanai ( my favorite place to read, relax ) was a scraggly looking one ft tall, unattened-to strip of wimpy areca palms. Not knowing any better I gave them lots of TLC and now I have a dense 20 ft long mess of a fast growing, dense, strong hedge.

They are now a healthy 9 ft tall jungle that is threatening to lift up the 9 ft high metal roof and tear the screens to shreds unless I vigorously top them off and thin them out 4x a year ! So have just begun the arduous task to cutting them all down, ( have the loppers, long handled choppers and chain saw ready ) and then digging up the roots and discarding the whole mess to Waste Management. Am a one man operation, over 70, so will take it slow, one day at a time. Am hoping in 4 weeks it'll be complete. Am now considering a medium growing red-tipped cocoplum hedge that will be a breeze keeping it at 7 - 7 1/2 ft tall.

My advise, be very careful before planting any arecas !!! ( smile )

My very large areca palm froze one year, and it had to be cut completely down to the ground and allowed to grow back. Last time I saw it, it was only about 4 feet tall. The people who bought my house aren't taking care of it at all.

We have a home in Marco Island and the whole backyard is enclosed with areca palms planted 40 years ago and feels like an oasis now that full grown. We have seen rats in them from time to time but also because there is a mango tree nearby. We find if we clear out the palms that are bunched up,the rats leave for a new habitat. We placed hand painted parrots in the palms and looks like the Amazon, I love bamboo also but the palms sway in the breeze and are lusher.

Been there, - done that,..believe me !!!

Planting areca palms away from your home is fine,..like on the property's border,...no problema ! Plant 'em up next to your home, you are now dealing with THE PLANTS FROM HELL !!

Case closed ! :o)