Northern Exposure

16 years ago

This is the end of my house that faces due north. It does not and will not have gutters and gets a drip line off the roof. I am looking for something simple, maybe just one or two plants to make a hedge or line of plants that can take the cold wind in the winter and not much direct sun in the summer. Here are a few views.

Thanks.

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Comments (10)

islandpete
16 years ago
Bananas, elephant ears they both love water Or maybe some corn plants I gave some cutting to my neighbors and now years later they are well over 10 feet tall and growing
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an_ill-mannered_ache
16 years ago
cpa,
go native here -- florida anise. nice, viburnum-like. dense grower to 10', tho responds well to pruning. can be very dense, or you can encourage it to tree-up.

i can give you cuttings (or did i already?). they're really easy to root, and grow quickly (year 3 and later).

at their base, you could plant some compact azaleas, which will thrive there.
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gardencpa
Original Author
16 years ago
Ill,

That is right. You did give me some anise. I have one little one. I think I am going to try and buy some plants in quantity for this area. It is about 30 feet long. Do we have anybody local that would have the florida anise?
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beth7happy
16 years ago
Not my favorite plant, but it's done well for us on the northern exposure....almost no sun....used Indian Hawthorne. It's not exciting but always looks fine...requires zero care for us.
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an_ill-mannered_ache
16 years ago
cpa -- do you know debary nursery? bev carries anise & she has it in pots from small to large. reasonable prices. on 17-92 just as you enter debary. you might also try place in the son (silly name, but good nursery). they carry a lot of landscaping materials.

FLA anise is a tough, all-purpose shrub with good aesthetics. i've seen it growing in full sun and full shade, and it didn't seem to care. if you drive by my place, you can see a short hedge of them growing on the south corner of my house.
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lakeron
16 years ago
I'd think about erosion control for the drip line. A layer of rock would disperse the water. Next I'd consider leaving enough room, ~2 feet, behind your plantings, when fully grown, to get a ladder in to maintain windows, soffit, etc.

Just thinking like a homeowner.
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the_musicman
16 years ago
FL anise is definitely a good one.

Here's something that has worked for me on the North side... a row of Podocarpus, underpinned by Boston Fern. They both like water, and don't give a flip about sunlight. Creates a nice variable wall of green over time.
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gardencpa
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for all the good advice. I like all the ideas but I think I will try the fl. anise. I like indian hawthorne too but have another place in mind for that. Like you said, it is nothing special but is just about zero care. I like how compactly it grows so I am putting some along the back of the house where I don't want or need so much vertical growth. The podocarpus/fern combination sounds good too but where?. hmmmmm. Lakeron, I agree with leaving the space. We fought that at the last house with viburnums that were right up against the house. It made me crazy every time I wanted to wash the windows.

Thanks all. Do you think I should just wait until the spring or put them in the ground now? I could get them next weekend.
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KaraLynn
16 years ago
Lakeron made some good points about putting down a layer of rock under your dripline. Another point in favor of doing that is to keep the plants from touching the house and creating an easy access point for insects to get into the house.

Some other plants that would do well in that area are camelias and oakleaf hydrangeas.
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susieq07
16 years ago
Azalia's do great on the north side prefer it infact...
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