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Louisiana & Mississippi

Suggestions on privacy trees or bushs for around pool

17 years ago

I just put a pool in my backyard and I am looking for more privacy from my neighbors. I am looking for trees or bushs with "thick" foliage year round for one corner of my property because the neighbor behind me is not in our development and they have a lot of "junk" on their property which looks horrible. Any suggestions?

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Comments (4)

vancleaveterry
17 years ago
"Little Gem" magnolia doesn't litter, unlike most magnolias, but it is a slow grower. But if the corner you want to fill is far far away from your pool, you might try a standard magnolia grandiflora. They grow fast if watered and provide great privacy if you have the room.

Nellie R. Stevens Holly can make for a nice thick tree but most are sold as bushes, without the straight leader needed for a specimen tree form. But with some looking you might find one. There are other tree form hollys too.

Leyland cypress tends to get knocked over by hurricanes. Golden Globe arborvitae (I hope I got that name right) is very thick and can get ten feet tall and does well in sunny locations. Walmart carries them.
lisap1
17 years ago
I planted Leyland Cypress 2 years ago for that purpose and have been extremely pleased. My "backyard neighbors" are on a slightly higher level so I wanted something that would grow tall. My smallest one is about 7 feet tall and 5 feet wide at this point and have taken very little care up to this point.
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most things do not stop growing at some magical height.. as such.. that requirement.. plus the idea that they be 'minimal in care' are going to severely limit your options .. will you be willing to maintain them with some pruning.. or not ...???? if you are willing.. to cut them one or twice a year ... couple hours of work??? .. then there will be many more opportunities ... and if you are not willing to invest some time.. then the fence is the way to go ... or is that a HOA issue also? ken
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One thing to consider about screening plants is how much real estate and maintenance energy you're willing to devote to them. Escallonia, for example, will easily grow 8-10 ft. thick if left to its natural growth habit. It can be sheared much thinner, but realize that will be an on-going maintenance task for decades to come. Is there any reason you cannot plant a screening vine like Distictis, Petrea, Plumbago, Pandorea or Beaumontia on the fence itself? I actually think that your plain-Jane green workhorse plants make the best functional screens. You don't want a lot of visual competition with your specimen plantings from the background borders. And here you basically have two options: 1.) something that will fill in quite quickly because it naturally grows to a larger size than what you want and you will forever be chopping it back, or 2.) a plant that will top out at your target height, but will take some time in getting there. Ilex crenata 'Skypencil' has become a very popular screening plant because it only grows 6-10 ft. high, is not much more than a foot wide, is reasonably tolerant of both varying conditions of soil and sun exposure, and is evergreen. Its most remarkable characteristic, though, is its tiny permanent footprint...it really carries the meaning of "fastigiate" to a new extreme. Because of this, a tight visual screen will require that it be planted on 18" centers or less. You can often find quantity specials on Ebay, though, that bring the cost of individual starts to around $2 each, so it needn't be expensive.
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Just found your thread, but in case youre still looking. The very common one is Green Giant. If want to look online Hetz wintergreen is affordabe. I planted American pillar arborvitae here in north jersey, just bec i have a tight space between me & my neighbors & american pillar is the narrowest of the three. All are fast growers.
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curdog007
17 years ago
Bamboo, clump ONLY.
Grows fast and has the tropical look (evergreen)
lynn
pjames
17 years ago
I had a similar problem. I removed the fence around my pool when I had the deck redone. I wanted a privacy screen close in so I used a combination of things.

I made 5 trellises from 4X8 vinyl lattice and put them on landscape timbers about 2 feet above the ground and kind of framed them. Basically this made an 8 ft wide trellis with the top about 6 ft high. On two of these, i put Lady Banskia roses..they are evergreen. One one I am growing Confederate Jasmie and one one Carolina Jasmine (which isn't as thick a screeen as the confederate). The 5th trellis has another climbing rose but isn't really a good screen. I sort of placed these trellises at intervals around the deck toward the corners but not exactly symetrically..

In between these are a variey of other plants, viburnum which makes a bigger lush tree and lorepeltum for it's rich red coloration. The bed around my deck is of varying width from maybe five feet at the back of the pool to 10 feet on one end. So I also have room for compacta and some other hollies as well as day lillies, a few sago palms etc..
I used this other stuff for a low to the ground screen but also to give some texture /color differences. I've been shaping these other plants, some round, some square etc..

I'm definitely not a gardening artist, I just like to play and add stuff, but the effect is nice.

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