flowering shrub along back of covered porch

15 years ago

Can someone suggest a flowering shrub that could be limbed up and be trained as a tree - on the small side, no more than 10 feet or so? The real issue is width because it will be planted for privacy reasons in a 6-foot wide bed along my back porch, there is a flagstone walk along the front of the bed. Zone 5, full sun, good soil, medium wetness. Will live there with daphne, kiss me rosa, white peony, purple daylilies, 2 burkwood broom, and 5 plum crazy hibiscus. I want something that I can shape to give privacy more to the top rather than the bottom - the porch is 3 feet high. I don't mind doing a little pruning. I'm cautious about fruit because I don't want birds and their gifts so close to the porch. Some fall color would be icing on the cake.

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Comments (6)

amysrq
15 years ago
I am new to zone 5 but have been doing a lot of research about the same. In Florida, we had crepe myrtles that could be pruned into just such a shape. The closest thing I think I've found is an Amelanchier. You can get them with multiple stems and then prune them up. Some have great Fall color. But, they are deciduous. Oh....I just looked. They do make berries, so maybe that's not a good idea for you. Nice plant though.
runktrun
15 years ago
How about a wisteria standard? Keep in mind what ever standard you chose will like a tree make a fair amount of shade for the plants below it, under my wisteria I have hellebore growing happily. kt

Here is a link that might be useful: White Flower Farm
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It looks like your neighbor owns the fence, correct? I'd choose plants that won't do any damage to the fence (no poking through with limbs that could get fat & stress the pickets, nothing that drops berries that could stain it). Do they power-wash the fence? If so, leave a buffer of empty space between your shrubs and their fence so you can hopefully put up plastic to deflect the high velocity soapy water. I'm just thinking the worst because your neighbor sounds difficult to deal with. A friend had a berm & many shrubs planted to give her yard some privacy, it was exposed on 2 sides. I can't advise you on what conifers will do well in your zone, but I can tell you what has worked (and not worked) in her landscape now 8 years later ... Planting white pines gave her near-instant privacy, but is now crowding everything else. I think they were put in to be a temporary measure but she loves the way they block visibility in the winter so she's torn about getting rid of them. Planting several different kinds of a single plant worked well. She has a ton of lilacs which extends the bloom time. Planting bushy perennials at the feet of those lilacs works well to hide their less-attractive leggy bits. But she finds the perennials & lilacs compete for water in the summer so she put in a soaker hose. She has some purple-foliaged shrub/trees like a purple sand cherry - that adds some nice contrast when nothing is in flower. Purple is the only colored foliage she went with, so the effect is calm. She had one big shrub with leaves with white margins. It always looked sickly from a distance, even though it wasn't. Since you'll be seeing this area from a distance you probably want to stand WAY back from variegated foliage to figure out if you have the same thoughts about those plants. She wanted something for the local wildlife to snack on, so she added rosa rugosa for their rose hips. They are pretty and they tolerate the sand/salt from the road nearby - but they aren't so pretty in winter. It's a love/hate relationship. Is there a wealthy neighborhood or town nearby that you can drive through? That's my fall back position when I know I want to do something but I'm not sure what will look good. I go look at what combinations look good in other people's yards! Good luck with the planting and with the neighbor.
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That's a beautiful setting. Are you going to grow roses on your arbors? For me privet is a weed..comes up everywhere and gets as tall as a small tree. I am not winning the war against weeds here but just have to do battle with them. You can always use a weedeater. But a fence seems to me an invitation for grass and weeds to grow up next to it. One more expensive possibility would be to build a low rock or brick wall instead of a fence. You could clear out the grass and weeds on the inside, and either not worry about the other side or weedeater around it. It seems like a choice between growing things you want along your wire fence or neatness. Not sure you can get neatness and the plants too without a lot of weeding. I don't know if I'd want to try to keep the outside of the garden neat. Hmm..maybe on the outside of the fence you could put some rocks flat on the ground with some spaces between them. PLant what you want in the spaces. You'd still have to weed but maybe less. Another possibility...make a REALLY low brick or rock wall, then have your wire fence above that. Hand weed on the inside, weedeater on the outside. That would be a major undertaking of course but you could do it gradually. Especially if you have suitable rocks on your property. A commercial edging might serve the same purpose. If I were you I'd concentrate on the garden within your enclosure and let the outside be natural. Linda
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Once again, a trip to a good local nursery should provide you with many choices, specially at this time of year when many of these places feature fall planting sales. You could consider a collection of dwarf conifers, which offer a wide array of shapes, sizes and foliage color. Broadleaf evergreens I particularly value for extremely low maintenance and all around good looks are Viburnum tinus 'Spring Bouquet', 'Newport Dwarf' escallonia, various nandinas, Cotoneaster glaucophylla, Euonymus japonicus var. microphylla (boxleaf euonymus - assorted variegated forms to chose from) and hebes, but there are scores of others. And there are many deciduous shrubs that offer stunning fall color or late season blooms. Most of these will not offer too much interest during winter but twig dogwoods are standouts and oakleaf hydrangeas generally hold their richly colored fall foliage well into winter.
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DK, I’m glad you mentioned that having the back of the home facing south would mean the master suite would be warmer as well. I don’t think that would be optimal in the Deep South - it’s just sweltering, and I cannot tolerate being hot in our bedroom. Is it crazy that I may now try to position our new home to AVOID the hot afternoon sun??!! I like light and all, but since it was mentioned that it won’t be a dungeon, I think I’m good with just some light trickling in the living room. Hubs is very sensitive to light and would be as happy in a cave... so he’s not too concerned about a lot of natural light coming in. We are doing lots of recessed lights throughout the home, and almost all will have dimmers, as I enjoy them in our current home and like the ability to have something in between dark and “in your face bright” on occasion. :) Funny you mention landscaping, as my husband owns a landscape company! I know nothing about any of it, but I’ve heard him mention things like this several times when a client wants ABC plants for a certain location, but only XYZ plants will thrive there. After speaking with my husband about the whole skylight/sun tube issue, he was not a fan - and for the exact same reasons given here (additional heat, “putting holes in the roof”/compromising structural integrity, additional cost, cost of potential repairs, etc... so it sounds like that’s out. He did say he might consider a couple of skylights in the roof on the covered porch only, but feels like that defeats the purpose of a COVERED porch. I mean, he’s not wrong there. LOL All that said, there has been a ton of good information given, and I appreciate all of it! I welcome and appreciate any and all suggestions and opinions - I’ve learned so much from y’all! Keep ‘em coming!
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annie_knot
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you both for your suggestiongs. The wisteria is gorgeous! And I just bought some hellebore - a new plant for me! I fear that in my location the wisteria would grow "into" the porch since the top flattens/spreads out. I looked up the amelanchier. There is a small one called Prince William and a prettier (I think) but larger one called Princess Diana. They are very slow growers. yes, they have berries but they are edible and tasty, if I could beat the birds to them. I also found a purple leaf sand cherry that is multi-stemmed and could be limbed up. Any experience with those?
claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
15 years ago
Have you thought of a climbing rose on a trellis instead of a flowering shrub? I have Zephirine Drouhin roses to add some privacy to my covered porch.

When this photo was taken, the roses were climbing on the railing and post - since then I've put trellises up so the coverage will be more even.

Claire
annie_knot
Original Author
15 years ago
Wow - beautiful. No, I hadn't thought of that. I would need rather high trellises. But maybe "my" carpenter could build something that is high and is supported at the roof line. This would also block some of the intense afternoon sun. A very good idea which I will ponder.
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
15 years ago
Another vine would be clematis, though it might take a year or three to provide good coverage. If you bought a large one (silver star vinery is a good source of big healthy clematis without a huge price) it would fill in faster. You could grow it up a trellis on the porch or a free-standing obelisk/tuteur. Annual vines, such as scarlet runner beans or black-eyed susan vines running up a net, wire mesh, or strings might provide good seasonal coverage until whatever you decide for your permanent solution gets big enough. Even the trellis itself can provide some screening.

If you are looking for privacy when deciduous plants have lost their leaves there are some narrow evergreens (not flowering, I know) that you might want to consider as an addition. Do a search for columnar evergreens.

Look into some of the hardy hydrangeas. I've seen some of the varieties of H. paniculata, which will be fully hardy for you, pruned into tree forms. If you use the search function in this forum, there are a couple of old threads on hydrangeas which have several images of various H. paniculata varieties. Some of the varieties include Limelight, Pinky Winky, Tardiva, Kyushu, and The Swan. Be sure to check width, since they are not all the same size.

Here is a link that might be useful: Silver Star Vinery

flowering shrub along back of covered porch

Comments (6)

amysrq

runktrun

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flowering shrub along back of covered porch

Comments (6)

amysrq

runktrun

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annie_knotOriginal Author

claireplymouth z6b coastal MA

annie_knotOriginal Author

NHBabs z4b-5a NH

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annie_knot
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annie_knot
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