Suggestions for Fast Growing Tall Evergreen Hedge/Screen
hvaldez
13 years ago
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Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
13 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
13 years agoRelated Discussions
Need Dense Fast-Growing Evergreen for Long Formal Hedge in NC
Comments (15)I second the suggestion on Ilex crenata--it really looks like boxwood and is easily trimmed. I find it's growth moderate. I have one large specimen and it seems always to need a haircut. There are other species of Ilex (Holly). Some of them native to your area (Ilex vomitoria)--but not sure of its growth rate. Photinia "red tip" grows very fast but I understand they suffer some kind of fungal problems in the South--especially when grown close together. I'm sure there are many possibilities for plants but the ones I have used for formal hedges include azaleas, Photinias, holly, boxwood, and Euonymous japonica....See MoreLooking for narrow fast growing evergreens for screening
Comments (15)Dax and Dave, Thanks to both of you for contributing. I've been thinking about the 'Fastigiata' - and will consider the points made. It may not matter that it spreads open as it ages - but need to think about that. I'm also wondering if it may not get big enough for my needs - have seen some places say 30 ft ht at maturity (others say up to 50-60) and this is for Fastigiata. hmm, will need to check specs again. Dave, I've seen links of it before but thanks for posting your link, it was helpful of course. This is quoted from one link I saw (link below) - ''Pinus strobus 'Fastigiata' - a narrow, upright vased to ascending columnar form, with branches that hug close to the central leader in youth, becoming more spreading with age, maturing at 60' tall by 20' wide'' at link below from Ohio State. Dave, are you saying 'Stowe Pillar' would grow 10 ft in 10 years -or were you referring to a different tree? Dax, good reminder about the time it takes trees to get established and then start to shoot up. I googled Larry Stanley and didn't find anything specific - also other than back to GardenWeb sites here. Any help on that appreciated. Is Larry Stanley a wholesaler or informational/educational/blog? Still thinking and considering but need to make decision soon since I would like to plant this spring. Here is a link that might be useful: link for Pinus Strobus and var. 'Fastigiata'...See MoreFast Growing Evergreen Privacy Hedge
Comments (17)I thought Viburnum Odoratissimum would be a good idea as a fence line hedge. Planted a line of them to cover 120' front property line. They have been awful. Disease prone, all sorts of insect pest, and likely a lot of the problems has been caused by the long term drought. These things are not as drought tolerant as reported, not here. Not on this sand soil I have in southern Pinellas. In fact after looking around at where these things are used, due to how common they are and price they are a favorite at shopping centers and gov. buildings I an not unique with these pitiful things. All over they are sparse in growth with a ton of dead branches. Again I suspect this is because they are not getting enough water. I will never use this junk again. They have struggled for 8 yrs and only one of the 12 has done goodd. Aphids, thrips, scale, you name it they get it when they do grow like now. What I have found working very well though it must be trimmed is the small tree/shrub, the native wax myrtle. Incredible how it thrives wet or dry and when trimmed produces a thick bush shrub privacy effect. However left on its own without trimming it will get a bit more tree like and that is fine too. It will sucker some but comparing these two plants for my purpose hands down winner is the wax myrtle....See MoreTall, fast-growing evergreen screen?
Comments (6)I haven't said anything yet because I am very far south...almost in Texas....so don't have the same soil, heavier rainfall (most years) or humidity here that y'all tend to have up there. I was hoping someone in the Tulsa area would respond and give you their thoughts. Since they haven't, here's mine: First of all, I'd look around the area and note which conifers have survived this year's drought and still look good. Then, I'd consider those types if I was determined to plant a conifer. Keep in mind that survival has as much to do with watering techniques as anything else so plan ahead for how you can consistently provide water in future summers, particularly drought summers. A sprinkler system is a huge help, but in the absence of one, you can put down simple drip irrigation lines very easily. I'd buy quality irrigation line, and DripWorks is an online retailer that sells quality products. That where we bought our dripline system. Secondly, it is very unfortunate that fast-growing plants tend to be weak-wooded which means they often will die faster too. It is better to buy something slightly slower-growing that is a higher-quality plant and that has better longevity. Third, if the choice is between conifers and broad-leaved evergreens, my personal preference is always going to be for broad-leaved evergreens. In recent years, millions of conifers in the USA, including many in Oklahoma, have fallen prey to bark beetles, which ultimately kill them. Also, from the point of view of someone who has been to many wildfires since 2004, I'd just like to add that when you have conifers near any structure on your property, if a wildfire approaches, they go up like torches and help spread the fires. Even after going to dozens and dozens of wildfires a year in a bad fire year, it still astonishes me when I watch those cedars going up like torches. It is just mind-blowing to watch the fire hit those conifers. If you are close enough, you hear the "whoosh" type sound they make as they flame up in just an instant. We live on acreage in a rural area that is heavily infested with eastern red cedar and we have removed dozens and dozens of them that were within 300' of our home. We did this because when they burn, they can explode and send burning sap flying through the air. The further the trees are from your house and any other structures, the better. Fourth, I just happen to love hollies of all types, and for good reason. They are not as fast-growing as conifers, but they do grow pretty quickly. They are high-quality, look pretty all year long, are fairly drought-tolerant (though they will need irrigation until they are well-established and will need some irrigation in drought periods), do not have a lot of pests and form nice thick screens for privacy hedges. We have a two-story house and wanted to plant tall shrubs near it that would be in scale with the house, and then put shorter shrubs in front of them. We choose Burford hollies after much research and never have regretted it. We intended to let them reach their full mature size and somewhat pyramidal shape and never intended to prune them into unnatural formal hedges, so we spaced them very carefully so they would not be too close to the house or to one another. How has it worked out? Beautifully. The older ones on the south side of the house are about 8 or 9 years old and are so well-established that they do not have to be watered very much even in periods of severe through exceptional drought. There are some younger ones on the east side of the house that are only 4 years old, and they need more irrigation since their root systems are not yet as large, but eventually they'll get big enough that I won't have to water them often. This summer I have watered them about once a week, watering for a long period of time at a low rate to that the water could soak deeply into the soil. Both Nellie R. Stevens Holly and Foster's Holly are fine hollies and I would not hesitate to plant either one. One consideration that might be more important for you since you are further north than I am would be the effect of ice storms on them. However, that's going to be true with any evergreen when there is an ice storm, whether it is a conifer or a broadleaf plant. We haven't had much ice here since moving here in 1999, but y'all have ice storms a lot more frequently up there. I hate that you lost your Ponderosa pines, but am not surprised. Many people in your area also lost their Thuja plants in last year's drought, and for much of your area, I think this year's drought was even more severe than last year's. Often, shrubs that can withstand an occasional bad drought year cannot withstand repeated ones. Our neighbor catty-corner across the road from us lost a long row of Ponderosa pines planted as a screen along a fenceline back in either June or July of this year, but he lost them to wildfire. They were about 20-25 years old and were very tall and beautiful. Our VFD got there pretty quickly and stopped the fire pretty fast, all things considered, but it started right beside that row of pines and a substantial portion of them were fully engulfed when we arrived on the scene. He also had dead cedar trees lying on the ground that he was in the middle of cutting and removing, so those poor pines didn't stand a chance with those cedars to fuel the fire. With wildfires becoming more common here since 2005, every decision we make about our landscape nowadays takes into consideration the principles of firewise landscaping too. Had we know when we moved here in the late 1990s that the 2000s would bring repeated years of drought and wildfire, there are some landscaping decisions we would have made differently than we did then. That doesn't mean we are tearing out the landscaping we have, but it does mean that when an area is redone, we'll be careful to incorporate the principles of firewise landscaping to the extent that we can. Good luck making your selection and replacing your trees. I hope you'll let us know which ones you selected and how it works out for you over the next few years. Dawn...See Morejavan
13 years agodawnbc
13 years agohvaldez
13 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
13 years agoDan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
13 years agohvaldez
13 years agoDan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
13 years agohvaldez
13 years agoEmbothrium
13 years agobotann
13 years agoEmbothrium
13 years agoyoshiNewton
9 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
9 years ago
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