Shrubs for Fence, Sun and Drought tolerant

11 years ago

This question was on the Gallery so am transfering it here to the wider readership. Please check it out and post suggestions in either place.

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Comments (5)

bostedo: 8a tx-bp-dfw
11 years ago
Dwarf yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria) is readily available, fairly inexpensive in 1 gal size, takes full Texas sun, reasonably drought/pest tolerant, tops out around 3 ft, and would remain a pretty dense windbreak year round. The main downside is lack of seasonal variation. It will be rock solid reliable, but could become a rather boring border in the quantity you're needing. It will also take 4+ years to approach 3 ft from a 1 gal start.

If not in a rush, you might experiment with autumn sage (salvia greggii). Though not as dense as the yaupon, it should be nearly evergreen in your zone. Height falls in the 2-4 ft range depending upon the cultivar. It grows quickly and is fairly easy to propagate from cuttings, so you could get all the plants you need within a season or two from a single parent. Red flowering is probably most common, but many others are available. Size and shape do seem to vary a bit by cultivar/color, so may need to experiment if you want to mix them up and get the look you are after. Weaknesses are low tolerance for wet feet and brittle branches. Brittleness is offset by rapid growth, but could be a problem if there are pets that like to check out the fence.
badducky
11 years ago
Cenizo, a.k.a. texas Sage, a.k.a. barometer bush is the best thing that ever happened to our fenceline, and if I had my way, I'd take out all the rest of our redbud and holly and boxwood hedging to replace it with that. The advantages of aesthetics are huge, because it is a gorgeous plant with a gorgeous flower, as well as how I never have to water it but every once and a while. The less I water it, the better it does. (Unlike those thirsty, annoying boxwoods!)

I'm also a huge fan of double-knock-out roses for security hedging. Kumquats and Calomondins, too, if you're southern enough for the citrus.
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Comments (5)
KnockOut roses are a thought - colors are single red, blush (pink), rainbow (pinkish with a yellow eye), double red (with a slightly lighter eye), and a double pink should be out later this spring. They get to 2-3' with the same or a bit more width. I know you said not rugosas, but..., these are more shrub roses. If they don't appeal, there are other "ground cover" roses and small shrub roses that might work. If caryopteris is hardy for you, any of the various cultivars would be attractive - summer flowers in blue. One of the smaller, color variants of juniper might also be a thought. Hinoki falsecypres is hardy to z5, as are the japanes cedars. Junipers also have variations in shape that might work. They ARE slow growing, but one of the lower-growing (not the upright ones) yews might also work. What about one of the hardy azaleas - they may continue to need supplemental watering? The hardier spireas, and also, New Jersey tea, one of the lower-growing blueberries, or possibly clethra (it does like wet, but can survive in dry), are other possibilties.
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every county has a soil conservation district office ... in spring.. and sometimes in fall .. they off native ... small... stock.... for wind break purposes ... another word for a wind break.. is a sight break ... e.g. they sell pines in my area.. 25 for $16 .... at about one foot tall .... so you might be able to cover a lot of ground ... for not a lot of money.. with stock that is chosen for your county ... the lists usually offer trees.. conifers.. and shrubs .... thats were i would start ... let us know what they suggest .... ken ps: no matter what you decide to do .... go diverse .. a nice mixture of many different types of things for your project ...
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Stachys byzantina 'Helen von Stein' (big ears) is my favorite and it has never bloomed. The smaller ones bloom and then they (to me) are a mess to deadhead and keep neat looking compared to big ears. Here's one of mine with a rose campion pretending to bloom out of it. :-) Thyme is also good. If you like lime/bright, the spirea 'Limemound' is a great little thing when used as a companion with plants of blue foliage/blooms. I have it beside a nepeta. I wish I could send you some of my creeping perennial heliotrope 'Azure Skies' as it blooms not stop from spring until frost. A great groundcover that resembles verbena. Totally deer and rabbit proof. It even floats across my stream and can take full sun or partial shade. A few plants and you can keep taking cuttings to create as much as you want.
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Comments (6)
Gray pine might work but favors certain soils in Sierra & Coast Range foothills. I used to have a landscape design/const business in Sacto, so here's my bias and WAG, due to not knowing where you are or what Sunset Zone or whether you are watering or aspect or soil or not that much to go on: You'll want to look at the natives - coast live oak, valley oak - because when you look around at the open space, that's what you see, with a bay or three like you see in Coast Range. You can do crape myrtles if you water them at least ~once a month in that place. Light shade and fls you may want to look at acacias (but not A. baileyana, esp as a good zero water groundcover is Acacia redolens, lots of good acacias on the UCD campus in the arboretum (as are other xeric choices). Other trees include sweet bay, African sumac Rhus lancea, maybe CA laurel Umbellularia californica. Messy but fast is CA pepper Schinus molle until the others grow in and it dies off. A good understory in the meantime and afterward is essential and consider California buckeye, Aesculus californica and CA flannel bush, Fremontodendron californicum with western redbud Cercis occidentalis and that will make your guests and family happy. More floriferous and no water but more sun include Chilopsis linearis and X chitalpa tashkentensis and perhaps with a splash of water Xanthoceras sorbifolium, no water along the Bay Area freeways is the spring red fls of Leptospermum scoparium and a good native Carpenteria californica. Dan
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whitecap
11 years ago
Rosemary?
cynthianovak
11 years ago
I think Knockouts would be great and you could get them at a good price since so many places have them.

If I had to work with an iron fence, I would be tempted to use sweet Tea Olive. I love the leaves and the fragrance. Mine takes brutal west sun and heat and minimal water and keeps coming back. It is not tree like, rather is a shrub.

I wish I had a place to have a row of them

c
wantonamara Z8 CenTex
11 years ago
mexican oregano, shrubby germanders ( teucrium ructicans), Teucrium chamaedrys (upright germander)

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Shrubs for Fence, Sun and Drought tolerant

Comments (5)

bostedo: 8a tx-bp-dfw

badducky

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whitecap

cynthianovak

wantonamara Z8 CenTex

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