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Trees & Shrubs - Australia

Suitable conifer type tree for privacy hedging

19 years ago

We have just bought a block of land in Melbourne, Australia which has a older home on it. Our plans for this block are to knock the house down in a couple of years and build a new home on it. Block size is 20.1 meters wide by 50 meters depth. We would be looking to put a pool etc in the back and so would like some privacy hedging following the fenceline in a U shape in the backyard - a total of about 56 meters. Because the block slopes backward from the road and due to the design of the house the level of the pool would be approximately 2m above the natural fall of the land, so these screening trees would need to be atleast 4 - 5 tall or taller at their final height. These trees would also need to be fairly fast growing so that starting at a plant about 1 meter tall, they are at least 3 odd meters in 2 years. Finally these trees would need to be reasonably sized at the base say 1.5 to 2 meters diameter so as not to take up too much usable backyard space

I am open to suggestions but I was wanting to limit myself to conifers or the like because I feels that any other type of foliage would drop too many leaves etc into abovementioned pool - Guess whose job it will be to clean that up !!!!

The local nursery recommended "castewallen gold" but it seems that this particular species tends to be about 4 m diameter at the base.

I would appreciate any suggestions

Regards

Prem

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Comments (4)

wombat
19 years ago
Don't want to burst your bubble, but all trees drop their leaves, including conifers.

I have a row of some sort of conifer that has little round seed pods. In addition to the leaves that fall naturally seemingly all year round, they are also incredibly messy whenever it is windy and gutter cleaning is a regular chore. The hard round seed pods are a real joy to walk on - hurt muchly if you are bare foot, very easy to turn your ankle if wearing shoes.

And if that isn't enough, in spring the trees flower. And discharge huge amounts of pollen - yellow dust which covers everything.

And do remember that these trees are not going to stop growing at 3-4 metres.

If it were my swimming pool, I think I would prefer a deciduous tree that dropped it's bundle once a year.

If you have a neighbour on the other side of the fence, do remember that these trees are also going to affect his/her gardening in the area of the trees.
wombat
19 years ago
Your choice of tree is going to depend on climate, soil and your personal preferences.

If it was my garden (and this is just my personal preference) I would choose something that gave a tropical looking background to the pool. And tropical to me, in my area of hard winter frosts and occasional snow, is an evergreen with dark green, shiny leaves.

Would any of the Lilli Pillis grow in your area - for example Syzygium luehmannii - very dense, usually narrow and can be pruned. There's a nice photo at the site mentioned below. They grow well in Wollongong - would depend on your climate.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.brisrain.webcentral.com.au/database/Syzyg_leuhmannii.htm
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Immediate full coverage is going to be difficult to achieve......sorry. The landscaper was correct - few conifers will establish in heavy shade and with that much root competition, especially ones with any size on them to begin with. Aucuba japonica, Japanese laurel, is a very shade tolerant broadleaf evergreen shrub. It will grow in almost total shade and is relatively drought tolerant. But it is probable that the largest you could find to plant will only be about 3-4' to begin with and you will have to be patient while they grow. Getting them enough water to begin with will help establishment and encourage more rapid growth. But it will be a few years until they reach a height to provide much screening. They can get 10-12' eventually. Another option is bamboo. Don't freak out! I am referring to a cold hardy clumping bamboo, like one of the Fargesia species. Clumping bamboos are very well behaved - they do not spread aggressively like a running bamboo, but remain in a controlled clump like a very large ornamental grass. Fargesia is very shade tolerant and will take temps down to 0F. Again, you will need to provide adequate water while it is establishing, perhaps for the first couple of growing seasons. The advantage of a bamboo is that it will already have some serious height to it - you will likely find plants available that are already 6-8' tall - and it puts on height rapidly. Once established, new canes emerging will grow rapidly to the full mature height. Depending on the species, Fargesia will grow 8-20' tall.
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btw embo ... that looks like a winter lawn in my MI .... not necessarily underfed ... at this time of year ... what i look for.. is weeds ... and that lawn is prime ... its been cared for in that regard.. which makes me thinks it has also been properly fed ... OP ... do keep in mind ... most conifers.. trees... do not need to be fed ... they are never HUNGRY ... but we insure the soil is fertile.. and take action if need me ... which IMHO ... is rare ... and in fact.. when your plants get going.. and actually put roots out under the lawn ... and if that lawn is fertd.. these things will get more than enough of anything they may need ... finally ... lawn watering.. is rarely proper watering for new transplants... do not rely on such .... though.. once fully established ... they should be rather free range ... refer to watering at the link ... ken https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub
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wombat
19 years ago
This site has a list of lilli pilli which may interest you.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.greengold.com.au/greengold/CARENOTES/CARENOTES/lilypily.htm
Granville44
19 years ago
Hi Prem
We have the Castwellean Gold along the outside of our swimming pool fence but as we are on acreage the size doesn't matter. But they don't drop any pods, leaves or anything else. YOu're right thought - eventually they will become too big for where you want them.

Juniper 'Hibernica' grows to 3 - 4.5 m tall and 0.6 - 1.2m wide - they are dense with a blue-green foliage. I have one in the garden and I love the colour. No problems with dropping anything that I can see.

xCupressocyparis leylandii (Leyland Cypress) is fast growing and takes well to trimming - deep green - can grow after 10 years to something like 100 feet if left untouched but .. if you want privacy??? Naylor's Blue has a more bluish green foliage and is more columnar in habit.

Barb

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