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Ideas for quick screen planting in front of porch

9 years ago

I have a couple of old junipers in front of my east-facing screen porch that are getting a bit unmanageable these days as they sprawl in different directions trying to find light. I have to cut them back quite a bit each year so that the sidewalk is still usable, so I'm thinking it's nearing time to replace them with something new. If I do I'll miss the privacy they give the porch.

Any suggestions for a partial sun annual or fast-growing perennial, native to the central US, say 3-5 feet high, that will maintain decent structure through the fall? It's mesic soil, reasonably drained silty clay loam, probably somewhat acidic although I haven't yet had the soil tested. In the long term the area will get shadier and may involve shrubs, moving the sidewalk farther away, etc., but I'm not ready to put a lot of effort into it now since I'm busy working on a rain garden in the back yard.

I've thought about a shorter Joe Pye Weed like E. dubium 'Little Joe'. It's not native to my area and would probably require some irrigation during the summer, but it's available locally and seems like it would fill space quickly.

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Comments (5)

wisconsitom
9 years ago
Woods, before I launch into a mile-long list of suitable species, I would like to say, junipers are preeminently prunable plants. One can literally keep them in bounds almost indefinitely if one so desires, via heading back cuts ad infinitum. Just keep the base of the plant ever so slightly wider than the top, so that top stuff doesn't shade out the bottom, and you can prune every year for darn near forever. I'm sure large listings of plant types will arrive shortly!

+om
WoodsTea 6a MO
Original Author
9 years ago
I go back and forth about the junipers. The most interesting part for me are the twisting trunks now visible after years of pruning away dead foliage at the bottom. I'm reminded that once, in grad school, I saw a professor cut down a juniper on a Colorado ranch that we later ring-dated to 500+ years old. He had got his corer stuck in the trunk and wanted it back. :-P

I think it's partly that the pruning process isn't particularly pleasant. Nor is picking bagworms off them.
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wisconsitom
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Ah, bagworms. Yes, I'd not like that either. I'm fortunate to live in a sufficiently cold region such that we do not (yet) have this pest. Joe Pye is one of my favorites for sure. It is also the favorite to lots of bees and butterflies, so much so that in my wet meadow up north, if I go there on a late summer day, the air is literally alive with these insects. I like that effect there, but would you want such a strong pollinator attractor so near the porch? Just something to think about.

Some of the Sylphiums could give you that kind of height also, and seem to hold up well into winter arou nd here. I'm sure there's oodles more ideas though.

+oM
WoodsTea 6a MO
Original Author
9 years ago
Silphiums are an interesting suggestion, certainly a fast grower. I think the two that I'm familiar with -- S. laciniatum and S. terebinthinaceum -- are taller than I'd want for this location. I also wonder if they'd flop or lean in only morning sun.

Pollinators are no problem, the porch is screened and I'm quite happy to watch bees and butterflies just outside of it. Or hummingbirds. I sometimes think about building an arbor that arches across in front of the porch opening and growing something like Lonicera sempervirens up the south side of it.
wisconsitom
9 years ago
Yes, that would be cool. Good hummingbird potential for sure with that one!

+om

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