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Looking for a fast growing shrub that likes wet feet

nancyjane_gardener

8 years ago

Hi guys. I'm usually on the vege forum, but I need some advise on bushes/shrubs.

My neighbor just cut all of the Monterey Pines that separated our properties (They weren't the right trees for the area and were dying from the drought}

What we are looking for is a fast growing bush/shrub/maybe even tree that can handle wet feet (We get very boggy during a wet season, concrete-like clay in the summer !)

I thought of Oleanders, but they like it dry (hense the freeway bushes)

One of the tree cutters mentioned Piti or privy something or other (I wasn't here, off on vacation) or I would have written it down!

My red tipped photinia seems to handle the drought part of it's life, and grows fast, but I'm not sure about the boggy part as it's up on a raised type bed.

I'm in drought (soon to be el ninoed) No Ca. Nancy

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Comments (10)

nancyjane_gardener
Original Author
8 years ago
No help out there?
Mike McGarvey
8 years ago
You're thinking of Pittosporum.

I'm confused. You say your neighbor's Monterrey Pines were dying because of the drought yet you want to replace them for privacy with something that likes wet feet.

Mike
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I'm blanking. I can't think of anything that would put on that kind of height in one year - nothing you'd want, anyway, and nothing that would provide year-round privacy. The only thing that might do the job might be privet. There is a variegated privet that grows like a weed here in TN. But I'm not even sure, if you bought small plants of it, that it would grow that quickly when young. Most things I can think of would take about three years to reach a good size. I put in some Leyland Cypress, Green Giant Arborvitae and Yoshino Cryptomeria as a screen about two and a half years ago, and they are just now starting to do the job. These were touted as some of the fastest-growing evergreens, which is why I chose them. But even they took a couple of years. The Leyland has been the fastest among them.
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I have photina fraseri hedges and they are excellent for tall privacy screens. They are in full sun and I never need to water them since they have become established. They take severe pruning without any ill effects and I have even seen them espaliered to less than 2' wide and 10' plus tall. I have mine at the bottom of a small slope and they still block my uphill neighbor's basketball court and light poles. I had a smaller hedge of them next to a fence which did succumb to that fungus/blight disease but that was only after my neighbor butchered a large percentage of the bush off that was growing over the fence toward the sun. They are much healthier with full sun. Summers here regularly are in the 90's with periodic hot spells up to 115. Winter lows regularly in 30's and occasionally lower. The only negative is that I find the scent of the small white flowers disagreeable. The foliage is of a coarser texture than the xylosma. The leaves being larger and thicker. Also the branches can become quite thick and sturdy which may be an advantage in windy areas. The foliage of the photina is a darker green while the xylosma is a brighter spring apple green. Both need to be clipped to keep confined as they will grow into a enormous mound otherwise. I'm considering replacing the hedge that died with xylosma to block the neighbor's view of our deck but would really like to use standard lemon trees. I need something around 15' tall minimum and evergreen. Has anyone ever tried doing this? and was it necessary to espalier them or will judicious pruning suffice?
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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
8 years ago
Don't choose Pittosporum; it is very prone to phytophthora (a root rot disease) if planted in a site that remains wet for long periods of time.
nancyjane_gardener
Original Author
8 years ago
Miketann, usually we have plenty of rain, 35+ inches and the neighbor's property gets some flooding. We're in year 4 of a drought and it's not just cause of the drought, but the trees are not suited for this area and were dying.

We are hoping with the El Nino to get back to some normal rainfall...and that means flooding again. We are in a valley with a normally high water table. Our rain stops about April/May and we don't get much if any til November, so it dries up and the clay turns to concrete!

Sooooooo we need drought tolerant, fast growing bushes that can also handle wet feet in the winter! Clear as mud????? ;) Nancy
Mike McGarvey
8 years ago
LOL, clear as mud. :-)

We have as much rain here in the Seattle area and we have dry summers also. The difference is, we aren't as hot so the soil doesn't dry out as fast.

Perhaps the California Forum can come up with suggestions.

Mike
User
8 years ago
Nancyjane,

...I wonder if you might be interested in Callistemon shrubs... natives of Australia but they also grow well in California.... in Australia they grow wild all over the coastal areas, and are often found in 'billabongs'... seasonally flooded areas that are dry for long periods...

...over here, I have grown the variety Callistemon citrinus 'splendens'.... successfully in zone 8.... it's quite hardy and tolerant of drought and wet...

...here is a link to a Californian nursery that offers it, I'm sure there must be lots of others, but it just gives some basic information that might interest you....

Callistemon
nancyjane_gardener
Original Author
8 years ago
Marlorena, thanks! We have those all over the place around here! Do they grow fairly quickly?
User
8 years ago
..I expect they would for your area Nancyjane,... I did wonder if you would already be familiar with these... I do like the red variety very much and had a large bush of that in my last garden... it was fairly quick growing even here... but I expect they grow a lot bigger in California...
nancyjane_gardener
Original Author
8 years ago
I'll have to OK it with the neighbor, but this sounds like a good one. Thanks Nancy
nancyjane_gardener
Original Author
8 years ago
OK, went to the nursery around the corner and they gave us quite a tour and a variety of shrubs to choose from....plus a 10% discount for being neighbors! Also a planting plan! PLUS she's the best gossip in the neighborhood! ;) LOL! Her hubby showed up and asked what in the heck was going ON with our property! He was the one who DXed our poor Chinese Elm with Dutch Elm disease and planted new trees for us. He keeps track of the neighborhood trees! Nancy

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