Hi- We have a small backyard and a camellia "tree" in the back corner that provides privacy and a sense of enclosure (we have two-story neighbors directly behind us to each side, with fencing all around). I've determined it probably has some kind of dieback / root rot and will need to be removed, so I'm thinking about possible replacements. Given our location, yard and needs, the specs on what might work are pretty limiting - so turning to this group for some creative ideas. Here's what we need: - Overall objective is privacy, so needs to grow to ~8-10 feet, but can be maintained at max 12 ft height without too much difficulty, as there are overhead power lines. The camellia we had seemed to naturally top out right around 10 ft. - Would like a perennial so that we have privacy year-round - Space isn't huge, so ideally would be something that can be shaped to be narrower at the bottom and branch out at the top (the camellia had been trained into a sort of canopy that was perfect) - Would like to avoid a conifer - wouldn't fit particularly well with the other plants in our yard (FYI: pink jasmine, lavendar, cistus, coleonema, tibouchina, the ubiquitous and invasive calla lilies). So something with evergreen foliage would be better. - Fast-growing - Soil is quite sandy and drains well, but this is still a reasonably damp part of the yard, so we need to avoid something that is really susceptible to rot / can't take regular watering (which the neighboring plants require) - Ideally produces flowers / has some color - We're in San Francisco, which I've seen described as USDA Zone 8 or 10 online, and Sunset Zone 17. But it never freezes, never gets above 85 degrees, days often start and end overcast but are blue sky from 10am-4pm, and we have a chilly fog that blows through our backyard every night during the summer months. Recently very limited rainfall (~15-16"/year). Tree/shrub would be in borderline full sun / partial sun. I'd appreciate any suggestions that you have! Thanks in advance Becky

You could go native and put in a flannelbush (Fremontodendron californicum). Drought tolerant, beautiful flowers, about 10' tall, dense evergreen foliage... I've seen some growing on the east side of the city (potrero). I don't know how one would do in the fog belt but it could be okay. Other thoughts, how about a loquat? They grow well in the city, have nice dense foliage, and can be kept at about that height with a little maintenance. I also have seen a nice hibiscus in the city that might fit your needs.

No doubt that moving is a pain, however, I think that longer you have stayed in one place you tend to accumulate more junk and moving takes longer. I have much more than a 1,000 square ft. yard to take care of. Mine is just short of a half acre. What I have done is let a large part of it be taken over by bushes that I don't need to take care of, but are excellent hummingbird and butterfly plants. I have two large sections that are almost completely covered by Hamelia Patens or Firebush. Another large section is covered by large purple porterweeds and Cuphea Schumannii. The Schumannii have colonized another large section of the yard. Each year more and more of the yard is covered by plants that have turned out to be perennials here. My biggest fear is a long, hard freeze which would kill off some these plants, although probably not down to the roots. I do spend a lot of time taking care of the yard. I keep thinking of hiring people to help. I will do that some time in the future :) Still, it does take time and effort to work in the yard. Hopefully it will get a bit easier with the cooler weather.

CJ I appreciate your quest for top quality fruit. You won't find it at a supermarket or farmers market for stonefruit. You can get excellent pears at the grocery because pears are best picked hard and let to ripen off the tree. Even a home grower does this. Pears that ripen on the tree have the texture ruined. Stone fruit is picked under-ripe/hard so it can be packed & shipped. Notice even at the farmers market they are piled on each other in boxes. You can't do that with ripe fruit! No home grower of stone fruit picks them early unless they are processing the fruit. When a person (like Chloe for ex.) says the great peaches they are getting at the store it's a red flag to me they have never had a properly managed tree ripened peach. My yard is very fragrant with the smell of ripening fruit. A ripe peach will come off the tree with a gentle twist. Just grabbing it will indent on the fruit. There is a strong smell. I stay outside to eat the peach because it is messy. The flesh melts as you bite into it, juice spills down your chin and onto the ground. It's very sticky because there is a lot of sugar in it. You can't believe how good it tastes. You won't be able to buy a peach at the store for fresh eating after trying this. It sounds like you are in bay area. I would offer you one of my fruits but I sold my home in San Jose last summer. I hope the new owners are enjoying all my stone fruit. Like you I can't bring myself to buy the rocks at the store. So if you are in the bay area: https://www.facebook.com/JandPFarms/ I was lucky enough to live down the street from this guy. He has an honor system fruit stand. The best fruit ironically is the cheap bruised/damaged items because they are the ripest, hence the damage. A lot of the pretty fruit is picked too early because birds hit his trees hard. Still they will be better than what you find at the store because he is not packing them and allows them to ripen longer. https://andysorchard.com/ Go on a tasting tour at Andy's orchard. You can do sampling and then go pick fruit direct from the tree. Even there I was underwhelmed. Water is very cheap for him and he pumps his trees full of it. The fruits are huge and watered down. He sells by the pound so it works for him :) https://www.sccl.org/Locations/Los-Altos There is an apricot orchard in front of the Los Altos library. It is the cities and unfortunately most years the fruit just falls to the ground and the city does nothing with them. You can get excellent apricots there even though you are not allowed pick to I used to hate seeing them rot and would pick a grocery bag full myself. http://www.davewilson.com/product-information/category/fruit-trees If you have a yard in the bay area you can fit a fruit tree and keep it small. Plant one! If you want some excellent Florida mango order some from here now: https://tropicalacresfarms.com/ And in the fall superb dates: https://7hotdates.com/shop-usa_single.html Good luck on your quest!