privacy shrubs for winter water logging

last year

I am looking for suitable shrubs( or small tree) for a partially shaded area that stays very soggy throughout winter due to water runs coming from neighbors uphill. I have lost 2 shrubs and vine maple due to the soil condition in winter that has worsened in recent years. The area happens to be along a fence along the west side, it will also help if this shrub can also provide privacy in summer. Based on the research I have done, Red or yellow twig Dogwood and Salix are two possible options. I already have a Salix variety along the fence and for the Dogwoods I am not sure how much privacy they can provide considering they need to be pruned every spring, a chore I would rather avoid. But it looks like I may have to settle for dogwood unless if anyone can suggest any other plant.

Here is the list for wet areas but I am not sure if these plants can take constant water during winter.

https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/plants-for-damp-or-wet-areas/

As long as the plant has decent foliage it will work for me but it will be nice if the shrub can grow at least 6 feet but remain less than 12.

Thanks,

Comments (10)

diggerdee zone 6 CT
last year
Where are you? What zone, what location? That matters in plant selection.

Cephalanthus? (Might be too big). Clethra? Ilex verticillata? Itea is good in wet areas but may not be tall enough. My Henry's Garnets grow about 4.5-5 feet tall. There may be taller varieties. Pagoda dogwood is lovely but your area may be too wet for that.

:)

Dee
joypdx thanked diggerdee zone 6 CT
joypdx
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
Forgot to mention the zone is 8B, Oregon. 5 ft would be small, since fence is 6 ft looking west.

Cephalanthus/Buttonbush can be suitable, it may stay less than 12 ft possibly.
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Privet is fast growing and will get tall, but it is a lot of work to keep under control if you want it to stay "slim and trim." It will want to grow out as well as up, so guess who will be forever clipping and coaxing it into the desired shape? :) In the tall/skinny/no pruning category...Greenspire Euonymous, Sky Pencil Holly, or Green Tower Boxwood won't get as tall as you want, and no instant gratification there either. There are plenty of big shrubs out there...Mock Orange, American Holly, etc, but again, they will naturally grow wide as well as tall. Bamboo is a nautral choice for a fast growing screen. Just keep your eye on it, because it can go wild! Have you considered just buying the tallest thuja you can? Or a more work intensive approach: you could build a simple raised bed along that fence and re-plant...it could give you 2-3 extra feet. And thinking of options like that, the "sit back and wait" approach sounds better, right? ;) This post was edited by jadie88 on Sun, Oct 20, 13 at 16:01
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Eleagnus is not exactly fast, Carpenteria tends to get leggy and fall apart, and seldom grows to a good screening height, and Myrtus communis is also a bit slow to get size. Faster growing native shrubs for dry shade and somewhat deer resistant would include Heteromeles arbutifolia, Prunus illicifolia, Myrica californica, and Rhamnus californica. All of these would benefit from some protective deer fencing around each plant to get them established and of sufficient size to survive the inevitable deer predation. If you want to minimize the short term watering, you are best starting off with 1 or 5 gallon sized plants, but these are also more vulnerable to deer. At these smaller sizes, if you plant in late November or December, we should have enough rains by then to allow these to establish without further watering until next April or May, depending on soil type and sun exposure; and can then probably give a good soak every 3 to 4 weeks for the first two summers(April thru October). 15 gallon sized initial plants would best be planted with temporary drip irrigation to get them established over the first 3 to 4 years, watering at least once a week April thru October. I've had to deal with similar situations for a client in La Honda right adjacent Skyline Drive, and I personally would recommend the larger sizes initially with supplemental irrigation, as giving you faster screening and less deer damage, but in any case, if you are also dealing with lots of root competition from existing redwoods and deep shade, it is even more difficult. In deep shade, you will probably need to plant deer resistant/drought resistant and much more deep shade tolerant species. Not a whole lot of choices then, but some of the deep woods plants such as Vaccinium or the Eleagnus would work.
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PM2, it was planted in the fall of 2009, so it is 13 years old. It is along the main drive in from the road and separates the shop building and what would have been a house site from the outdoor working part of the property where there are outbuildings, solar panels, and while DH was alive there was usually a stockpile of very large tree trunks (6’ diameter) waiting to be processed into bowls. Thus far I have not pruned anything, though I have removed several plants that voles killed. i wll be removing the Fat Albert blue spruce/picea pungens because there are fungus issues, but I have not done that yet. Maybe I will do one a year to use the tops for Charlie Brown Christmas trees. I will likely replace them if needed with balsam firs which are native to my property or perhaps one of the less common kinds of bluish evergreens. Things are still growing, but some things more slowly, while others are still gaining size at about the same speed as previous years.
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Right now your little forsythia are competing with the grass, and if you use something like weed-n-feed or anything with a lawn weed killer they are getting a dose of herbicide that isn’t helping either. Remove grass in at least a 3’-4’ strip across the whole gap and mulch it. Keep lawn herbicides away from the area. Nothing shrubby is likely to fill that gap in one season other than a fence or doing something like Peter did. But Peter’s will be too large for what you want within a few years, and may well be too large within less than 10 years for what he wants, looming over the patio. I would buy and plant another couple of the largest, healthiest full-sized forsythia, or even buy more and stagger them in two alternating rows as Peter did. Create a proper bed without grass within 2’ or 3’ of the plants so that the forsythia isn’t having to compete with the grass, mulch, and make sure you water your new plants when the soil is still just a bit moist. The goal is not soggy, but also not allowed to dry out. This will give them the best possible growing conditions. Then plant a couple of large pots with tripods of pole beans to fill in gaps or some of the branching types of sunflowers or something else quick and place them where they won’t shade the forsythia. Or as I said above, get rolled fencing of some type. if you plant red twigged dogwood, IMO it will look a bit weird to have one or two random plants amidst the large blocks you already have, and IME won’t grow any faster than forsythia. Your current little forsythia will grow better given better conditions and would have filled in better had they been in better shape to begin with, so the fact that they haven’t grown better is more a function of their conditions than forsythia’s ability to create a good screen quickly. Plants operate on their own time, not ours, and the best you can do is to get good quality plants and give them optimal growing conditions. That will give you the quickest permanent living screen.
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joypdx
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
It appears that buttonbush can be poisonous to humans. 🤔 if injested.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last year
last modified: last year
LOTS of plants are toxic to humans if ingested.......probably way more than are not. If that is a serious concern, then that will limit the possibilities.

Dee offers some good suggestions. I'd add Leucothoe to the list as well. May not get as tall as you wish but it is evergreen. Swamp azalea, Rhododendron viscosum, is another possibility.

Also, the dogwoods do not require annual pruning.......or any pruning at all. It is entirely optional.
joypdx thanked gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
PRO
The Logician LLC
last year
Many forum members have their location embedded in the username.

In this case, pdx=Portland, Oregon.
joypdx
Original Author
last year
I have created underground sump for reduce the problem ( visible in OP photo ). It has helped but not a lot. I plan to connect the sump to underground drain. The water run off from houses uphill is causing the issue and the increase in runoff could be due to due to neighbor's leaking down spout from the roof which is not easy to locate.
joypdx
Original Author
last year
Yes but neigbor sold his property. I will wait till winter to show the issue to the new owner.
joypdx
Original Author
last year
I should add that excess water logging has only come in the last 2-3 years. But dampness along the fence in winter was always there probably because the location of this property is at the base of a slope. Our neighbor on other side of the fence have raised beds for veggies , a willow and another unknown tree doing well along the same fence.
joypdx
Original Author
last year
I read that Chionanthus Virginicus will tolerate boggy soil.
joypdx
Original Author
last year
Here is a an update on this thread - waterlogging issue appears almost all gone this year. Our new neighbors up hill may have fixed it, not exactly sure what but I hope to find out.

privacy shrubs for winter water logging

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privacy shrubs for winter water logging

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