What are some good privacy barrier plants or bushes for hot sunny locations?
Please share pictures if you have any.
Thanks.
Privavcy Barriers(Screen)
christmascactus
Jul 25, 2010
What zone are you in? (or if you don't know, at least knowing what country or state you're located in would help)
christmascactus
Jul 26, 2010
7b/8a
Hi christmascactus, have you thought about trumpet vine or wild cematis?
If you can contain it, or if you don't mind it spreading, bamboo can make a beautiful privacy screen.
I use sunflowers, the 10 to 15' kind.
Wow jmorth That's a very happy privacy screen. Do the neighbors like it as well?
christmascactus
Jul 29, 2010
Your sunflowers are lovely.
I forgot to say that part of the yard(that needs privacy) is 80% concrete because of very large driveway up to the house. I really need evergreens for year round privacy. Which shrubs would do well living in large containers year round. I'm not keen on doing this but it maybe all I can do? Something that will grow to 4' to 5' would be good.
They haven't complained catsg; sometimes neighbors bring their visitors over and like ask for botanical tours...
CC, would arborvitae work? They're tough, carefree evergreens used widely for screening.
Widely available. Many varieties available.
Thuja occidentalis Emerald Green is most common (also known as Emeraude and Smaragd).
It gets 8+ ft tall, but there are many shorter cultivars available if you need shorter.
jmorth, just happened on this thread and I'd love to know if you planted those sunflowers from seed or what. I've had some success planting from seed, but never the giants and I see them always in New Mexico. I've never been able to use seed from any old plants, but a medium sized orange mexican sunflower. Wouln't you know it, I get volunteers in my post from my bird feeders. Last year I saw one stalk growing thick and let it go. It grew to 4', with 4" blooms, but I couldn't reseed from it. Info, if you've got it. THX
sylguy, sunflowers originated from seed sown about 5 years ago. The strain was called 'Kong', possibly seed from Burpee. I originally grew them in the far SE corner of lot to provide shade for a couple of Paw Paw trees just planted (as Paw Paw is an understory tree in forest, they need their first 2 or 3 years protected from sun). Growing 10 to 15' tall, they did their job well. They have self-seeded ever since. Interestingly, their densest concentration has migrated to a NW area of garden. I usually just let the seedheads mature where they are. When cleaning garden of debris I might rub a seedhead down and let any seed left fall where they will. When first grown the many flowers included a distinct red component, since then the yellows dominate.
jmorth, thanks, I'll find the "Kong" seed. Funny, I planted an innocent looking lime and ruby coleus around a bush in a huge pot and the grew enormous and dwarfed the bush. When I asked DGrs for an ID on the coleus thread, it was a "Kong", but not marked as such. Gynormous at 3' with leaves larger than my hands.
I love the biggy sunflowers and I have lots of room for them.
For evergreen shrubs, I like Loropetalums. They're ever-purple, tolerate sun or shade. A lot of the businesses around here grow them and they keep them trimmed into ugly, formal little balls. I let mine grow naturally and trim them when they get in the way. They can be trained as an espalier for some architectural interest. I should mention that there are different Loropetalums; some are dwarf, some are medium sized, and some grow rather tall if allowed to. So read the tags to see which size you're buying. Mine bloom pink pompoms in the spring and fall. I think they bloom on new growth so if I trimmed them more often, I might get blooms more often. Maybe one day I'll have time for all that.
For non-evergreen plants, I use tall cannas and arundo donax variegata. Arundo is in the cane family, similar to bamboo. It spreads rapidly and gets very tall; mine is about 10 ft tall right now. It also makes canes like bamboo, which I use to stake my tomatoes and make trellises. Arundo is much easier to divide and control than bamboo. It spreads by rhizomes like cannas and gingers and they're easy to dig up. I've tried to dig a clump of bamboo and it's nearly impossible; in fact, I couldn't dig it up which is why I didn't bring it home to my gardens. Now I'm glad I didn't. The arundo is much better substitute. My arundo starts out white in the spring and it's awesome! It's usually white until it gets about 6 ft tall (when summer hits), and then the foliage changes to yellow with green stripes and then gray green looking much like bamboo. Here's a pic of it in spring.
Here it is off to the right, looking more yellow.
Here it is last summer. It gets very tall and then in the fall it has pink plumes that rise up above the foliage.
christmascactus
Aug 01, 2010
Oh, I like that. I can grow it in the ground & in containers,too.
Thank you for sharing your pictures. And by the way I like that handsome doggie,too.
Thank you. He's the supervisor of the irrigation and fertilization dept. LOL
christmascactus
Aug 01, 2010
I have 3 of those myself ^_^
I used oleanders and orange bells for my garden.
some people use ocotillos as living fences
http://image24.webshots.com/25/0/26/72/40502672UQSblP_fs.jpg
lovetrpopics, that link doesn't work
Oh Wow!! That's scary. I'll bet no one crosses over that fence without leaving some evidence behind.