Looking for Suggestions for Privacy Hedge

Hey all you Georgia Gardeners!

I need help with suggestions for my youngest sister who lives in Marietta Georgia. She has recently moved into a new home and is wanting to add to the meager landscaping. She has asked me for suggestions for shrubs or trees that would make a great privacy screening along a busy road at the edge of her property. It would be on the east side of the house and she said the area gets morning and some afternoon sun. She would love something that blooms during spring or summer and wants to buy plants that are about 5' tall to begin with but will grow tall and mature quickly. Any suggestions?

I live in Daytona Beach Florida so I am not at all familiar with plants that will grow in N. Georgia!

Thanks for any suggestions that I could pass along to her!

Lin

Well, for blooms, Camellias come to mind, but for hedging and year around interest I'd recommend Burford holly.Camellias are slow growing. Hollies are beautiful evergreens, drought tolerant and birds love to nest in it. The berries are special at this time of year and feed a variety of birds, especially cardinals. We planted a hedgerow of five foot shrubs here and within three years we had a solid screen about nine feet high. Good luck.
Laurel

This message was edited Nov 13, 2008 11:20 PM

Thanks Laurel ... I will add that one to the list of possibilities. I think she had a couple of Hollies at her last house, which had a really huge property ... she has downsized considerably, in house and yard and really wants a privacy screen for the east side of the yard. Sounds like the Burford Holly would fit the size she's looking for, both height and width!

Your very welcome. Nellie Stevens hollies are nice too. They are smaller leaved and not as dense as Burfords They have a more conical shape, so are a bit more formal. I prefer the Burford for hedging. Another benefit to hollies in an unfenced yard is that they discourage walk throughs. :)
Laurel

I spoke with my sister this morning and she mentioned the Nellie Stevens Holly, which she had on her former property! She likes that one but is wanting something more dense so if she decides on Holly will probably go with the Burford! She has a fence ... the black wrought iron type but in the area she wants the hedge I think she said her neighbor has an unattractive wooden fence.

Thanks so much for your suggestions!

Foster holly grows tall and is conical with lots of berries. Both Foster and Buford holly should not be planted next to the house since they do get LARGE. I wish I had known that at our last house.

As for flowering shrubs, azaleas cannot be beat in the Atlanta area. They can be bought small and grow fairly fast. Indica types can get over 6 foot tall and have a 10 foot diameter in six years or so from a gallon pot.

Another shrub that has gained a lot of popularity in the area is loropetalum which comes in different sizes, colors, and growth habits. We bought 'Purple Diamond' thinking it would be more dwarf like than some of the other varieties. From half gallon size last year they now have spreads over 3 foot and perhaps 3 foot tall. Very fast growing.

For screening dominance, the Leyland cypress is king. Fast growing and handles the weather of Atlanta with ease. Personally I don't care for them because they grow so fast and can get extremely large for most properties. Arborvitae or cryptomeria is a better choice in my opinion - slow growing and smaller (some cryptomerias can get huge so choose the right cultivar such as 'Black Dragon').

Nandina Domesticata are fairly fast growing and give lovely red berries in fall and winter - they will get to be about 8 ft tall if not pruned back. For a huge bush, Eleagnus will make super fast thick border.

Another thick fast growing bush is Lantana, Miss Huff - it will have blooms all summer.

Thanks for those suggestions! I wonder why my sis didn't think about Nandina - she has grown that before! I bet she forgot about that one. Does Elaegnus get real tall? She is wanting something that will get 8 to 10' or even taller.

That Lantana is really pretty! We have a few different ones down here and they are beautiful but very invasive! http://www.floridata.com/ref/L/lant_c.cfm

I took this photo of some growing in my neighbors yard, it is twice this size now.

Yes, Eleagnus gets to be about 15-20 ft tall, only problem is it also gets to be 8-10ft wide, so it takes up a lot of space. When we moved here 31 years ago, there was a border of 14 big bushes, we removed most of them, but my neighbor wanted them so we just planted them on her side of the fence - she has a much larger yard than we do , so now we a re both happy!

My sister is looking for something that gets tall and wide! She wants a thick hedge. I will put that on the list for her to check out.

Regarding the lantana it IS extremely fast-growing, draws butterflies and especially bees. Ours get to about 5' tall and about as wide, and blooms all summer....downside is, in the winter it dies to the ground so it would not make a permanent screen.

JoAnn

Yes, the Lantana is fast growing. They get really huge here in Florida too. I love them because they are Butterfly magnets but they are just so invasive down here and the birds drop berries everywhere so you end up with them sprouting up in flower beds and places you don't want them! They have very strong root structures too so are hard to get up once they are established!

My sister in North Georgia wants something that gets tall, wide and is evergreen. She is planting deciduous trees and shrubs elsewhere on the property but for this particular location she wants something that will keep its foliage year round.

She might want to consider dwarf Burfordii holly. The full-sized ones can get to be 20' tall, and almost as wide, while the dwarf are only about 40% that big at maturity. Both varieties, however, need mucho fertilizer to grow fast.

If she wants a tall, but not so wide border, Cryptomeria japonica makes a great border, is evergreen and much less susceptible, than Leyland Cypress, to damage from the occasional ice storms in the Atlanta metro area. They grow fast from the 3rd year on. The saying is, "The first year they sleep, the second year they creep and the third year they leap!" It's true. I planted 2 that were about 8' at planting (balled & burlapped) 7 years ago. They are now about 25' to 30' tall, but only about 8' wide.

Unleash the privet. Once it gets going it grows like crazy and can be pruned into whatever shape you want. Dense and D' near unkillable.

I hate to throw a negative in but nandina, eleagnus and privet are on the invasive plant lists for Georgia. From my experience, privet is especially bad. We battle it here in our rural area because we've seen how it can crowd out everything else. http://www.gaeppc.org/list.cfm

I would suggest Savannah Hollies. They grow fast and are a lovely shape and not too wide. Interesting that someone found Nellie Stevens holly not very dense. I only have one and it is 'alone' but it is incredibly dense. Much more so, for example, than East Palatka and Savannah hollies we have. I guess it depends on the growing conditions. Yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria) such as 'Shadow's Female' (not the dwarf cultivars used for foundation plantings), is another good choice.

Japanese Cleyera would also work well in that area. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1469/
It has interesting red-tinged foliage.

Good luck. (edited to add link to invasive plant list)


This message was edited Nov 29, 2008 9:21 PM