Dense evergreen collage

[HA HA Budys Here]

I installed a swimming pool which I want to "buffer" from an ajoining park and backyard neighbors. I have a 15' planting bed from the respective property lines to the edge of what will be a 3' wood "boardwalk" along the pool's coping.

I'd like to plant a wide variety of evergreen shrubs that will generally have an upright habit. (More height than width) I don't want a "Hedge wall" of one single, continuious variety.

If I pick shrubs which boast the like of: "Mature size 12' wide x 30' tall" and "20' wide x 40' tall" but plant them closer together, will they grow tall to fill their space, or will not allowing mature width via trimming somehow stunt their mature height?

thanks

[WiGard]

Plants which are planted too close will eventually look as though they were planted too close. Outer branches will be green but you may begin to find dead space or naked branches within each plant where sunlight can't reach. Bushes colliding with one another will have branches competing for sunlight. Entangled branches become more challenging to prune.

Another concern about planting too close is competition for nutrients and water.

If I were planting such a hedge, I might first consider a variety of 2-3 different species and then stagger them in a way that the taller ones are to the back and the "holes" are filled in with shorter plants. I might put the taller ones in back and the short ones in the foreground, or I might stagger them zigzag fashion.

I've seen fruit trees espaliered. I wonder the effect if done with a hedge. Might be interesting. The advantage of espalier is that the plants all of a sudden become flattened and thus take up less space.

Topiary is work but might be fun and whimsical, especially at poolside.

Whatever you decide, give plants some space and keep them in check with thoughtful pruning. Thinning out the dead stuff sure would help. Dirr's book Manual of Woody Lanscape Plants is a good resource for plant selection, growth habit and care.

[Ricky]

"HA HA Budys Here" wrote

If you plant them closer together they will fight for sun, water, and food and will not grow to their normal terminal size. Some may suffer and not grow well at all. Never think for a second that you can outwit Mother Nature. In the long run she will have her way.

[WiGard]

Don't most women?

[Ricky]

No. Only the ones you marry or produce.

[Cheryl Isaak]

As the mother of a daughter, definitely the second! Cheryl