Suggestions for Living Privacy Fence in South

I need some advice and am hoping that some of you very knowledgeable folks can give me a little help.

We need a living privacy fence.

Here are the perameters we are working with:

  • grows less than 20' high
  • grows rapidly in the South (we're in Charleston, SC)
  • hearty
  • evergreen
  • common
  • not horribly expensive

Am I asking for the moon?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

Bobbie

Reply to
Bobbie
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Nope, what you are looking for is Southern Waxmyrtle, Myrica cerifera. Native evergreen, robust, fast grower and should be fairly common, therefore relatively inexpensive. The species may exceed your height restriction over time, but there are named cultivars that have a range of mature heights.

pam - gardengal

Reply to
Pam - gardengal

Provided that you install sub soil barriers to keep it in bounds, the ideal living fence is BAMBOO. The sub soil barriers we suggest are very much like the footings one would normally install before constructing a concrete block wall, for example. There is no plant which will become a living privacy fence as quickly as certain bamboos, and they will thrive in your climate.

snipped-for-privacy@endangeredspecies.com

Reply to
hermine stover

Thanks for your suggestion. What kinds of bamboo would you recommend?

Reply to
Bobbie

Thanks for this excellent suggestion. From a little research on the Net, it seems that if we don't shape it into a tree, it will remain a tall shrub? Is this correct?

Is it dense enough to buffer sound?

Reply to
Bobbie

A willow fedge? (woven living fence) OR something intergrown with Ivy (Hedera).. There is a thread on a topic simialr to this in URG right now that might be useful to you. / Jim

Reply to
Jim W

Bamboo can be amazingly effective in reducing traffic noise, something i would not have suspected. you ask what kind you should consider. you ought to be getting your bamboo grown as close to where you live as possible, there are growers in your area. if you want to see pictures and investigate low temperature tolerances, try looking at endangeredspecies.com which is our website. BUT i think you will be able to find what you like in your own state. Our listed temperature tolerances come from actual people who have grown bamboo, most of them are not taken from books. and we are always conservative to avoid death of plants. as for what you SHOULD grow, there is an astonishing palette available to you, even if you restrict yourself to the genus Phyllostachys!

hermine

Reply to
hermine stover

Bobbie, DON'T do bamboo. That stuff will take over and is amost impossible to eradicate once gone wild. It'll go over and under any barrier you install. Been there, done that. :-(

Tom J

Reply to
Tom J

Some bamboos, in SOME locations.. Think appropriatly.. for your geo..

/ Jim

Reply to
Jim W

A proper subsoil barrier contains bamboo. ONE HUNDRED PERCENT. Consider the Japanese whose classic architecture is a frail paper and wood house; the landscape indoors in atriums and outdoors in tiny gardens with one of the largest running invasive bamboos on earth. It is just a form of gardening which is not really much done outside of Asia, but it is certainly containable and has much else to recommend it.

herm

Reply to
hermine stover

There can onlyh be one living privacy fence for the south

KUDZU

Sorry, but it will do the job and then some ;-) Visit my website:

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expressed are those of my wifes, I had no input whatsoever. Remove "nospam" from email addy.

Reply to
Roy

Thanks, Roy. Actually, you're not far from the truth, but if I introduced kudzu into my neighborhood, my neighbors would tar and feather me and run me out of town on a rail. ;-)

I also like your tagline leaving all responsibility for what you say on your spouse' door. Might try that one myself.

You might like our website:

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It's not fleshed out yet, but you can see some samples of our work. My husband is a rather amazing sculptor, metalworker, inventor and mechanic (I call him "The Machine Whisperer"). He's been doing this stuff since he was a tyke. I'm just learning. My latest passion, when I have time, is the "found objects" sculptures.

Reply to
Bobbie

Reply to
gregpresley

Bobbie,

I agree with Greg's suggestions, and I'd like to add to them, mainly by mentioning shrubs that I have planted successfully here in Beaufort, a bit further north in zone 8. These are mostly in a mixed large-shrub border giving us privacy from our neighbors. As Greg said, by mixing different plants, you can have flowers at different times. Disadvantages of using everything the same are that if there is disease, it may kill them all; and height differences among plants are more noticeable when they're all the same kind.

Wax myrtle grows fast, smells nice, and is attractive, but it's quite subject to wind damage in storms. It also sends up many suckers, which if you want neatness or have limited space may be undesirable. Birds like the fruit.

Of the viburnums, consider V. odoratissimum (which does well here in Beaufort and should do even better in Charleston) and the related V. awabuki 'Chindo', whose glossy leaves make it look like a small Southern magnolia. Both are evergreen, reasonably fast growing, and rugged. V. odoratissimum spreads more, so would make a better screen.

Like Greg, I like V. tinus (laurustinus), but many of the varieties are dwarfs, so they might not meet your need for privacy. V. bracteatum 'Emerald Lustre' is not evergreen, but the stems are thickly set so they would provide some screening, the leaves are beautiful and shiny and provide some fall color, and it flowers attractively in mid-spring. Birds like fruit of all viburnums.

Of camellias, the sasanquas flower beautifully this time of year and are sturdy plants and well suited to our area, if slower growing than some other choices. I find they do better than C. japonica. Some grow tall and some spread; be sure which you are buying. Most are fragrant. We find they attract hummingbirds. A particular favorite of mine is C. x 'Two Marthas', which starts flowering in August and doesn't finish until late December or January.

Other ideas for a mixed shrub border are Osmanthus fragrans (one of the tea olives Greg mentioned), with gorgeous fragrance; perhaps a few Nandina domestica thrown in for fall and winter color (they are short); perhaps Ligustrum japonicum (privet), if you don't mind the strong sweet fragrance in spring; one of the many attractive Loropetalum varieties, which are colorful and rugged; and even crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia), some varieties of which don't grow tall and which flower all summer long.

You could also plant gardenias (G. jasminoides), but make sure you don't get a dwarf variety. This also tends to grow as wide as tall, which you might not have room for, and they are relativel slow growing.

If you have lots of room, another choice is Eleagnus x ebengii, which is rugged, grows quickly to about 10 ft h by wide (even in poor soil), has berries that attract birds, and has very fragrant but inconspicuous flowers for several weeks in September or October. I don't think this would mix well with other plants because of its agressive growth, and also it sends out tall shoots that you will have to prune if you like everything tidy.

Well, you can see I've had fun planting in our area, and I hope you do, too. Consider getting from your library (or buying) Michael Dirr's book, "Dirr's Trees and Shrubs for Warm Climates: An Illustrated Encyclopedia." It has cultural requirements (type of soil, sun or shade, amount of water) for all these plants and will give you plenty of more ideas.

One final tip: most plants bought in a 3-gal pot will be bigger in 3-5 years than plants put in from a 5-gal pot at the same time. The smaller plants seem to establish better.

Mike

Mike Prager Beaufort, NC (on the coast in zone 8a) (Remove spam traps from email address to reply.)

Reply to
Mike Prager

Wow! You guys are great! This should keep me busy for a while. Thanks so much for your generosity and wealth of knowledge!

Reply to
Bobbie

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