In article ,
"Claude" wrote:

Can anyone suggest a suitable tree that I can plant to create a 20 metre
'hedge' to screen my house from the street?

I take it you mean a 20-metre-*long* hedge? 20m *high* seems excessive!

Needs to be (a) visually dense
(b) have foliage low to the ground and (c) most importantly, grow quickly.

You would not be looking at a tree, but a shrub for this job.

Preferable if it doesn't grow too high but I suppose I could always trim it
regularly. I live in Melbourne so a hardy native would be preferable
provided it meets the above criteria. Someone suggested Pitostrums would be
suitable (although my wife hates them - don't know why)

Pittosporums have a rather strong fragrance and have become environmental
weeds in some places. They also grow much higher than hedge-height, which
means you are setting yourself up for years of pruning.

I would suggest something like a "Robyn Gordon" grevillea, ultimate height 2m
and (IIRC) width 3m. Very bushy, flowers most of the year, very hardy too.
I've planted Grevillea "Moonlight" as a hedge on the western edge of my front
garden to protect the garden from the sun. Once we get some decent rain, they
might actually grow...

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

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