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Originally Posted by Travis
Vox Humana wrote:
"Spitz Mcgee" wrote in message
ups.com...
I have a 4 to 5 foot high x 100' long "mound of dirt". It helps to block the view of a busy rural highway. I want to start a evergreen privacy hedge on the top of the mound. I would like it grow this hedge as tall a prudent but keep the hedge fairly narrow. I am worried about pests, diseases, and maintance. Also I would like to start the hedge this year and have very little money. I hope have some good privacy in five to seven years when I hope to sell the house. Any advice would help.
Beyond buying a lottery ticket and hoping for the best, we don't know where you live, so it is hard to give specific advice.
In my area, (zone 6) one of the most common plants for a tall privacy hedges is arborvitae. You can often get 4-5 foot high plants for around 20 each. Planted four to six feet apart, you would have a reasonably dense, narrow hedge in about 5 years. Costco has them in stock now for a good price. However, at one every six feet, you would need about 17 at a cost of over $350.
Another fast grower would be Leyland Cyprus. However, these can grow very tall and put your property into deep shade.
Although it is a matter of taste, I find such hedges rather ugly. They sort of scream "spite fence" or "KEEP OUT." The other problem is that often one or two plants will die after several years. At that point you have a choice of putting in another 5 foot plant for $20 or pay upwards of $100 for a matching-size plant. Now your uniform hedge looks bad - like it has a missing tooth, unless you can locate and pay for the larger plant. The other problem with a single species hedge is that if there is a disease or insect problem, you can lose your entire screen. This has happen in our region. Many commercial properties and apartment complexes have berms with white pines on them. Now all the pines are dead or dying and it looks like hell The cost to remove 100 feet of mature pines and replant would be substantial.
I would recommend that you drive around your area, looking at commercial properties, up-scale subdivisions, golf courses, and parks. See what they have used for screening. Unfortunately, nothing is going to be very inexpensive. If it were me, I would consider using a mix of plants that included evergreens, shrubs, and trees with an underplanting of sturdy perennials.
In the subject line it says - Zone 5 - WI.
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Travis in Shoreline (just North of Seattle) Washington
USDA Zone 8
Sunset Zone 5 |
Oops, so it does. We don't know the exposure so what will be in shade and what will be in sun will have to be determined by Spitz. The other request was for it to be narrow, so this may not work. So, to continue, a grouping (looks more pleasing in odd numbered groups) of Arborvitae (some are narrower then others) with Oakleaf hydrangea in front (carefree - no pruning, lovely fall color and pretty flowers late summer) and maybe some everblooming daylilies - yellows or whites stand out against the green (search at google with the term: daylily + everbloom), a grouping of hollies with ninebark in front and hardy Geranium 'Rozanne' in front of that. 'Rozanne' starts blooming in June and blooms until frost. Spreads to a nice clump and it's purple flowers are a knockout! Then a few yews, maybe Hicks yew with red twig dogwood or yellow twig dogwood in front. Lovely colored twigs in the snow. Only maintenance is to prune to the ground the oldest twigs every other year so the newer ones show their colors in the winter.
http://www.aboutarborvitae.com/
http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/index.html
http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/p/phyopu/phyopu1.html
http://www.paghat.com/ninebark.html
http://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog...ail/05111.html
http://www.paghat.com/redtwig.html
http://www.borkgardencenter.com/Evergreens/YewHicks.htm
Before I list more ideas, such as winterberry with it's lovely red fruits in the winter against the snow, we need to know the potential width of the planting area. Here's a couple of search engines where you can search by zone and other attributes.
http://bestplants.chicago-botanic.org/toc.htm
http://www.hort.uconn.edu:591/search.html
Btw, many of the plants I've mentioned offer berries to the birds, nectar to the butterflies and extra winter interest for those long winters in the snow.
Newt