On 10/13/2013 4:30 PM, David E. Ross wrote:
On 10/13/2013 1:22 PM, W wrote:
I am looking for a thick, tall, flowering, fast-growing hedge that does well
in California. So far Oleander looks like a good candidate.

I need:

* Approximately four feet wide, and dense enough that you cannot see through
it.
* Flowering, preferably multiple times a year
* Eight to 10 feet tall
* Very fast growing
* Does well in direct sun and shade

This would be in the San Francisco Bay Area, Mediterranean climate and not
directly on the coast.

I have been trying Photinia as a hedge, but it simply isn't thick enough.
It shoots up new growth in a few major branches, but even in the thickest
sections you can see right through it. It would take six years to get
thick at the current rate, and even then it might not be dense.

Consider Viburnum. See Sunset's "Western Garden Book" for this genus.
Several species are suitable for your climate, make excellent screens,
and have fragrant flowers.

I happen to like oleander. In southern California where I live,
however, there is a blight killing them. The blight might eventually
reach the San Francisco area.


Another one is wax-leaf privet (Ligustrum japonicum). This can grow 10
ft high and 8 ft wide with dense foliage to the ground. The flowers are
white. I don't like it because I am allergic to the flowers. Be
careful; according to Sunset, nurseries often sell plants labeled as L.
japonicum that are actually L. lucidum (a tree).

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary