Other living privacy ideas

[NitaX]

 I have a very small back yard. The rear of my property backs up to a retaining wall and immediately behind the wall is my neighbor's house. (See picture: - Ignore us, focus on the ugly retaining wall and house behind us). I will post a better picture this evening, but I just wanted you guys to see it for now.



I have a fence on the side, but left the back open because in the event of heavy rain, runoff water streams out of the wall, and I'm pretty sure it would rot out my fence quickly. 

So, I want to put some sort of shrubs/trees that would serve as a privacy screen. I don't want very large trees (I want no taller than say 15-20ft), so naturally I was leaning toward just using Arborvitae. But, I'm second guessing it because it's rather bland - functional but bland. I wanted very much to create a screen and then under plant it with other things to provide color and blooms, but my H (who does all of the mowing) doesn't want the job of edging the beds and would still like to keep the grass that's left. Sigh. 

So, I was thinking maybe some Crape Myrtles for more color, but that still doesn't hide the houses behind us in winter. Any other ideas? Also, I didn't want anything too tall because I have raised beds along the wall of my house. They get ample sun, and I don't want too much shade on them.

[nomad100]

What zone are you in/part of the country?

[NitaX]

May 13, 2013 12:05:14 GMT -5 nomad100 said:

What zone are you in/part of the country?

7B. It gets hot here. It must be able to withstand 100 degrees and humidity. Winters don't give us much snow. Usual winter temps are about 35 degrees. We get some cold snaps, but it's not 10 degrees in winter here. 

[simpsongal]

Is row of arborvitae too boring? I know they're standard for privacy, but they're good because they're narrow and don't eat into the yard and they're pretty fast-growing.

[2curlydogs]

Sorry, nitaw, I'm too distracted by you and your H's awesomeness to focus on the retaining wall.



Honestly, if you want the winter screening, I think you're going to have to go with some form of evergreen.

What about holly or a cherry laurel?

www.finegardening.com/PlantGuide/PlantFinder.aspx?274=8192&186=128&286=8&256=128

[NitaX]

What I really wish is that he'd let me plant more stuff for color! Hmph. I wouldn't mind the arborvitae, I just want more plants. Why won't he let my garden be GREAT?! LOL

[NitaX]

May 13, 2013 13:07:32 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

Is row of arborvitae too boring? I know they're standard for privacy, but they're good because they're narrow and don't eat into the yard and they're pretty fast-growing.

That was my first thought and really the default plan for all the reasons you've outlined. 

But I want it to look like this if I'm going to have arborvitae

[simpsongal]

That border looks lovely! Is your DH afraid the border will eat into the grass too much? I think beds add a lush tropical feel, not to mention texture and color. Bushes & grass = boring.

[mouse]

What about a vine and a rain garden/swale? Something to take that run-off and distribute it into the ground. Then you could do a mowing edge strip with rock or brick so your H is happy.

I'm not finding a good picture, but something like this with the edging, but suited to your climate and taste.

[NitaX]

simpsongal and mouse - my H just doesn't want to deal with needing to edge it at.all. We have some stone borders in our front flower bed, and he still hates needing to edge it. You'd think he'd be happy to let me get rid of more lawn. LOL
 mouse - I really like that picture.

[simpsongal]

No need to edge it - just do a natural edge! You only need to "refresh" it every few years. You basically dig a small divet/ditch between the grass and the mulched area. There's a good tutorial on it in This Old House. Frankly, I think it's one of the prettier ways to edge a bed.

[nomad100]

What about hardy bamboo?  It is is a clumping variety. We have several of these in our yard and I like them since they move in the wind.  Our haven't gotten that tall yet they are quite full.
www.bamboogarden.com/Hardy%20clumping.htm

Or maybe yews? 

[treedimensional]

May 13, 2013 13:27:53 GMT -5 NitaX said:

What I really wish is that he'd let me plant more stuff for color! Hmph. I wouldn't mind the arborvitae, I just want more plants. Why won't he let my garden be GREAT?!

Yeah, why?
I don't get the edging reason. I edged my garden ONCE- when I built it.
I edged my client's garden ONCE- when I built it.
Is your lawn some kind of disgusting wiregrass species that creeps into the beds? Why would it need to be edged all the time?
If it's that much of an issue, make a border of ROCK or BLOCK, which will never rot.

I think you should do mixed evergreens, like Laurel, Arbs, and Cleyera (for color). You are also warm enough for palms, like windmill palm. I'm in 7b and I have 3 varieties of palm. They would be great in the lower level of your mixed border, where you need short, fluffy plants. The shortest evergreens would be things like yucca and herbs. And everything will do well in lean soil.

I always recommend mixed plantings, as opposed to soldier rows of one species, to protect against disease and insect attacks. Monocultures are vulnerable and easily devastated.

[treedimensional]

Weed whacking inside a mulch bed?
I am just not comprehending something here! There shouldn't be any weed whacking going on inside an edged mulch bed.

[treedimensional]

Agreed! This is why you take out the lawn and create a bed FIRST. Then you fill the bed with plants, and mulch.
One permanent edge.
One permanent mulch bed.
No lawn growing anywhere near the plants.
Plants and people live happily ever after, no grass encroaches into planting bed.
At least that's how it goes in MY fairytale. That's why I wasn't understanding the weedwhacker thing.