(crossed post from Trees and Shrubs - thought I might get more of local ideas here)

So we have been in our new house for about a month and a half and someone has the gall to start building a new home adjacent to our land (How dare they - right!)

We are trying to think of something to place in the north west corner so that we can have our privacy . I was thinking about maybe a curve row of trees and then flowers and shrubs between and behind. This area gets a good amount of sun (not the best photo but it is all I have at the moment)





At our past home we planted wax leaf ligustrum and would rather not have anything to do with those again. Any ideas? Fast growing, full sun, evergreen?

Thanks,
Stewart

You might Google Cherry Laurels. Some get tall quickly, but there are some that are more compact. A good place to check is the TX A&M Horticulture website. They give potential sizes and years to growth.

I live in Central Texas and have encountered the same problem. For a living barrier, I planted vitex and they have done quite well. While the plant has shown up on the Texas invasive list, it's never been a problem for me. Others in the area use xylosma (a shrub from China) and elaeagnus. Both of these grow quickly and provide privacy. However, my favorite green screen is the Winter Honeysuckle because it stays evergreen and blooms early so provides nectar for the first of the migrating butterflies.
Fall is the perfect time to plant!
Hope you enjoy your new home.

GrammaChar said: While the plant has shown up on the Texas invasive list, it's never been a problem for me.

When a plant is placed on an invasive list, it has nothing to do with how it behaves in a cultivated environment. It's about the impact they have on the environment. That tree that behaves well in your yard, but produces vast amounts of seeds which are carried by birds into natural areas where it takes over.

How about Wax Myrtle and/or Clumping Bamboo?

Maybe some type of holly? There are a gazillion of them. Would think that 1 might grow where you are.

I was simply offering helpful suggestions with disclosures and personal observations.

You might consider Nellie R Stevens holly. I grew this in Austin and it really does grow in a pyramid shape. They get very wide at the bottom, so 2 or 3 would cover a large area. They are a little slow growing, so I would start with the largest ones you can afford.

I also think Southern Wax Myrtle would work, but they would make a trunk and you will lose some privacy towards the bottom.

Red Tip Photinia is one of my favorites for it's wonderful and varied red and green-colored leaves. While young it can be a shrub. But if you let it go, it can get to tree size or incredibly large shrub when hedged.

Thank All of you for these great ideas.

I like the idea of the bamboo and maybe Photinia in front as a shrub

@PlantMania - Are you familiar with bamboo and how it grows? Yes, it's evergreen and a fast grower. And I love how it looks. But it is known to spread like crazy and requires vigilance to keep it in check. If your neighbors aren't growing bamboo now, they probably will be if you plant it.
Be sure to do a little research before planting the photinia. Not sure but it might be considered invasive. It is grown all over Dallas and creates extremely tall, thick hedges. It's even used to block the side of my neighborhood shopping center. You might drive (or walk) around your area to see if others are growing it.

Clumping bamboo is much more mannerly than the running type and will not spread appreciably.

My GF has an old giant bed of clumping bamboo in her back yard. It is taller than her two story house, about 8 ft diameter clump of it, and just beautiful. It is so dense, she doesn't even need window coverings on her upstairs windows. But she is always cutting back new growth out of her deck boards and around the border of it's bed. The tall bamboo bends and often has to be trimmed back so that it doesn't touch the roof even though it was planted 20 yards away. It is beautiful but even clumping bamboo will spread over time.

I'm not familiar with clumping bamboo. It's always a neat plant to look at, but all bamboos I've ever seen growing have been next to impossible to contain. My understanding of most bamboo is that it has a relatively shallow root system. Not sure if that's correct without more info. Could that clumping bamboo be confined by sinking one of those Rubbermaid cattle troughs - providing whatever drainage the bamboo might need, of course. Would that be enough to keep it in a specific area? Lots of work, but those rubber troughs last for years and years even exposed to direct Texas sun. They should last a long, long time. I'm just curious about the clumping type.

@PlantMania
Joan and Sondra Some type of Holly, lives a long time, little care, little water, great barrier that is pretty disease free. They do not harbor insects.
Be careful of phontinia, there is a deadly fungal leaf spot running rampant now coast to coast. It is no longer recommended to plant. The cost of it as a living barrier that will probably just contract the disease is not worth it. So far the disease is incurable. May your home be surrounded by peace and contentment!

tx_flower_child said:@PlantMania - Are you familiar with bamboo and how it grows? Yes, it's evergreen and a fast grower. And I love how it looks. But it is known to spread like crazy and requires vigilance to keep it in check. If your neighbors aren't growing bamboo now, they probably will be if you plant it.

That's running bamboo, clumping behaves much better. My mom has had the clumping variety in her yard for close to 50 years. The clump expands a little but it is doesn't take over.

tx_flower_child said:Be sure to do a little research before planting the photinia. Not sure but it might be considered invasive. It is grown all over Dallas and creates extremely tall, thick hedges. It's even used to block the side of my neighborhood shopping center. You might drive (or walk) around your area to see if others are growing it.

Yes it is listed as a Texas invasive.
http://www.texasinvasives.org/...

@Altheabyanothername and @Horntoad - thanks. You saved me the time of checking the invasive list. And I had a vague recollection of red tip photonias having some type of problem, but again, you saved me from doing the research. When I bought my house in '98, there was a sickly photinia that 'we' cut down. Neighbor had an adjoining one that was also sick.

I've heard that clumping bamboo still runs but maybe not as much. (Ha! Maybe it just runs in place.) Neighbors across the street have 'bamboo fences'. Wonder what type of bamboo. I've heard that if you can chop or kick over new shoots when you see them then that's the way to control them from spreading. I don't know. I would love to have a bamboo fence but I don't think I'd be diligent enough to keep it in check.

@needrain - I have absolutely no idea what a Rubbermaid cattle trough is so I can't comment on whether it would help.

@tx_flower_child
This link will show you one like I have. https://www.southernstates.com...
They come in different sizes and shapes. The cows pushed on mine for enough years that it has a seepy crack at the very top. Maybe only 3-4". I'm using it here at the house now to catch rainwater off the roof. Plans have been to convert it into a really large container for plants, but my choices have been so variable that the conversion has never happened. This year, when it got really hot and quit raining, I put a large tree trunk section in it and set my elephant ear on top of the section. It finally is growing a visible plant instead of algae and mosquitoes. A few fish have kept the wiggle tail population almost non-existent. I've found it to be extremely durable material.

@needrain - that is not what I imagined but it's definitely a brute.

I'll have to send you a picture of my rain barrel as it doesn't really belong in this thread or post or whichever it is.

Post the pic of the rain barrel

Thanks again for the ideas, and advice on the Photinia.

I found a place (www.bambootexas.com) that is about a 25 min drive from our new home. I will have to talk to the boss lady and see if we can't get out there to see what they have. We have a pretty much blank canvas of a yard (field) to work with and we like to have dual purpose plants. I figure in about three years we could chop some of the larger bamboo and use it around the farm - ie cheap gutter systems for rain catchment (not for the house but maybe off the future chicken houses) and maybe use the smaller bamboo to make bee homes.

Anyone with ideas on a mid height (dual-purpose) shrub with color? Boy I don't ask for much do I .

I was thinking of maybe four http://www.bambootexas.com/dwa... groupings with shrubs in front so I can have low and higher coverage. Green background with red or blues in front. Not sure about hollies, do they not all have sharp edges? - I still have to mow around the area and don't feel like getting poked at - Or maybe go with bay bushes and colorful ground cover

(edit - thanks @Horntoad for the link)