Banana/Bamboo hedge

17 years ago

I'm planning a mixed privacy hedge to run along a driveway on the west side of the property. I will have a long ridge made, with railroad ties to keep the soil in place.

I will use medium/small clumping Bamboos, Dwarf Bananas (8' psuedostems)and maybe add some Moringas. I ended up with 18 Moringa trees, after every single seed I planted germinated(G).

I have 65 small Green/Red Banana plants in 1 and 3 gallon pots. I had purchashed a flat of them and potted them up. They are growing rapidly.

Ideas on spacing? I want them not to be too crowded, but want the screening hedge to end up looking lush. I can make the planting mounds wide enough to put Bamboo behind the Bananas, they don't have to be side by side. I thought the Moringas would add an interesting leaf pattern and gnarly trunks too. I don't want very tall plants, due to this hedge being the first thing the hurricane winds will hit, since we lost nearly all our native trees.

I saw the Banana/Bamboo planting photos posted here in another thread, and think it looks beautiful!

The planting area will be about 60'-80' long and up to 9' wide, if needed.

Is 12" between Bananas too close? Would it look better with both taller and shorter varieties mixed in?

There is a spectacular-looking Banana hedge in my neighborhood, at least 150' long. I have not been able to catch anyone at home to ask about it. They look very close together, and are quite tall- taller than I want for my hedge. Sure is gorgeous!

Lisa

Comments (4)

dirt_dew
17 years ago
Lisa-
I have bananas between sugar cane plants.
I would recommend at least 3' between bananas, the pups will fill it in fast.
You have quite a project going there. Sounds great! Keep us posted.
sandy0225
17 years ago
Just math it out. Length of planting bed divided by number of bananas, length of bed divided by number of moringas.
Length of bed divided by number of bamboo plants. Then let the ultimate mature height of the plants determine which layer goes in front. Should be really nice! For an 80 foot bed, 65 bananas might be overkill, but they would really fill in fast that way and be real thick.
A nice short blooming plant row in front of that or nice foliar plant would really make it pop, though.
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sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
17 years ago
Sounds like a cool idea for a screen. Very tropical. I like the bamboo in the background idea. 3ft. between bananas seems about right because they do pup and the leaves are large and will shred up when the winds blow if they are too close.
I had to look up what a Moringa tree was lol. Wow, I had no clue what a nutritious tree that is. Will you the use the leaves and pods for that purpose? I read that the common Moringa could grow up to 4 meters in optimal conditions and that they are drought resistant but live in tropical areas as well.
I found 2 sources for seeds, Seedman and ECHO. Do you have a good recommendation for a seed source, I would like to order some although I would prob. have to protect mine in the winter here lol.
~SJN
gcmastiffs
Original Author
17 years ago
Thank you so much for your help! I will probably plant the lovely variegated Cuban Oregano in front of the hedge Those should stand out nicely and still keep to the "edible or useful" theme(G).

SJN, I got my Moringa seeds from ECHO, and they were a bit scary in how fast they germinated! Wow! It took only a few days, and every one of them looks healthy and strong. Yes, we will be eating the plant leaves and pods, we love veggies here(G). If you order from ECHO, I'd suggest you get Malabar Spinach too. It is a terrific hot-weather spinach that is super easy to grow, beautiful and delicious!

Lisa