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loribee2

Is it tacky to plant Photinia in my back yard?

loribee2
12 years ago

I know the shrub is everywhere, in every rental and commercial property. In fact, the one place I had it was a home we rented years ago. But I really like plant's characteristics. It's fast growing, has lots of interest with the flowers and the red/green leaves, and it's evergreen. It's also exactly the type of shrub I want to use as screening along my fence.

I'm looking for something that will create a natural screen from my neighbor's yard, without invading into her property (she'll hack the crap out of it to the fenceline if it overhangs, so I'll need something that will survive). What was here but torn out was a formal hedge that needed to be clipped. I don't mind the occasional pruning, but I don't like straight lines and the need for hedge clippers.

I was thinking about doing a mixed planting along this fence of photinia, viburnum and pittosporum. My vision for this area is roughly (very roughly!) sketched on this photo. We want a low platform deck with a path that goes from the patio to the deck then around the other side of my workshop. All the rest of the space here that is yard will be converted to beds of some sort of low maintenance, semi-drought tolerant shrubs and perennials that won't mind my clay soil.

Any thoughts or recommendations? The New Zealand Tea Trees are the only thing we're keeping from the original yard. I've tried to balance them by planting a plum on the opposite side. In the back there that you can barely see is a fruitless pear planted about 8 feet from the fence. The areas between the fence/deck and deck/patio are about 15 feet wide.

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I would appreciate any and all ideas! This spot has been a tough one for me to figure out what to do with!

Here is a link that might be useful: my blog

Comments (18)

  • homey_bird
    12 years ago

    Checked Google pictures of this shrub. I definitely think that this bush is seen so often as a front yard hedge over short fence wall, that it will seem strange in the backyard.

    However, all the characteristics that you mention are real and your purpose of putting up a screen is what this bush is meant for.

    If you are open to it, I'd recommend having a trellis or simple screen and putting up some sort of vines etc over it -- might look more backyard-ly.

    Hope this helps!

  • Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
    12 years ago

    Those three plants together will overwhelm that spot. Viburnum and Pittosporum together will not, depending on the species of vib. And that newly-planted tree thing with the brutal staking complicates things, esp if the tree survives that staking and flourishes before a quarter of its crown falls on your shrubs; therefore you are more likely to find viburnums that will take part shade and then the next owner can work those in to the spots where the tea trees are shaded out and need to be replaced.

    Dan

  • loribee2
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    @homey, thanks that does help! Your trellis idea is exactly what we've done on the other side of that green building farther down the fence line, so yes, I'm definitely open to it. LOL Though here I was looking for more privacy than the trellis is providing, and I'd like to get some depth, which is why we're thinking shrubbery. It's just deciding on the right ones that's the hard part. Appreciate your thoughts!

    @Dan...sorry, but I've still not come up with an appropriate way to respond to snark, so I just won't. But I do appreciate your input on the shrubs.

  • bahia
    12 years ago

    How about doing two layers of a looser growing shrub border in this spot? I agree that Photinia has color punch, but it is just so overused. I might recommend using some Leucadendron salignum 'Winter Red' or 'Blush' as the backdrop at about 5 to 6 feet on center. If you don't mind pruning to control eventual height, I also think that Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset' has all the color drama of the Photinia, but tasteful! A second lower row of Grevillea lanigera 'Coastal Gem' or maybe one of the peachy foliaged Phormium 'Jester' in front of that, at about 4 feet on center. You could interplant with temporary perennial filler using Verbena rigida or V. r. 'Polaris' to knit it altogether. All of these would appreciate being planted on slightly raised(12 inch tall by 3 foot across) berm to insure good drainage. Lots of seasonal foliage color, without any snarky comments about questionable taste in using too common/gas station plants...

    I'll admit to much admiring Photinia fraseri when I was still back in high school and a wannabe landscape designer, but tend to shy away from it any more.

  • faerygardener z7 CA
    12 years ago

    Photinia will work, be easy and it will give you a great backdrop - just don't trim it into pom poms and it won't be tacky. (Of course, I've been posting daffodils while others post trendy tropicals so you can't take it from me :-) But, after trying to keep Brugmansia, Callas, Cannas and more alive up here in the foothills, I gave up and decided much as I love to garden do want to have time for a few other things in life, so zone appropriate staples are coming in).

    Bamboo will also work (clumping unless you want to start a neighbor war) and I've seen lavatera maritime used as a tall hedge in Berkeley - with shearing you can get them very thick.

    Here is a link that might be useful: mists and enchantments my blog

  • loribee2
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Wow, Bahia, those are some beautiful plants! I also like that the Leucadendron you mentioned leans more toward the pinkish burgundy I'm dealing with in the Tea Trees. One of my other reservations with the Photinia was that it's a rather orangey red and might clash.

    This is the 3rd house we've owned/landscaped and I confess that I keep gravitating back to old stand-by's that I'm familiar with. But like you said, some plants are so over-used, I'd like to "grow up" a little in my gardening and try some things you don't see all over. :-) I really appreciate the recommendations. Phormium is one of the plants I'd definitely planned for in this back yard. I've put it out front and haven't had to touch it in 2 years so it's on my keeper list.

    I also like your recommendation about two layers. One of the reasons we had the privet taken out (and one of the reasons I really dislike the tea trees) is that I hate the "wall of repetitive bushes" look. I think now that you mentioned it, I see where my idea of the screen wasn't going to solve that problem just by mixing up the plants.

    Good good stuff. I can't thank you enough for taking a look at the picture and giving me your thoughts!

  • loribee2
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    LOL Faery, I live in a tract development and you wouldn't believe the stuff people prune into pom-poms. There's a Japanese Maple down the street pruned into a lolly pop that I think should be outlawed. LOL

    One of the reasons I was thinking about the Photinia though was because in my old house, we had it on two sides of a path. Though we left it multi-trunked, we pruned it up into small patio trees and it made a canopy over the path that was like a natural arbor you could walk under. I really loved it and was thinking about doing it again as an archway to the other side of the workshop. I still may...I don't know how landscapers deal with all the choices out there!

    So sorry you can't grow callas up there. I'm determined to find some spots in this yard for a few plants, because they're so proficient here in Sonoma County and they're among my favorite cut flowers.

  • bahia
    12 years ago

    Glad that those plant names triggered some thinking, not sure whether they are really relevant to your situation, but give some food for thought. I personally don't mean to disparage any one else's plant preferences, but I will always be vocal about what is interesting to me, and might fit the situation as the OP describes it.

    I can also definitely relate to working with limitations such as winter cold, summer heat, limited water, and hungry critters. These aren't insurmountable problems, but they do call for more thoughtful choices and greater efforts to defeat hungry critters and get things established at the right season(late fall or early winter here in most of California), so they will withstand your conditions. I have a current project in Novato at the moment that presents many of the same problems.

    Those photos of daffodils are wonderful, I also use them myself, but wouldn't think to do a whole garden around them, but why not? If no one has suggested this in the past, planting for hot summer/limited water situations calls for planting after the first rains, and at initial small sizes, and either wire cages in the plant pit against voles/gophers, or temporary wire cages above ground as necessary for deer. There are also plenty of deer resistant/cold tolerant plants to select from, and I would steer you towards the UC Davis web site with their 100 Best Plant Picks for useful plants for tough/hot summer/colder winter locations. I use this list myself when I get stumped, figuring that anything they can grow and thrives in Davis, assuming it doesn't require real summer heat, should do equally well here in the SF Bay Area. Also, I'd really recommend looking at appropriate California natives for a foothills location, or cold hardier plants from the Mediterranean basin, almost anything from inland Spain or away from the coast in southern France with USDA zone 8 climate would probably do, unless you are above 3000 foot elevation and significantly colder in winter than I am imagining, then zone 7 plant lists are probably safer.

    And about mentioning less common plants, it is what people actually pay me to do, as most of my clients want their gardens to look more personal and less "same as every other in the neighborhood". At the same time, I do try to relate what I suggest to the surroundings, and not be the equivalent of a star architect's Taj Mahal in an ordinary suburban tract neighborhood. I saw a lot of that sort of architecture and garden design with the rebuilding in the Oakland Hills Fire Zone, some interesting and holding up design-wise, others seeming already dated just 20 years later. I aspire to timeless and beautifully functional any day, and that could very well be daffodils but I draw the line at Photinia fraseri...

  • loribee2
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Well, you do beautiful work. I enjoyed looking at your photos from the other post. And really, it's why I posted the picture and asked the question: As I'm considering how to build up this new garden, I'd like to be a little more daring with my plant choices. I've already picked out two pretty ordinary trees because I've grown them before and know exactly what I'm going to get. But I'd like to take a few more chances with the rest of it. I'm just challenged with finding out what other choices there are out there, and for that you've helped a lot!

    I didn't realize UC Davis had info on their site. I'll definitely check it out!

    Here is a link that might be useful: my blog

  • faerygardener z7 CA
    12 years ago

    Bahia - gosh - didn't mean to slight you; hadn't seen your reply while writing mine (must have started mine, taken a phone call and gone back to it). I was so not speaking to your choices.

    We're our own worst critics and after I linked the daffodils I had the thought that 'gee, everyone's going to think I'm some little old lady gardener - just add some petunias and they'll write me off.' My own judgement - no one elses. Poked fun at myself posting daffs so folks would know I 'get' it (I like em in pots and on hillsides, agree hard to work into a home garden without it looking dated - it's partially why I like that kedron one - easier to work it in).

    I've been going through old gardening and design books as I plan new hardscape for the front and in looking at them I've been so aware of how quickly gardens can look dated. Modular walls fit my budget, but I know within 6 years they'll be passe and for me (and my budget) this hardscape is once. For the books that aren't that old - seems like we've gone for more space between plants and more large rocks (simplistic definition).

    Anyhoo, so I'm playing with the dated concept and think a dated look for most of us is about the overall plan of how plants are put together more than the plants themselves.

    For a green backdrop - I'd use what fits the bill AND do something interesting in a bed in front of it or add a trio of large pots with great interest in front of it - love green privacy walls but I'm not all that fussy about how they're attained.

    Bahia - you do wonderful work (I'd looked at your site) and I don't doubt folks pay you to do something gorgeous plus contemporary. I'm always sending folks to UCDavis for the veg gardening info - will check out their top ten.

    Here is a link that might be useful: mists and enchantments my blog

  • hosenemesis
    12 years ago

    I went on a garden tour and saw something very beautiful, something I never would have suspected I would like.

    It was junipers. Big, eight-foot tall junipers, blue-green, two of them, with a golden italian cypress planted in front of them, and then three HUGE "Scentimental" roses in front and some lovely large-leafed geraniums under the roses. I never thought I would look with favor upon a juniper, but boy, in the right place it sure was lovely. The whole bed was probably twelve feet deep.

    Sometimes the most common plant in the world can be surprising.

    Renee

  • loribee2
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    That actually does sound really pretty. I am definitely looking to layer the area. I spent some time last night looking at a plant list for Cottage Gardens down in Petaluma and I keep going back to a couple varieties of pittosporum they've got. One is Silver Sheen with silvery-green leaves and black stems which look like they'd make a nice complement/offset to the tea trees.

    They also seem to grow more high than wide, like the junipers you're describing, allowing me the space to step down plants in front of it.

    I don't know...once I go down there and start looking around, I'll probably end up with something I never expected!

  • wcgypsy
    12 years ago

    I've never grown photinia, but if we should move and do another house, I'd try to find a way to use them if we did a 'cottage' again. There is a photinia hedge down the road from me, never been pruned and they are huge so one would need appropriate space for them. This is the only way I would want to use them. They are very frou-frou, frilly, floriferous, feminine...wild with beauty. I don't otherwise care for photinia where they are kept clipped, controlled, domesticated...

  • peggiewho
    12 years ago

    Every plant is a 'gas station plant' somewhere I suppose. Somewhere is South America there is a Shell station with orchids planted round. Photinia is over used because it is robust and beautiful and a beautiful plant is never tacky. It is however large if left uncut. I am a cottage gardener and this plant with a brick patio and terra cotta pots is a knock out. We are all using common place plants and common place materials to make our unique garden expression.
    You grow vegetables. What about more eatable landscape. I enjoy my citrus hedge. Big leaves like photinia but blooms and provides a crop. We top some of it yearly but it is ready to be let loss and cover neighbors view if need be.
    You also seem to have the whimsy curse. Your sea serpent is on a dry bench. San Diego Botanical Gardens has an under sea succulent garden. It might be just the thing for your serpent. I worry about your zone (my zone) for succulents. Frost damage makes an ugly mess. I am very interested in some of the topiary figures in the SDB garden and am going to start trying succulents to make one and see what I can winter over well. It is all suppose to be fun so I don't worry about tacky too much.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Sunset

  • hosenemesis
    12 years ago

    The Silver Sheens get too big. Mine is a tree, and it is only a few years old. I also have the regular old variety, and I let it get away from me too and it is now a weak tree threatening to crush my wood fence. The eugenoides (sp) is really pretty- lime green ruffly leaves and black stems on new growth, but against the fence it got woody at the bottom and it tries to grow up too much.

    I love pyracantha. Pyracantha can be easily trained where you want coverage. There's also pomegranate- a pretty fountain-shaped shrub, but it gets so wide.

    Can't wait to see the serpent.
    Renee

  • loribee2
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    "Every plant is a 'gas station plant' somewhere"

    LOL Peggie, I think you're right. And I can imagine the photinia along a brick patio. In fact, in my old house it was in a raised bed bordered with brick. Maybe that's why I've got such a fond recollection of it.

    But WOW, that Sunset garden is amazing! And oooooh, it would look so cool with my sea serpent, you're right. But like you mentioned about succulents, I've always admired them but am a little afraid of them. I fear they're something that requires a lot of tending, though that could be my ignorance speaking. The veggie garden takes up SO much of my time, I'm trying to remember my age and consider that some seriously low maintenance areas would be a good idea. But I've still got 2-3 more general areas to landscape after this one. I'm very tempted to experiment, especially after seeing your link.

    I love the idea of your citrus hedge. You sound like someone who isn't afraid to have some fun with your garden and play with the unexpected. I appreciate the support and inspiration. The ideas are definitely flowing now, and with so much more yard left to landscape (even after this spot), I can use them!

  • loribee2
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Renee, thanks for the warnings on the pittosporum. I've already flubbed with a phormium I need to take out of my front yard (too-late note to self: they are NOT all the same!). I really don't want to make mistakes and over-grow this section, so that's really good to know.

    I'm SOOO glad you mentioned pyracantha. On the other side of our house, I'm planning to put a bird garden outside our kitchen window, and I've been eyeing that shrub. I've got 9' trellises lining the fence, but the project has stalled as I try to figure out what to plant there (some money would help, too, heh). I don't have a lot of width, and I liked how I've seen it espaliered (sp?) up a trellis as opposed to bushing out. I think pomegranate is also bird friendly, isn't it? My neighbor had one and they were able to keep it pruned to a small patio tree.

  • kristincarol
    12 years ago

    Hummingbirds like photina for the camouflage it provides. The gophers here root prune constantly so I don't have to worry about the two I have in my backyard (1/2 acre+) overgrowing their space.