In norcal near a Oak? Maybe Dodonea viscosa? There is a purple leaf type.

Another good hedge in general is Pittosporum eugenoides. FAST grower. Sometimes looks yellowish- but some people like that it looks that way. IT will hedge near Eucalyptus. Other Pittosporums like P.undulata are great tool.

Hello All - we are looking to create a privacy hedge perimeter in our backyard (east Manhattan Beach in CA, climate zone 10b I believe). We would like to get the hedges approx 15 feet tall to provide privacy from neighbors' second floor looking into backyard (lots are only 50 ft wide), and are thinking Ficus Nitida given how successful you've mentioned in discussion board. Our house is 5ft from existing fence along side - would a 15 foot high FN hedge allow us enough room to walk at the side of the house, or how "wide" will the FN hedges become? Thanks!

@ Silver_b Good question. I had the same regarding drip settings for my "green gem" ficus. Any takers?

I don't generally comment on these threads because I am not a ficus hedge fan. But it sounds as if some wants a watering answer, without really understanding that the answer would most correctly be "It depends." Inexperienced gardeners don't seem to understand that there is not one correct answer ala: 3 times per week for x minutes. That may be the correct answer for next week, but not the following week; and certainly not the correct answer five months from now. Irrigation needs continually fluctuate!

Water requirements have so many variables! Beyond the plant material involved, there is the condition of the container plant and root system when planting, the mix the roots are growing in, the soil you plan to plant it in and any rocks/hardpans that need consideration, mulch/understory plants, proximity to buildings, patios, reflective surfaces, your climate/location plus the sun amount and intensity, temperature, creeks, rivers, springs or ponds nearby, the season of the year/day length, and even the particular months' expected peculiarities (June gloom or Santa Ana winds, for example) and the dormancy periods for that particular species. Even the weather conditions since the previous irrigation, and the expected weather conditions for the next 5-7 days matter. Then the irrigation requirements generally decrease overall as the plant becomes more established.

As was often repeated to newbie orchid owners with watering questions, the best answer is "When it needs water." Yes, I realize that takes some gardening experience. But ficus is a great plant to gain experience, because it is so tough, there is a lot of leeway for mistakes without the danger of killing the dang things. Other plants might not allow even one watering misjudgment. High temperatures, full sun, sandy soil, winds, lack of rainfall, all increase the irrigation needed at that time. Shade, overcast skies, mulch/rock/understory plantings at the roots, moisture retentive soil, cooler temperatures, shorter days, dormancy, etc. all decrease the water requirements at that time.

Looking into ficus for privacy. I have been worried about the invasive roots. The gentleman I was buying the trees from said if I plant them in containers, in the ground, they are less likely to be invasive. True? I haven't heard much talk about this method?

I want to plant some Ficus Nitida to cover our backyard but I am really concerned about the invasive root can destroy my house. Anyone have any ideas . I like FN fast growth , I want completely away from my neighbor.

Japanese privet. Shiny ficus like foliage and a bonus of scented blooms.

Also- just about anything FAST growing has invasive roots. Bamboo to large tree's trimmed to small sizes.

Ficus Nitida are great for privacy hedges and grow very fast. Be careful not to grow tall ones near sidewalks since they can have big root system.

Help... Last year I asked many people and tried my best with research about Ficus Nitida . I was between those and a pxortocarpus. I was told if I plant them in their 15 gallon containers and cut the bottoms out and then, use a drip system, then I should have to worry about the invasive roots. I planted 14 of them - part 4' center around my patio and near our newly constructed pool (almost done). A gardener just came to look at home to install irrigation and told me I better take them out! So will using a drip and keeping them trimmed to 14' not be enough to keep the roots from attacking my patio and pool? Id he trying to make more money by installing new trees? What do I do? These are the trees from last year. They are growing quite fast. New patio going in and a fireplace too right next to trees

@shinedale I live in a similar type neighborhood as you and I am considering a backyard redo and planting these Ficus. What do you think so far? How wide is your flower beds that you planted them in? After reading all of the posts on here I am very concerned about the roots as my backyard space is very tight.

My neighbor has convinced me with his Ficus Nitidia success that this is the way to go for a hedge! He said his were planted at 2.5’ on center. I think this is exactly what I am going to do! Take a look!

First question is how fast did everyone's FN grow? also I wanted to plant a Ficus Benjamina 3' from FN standard tree in ground would that be ok? also can everyone post pics of the FN they have in their yards.

If I want a dense hedge 7-8 feet tall how far apart should I plant them? I was thinking 3' on centers. Is this too far? Using it for privacy from my neighbors.

F.nitida is near a real miracle hedge...grows just fine in foggy frisco or in baking Phoenix.

Hi everyone. I need some help identifying these trees I got. The person I got them from had no idea what kind of ficus they are, neither do I. It doesn’t matter if they are columns or trees because I am in need of both but the planting location will be different. I hope someone can help me. I know zero about trees and or plants but our new house is plain, just dirt, and thats how I end up in this site, looking for good info. Thank you in advance

From Goodyear AZ

Alma, it might be better to start a separate thread about your trees. Photos of the whole and close ups of the leaves and leaf arrangement are helpful.

Sometimes houzz causes photos to not load properly in the original thread post; if that happens, putting the photos in a reply post on the thread sometimes works. I've read that photos that are huge in KB size sometimes won't load properly, but I have not experienced that myself because I've always reduced photos to under 250KB before uploading.

Thank you gyr_falcon. My pictures didn’t get uploaded. I’ll try in a new thread.

Hello everyone. This thread has been a lot of help. I have a pretty specific question and I have not had much luck trying to find an answer. Does anyone know how much space vertically is needed for the FN roots to grow well?

Here is my scenario. I live on a slight slope, and I extended my block wall to the sidewalk. We are going to fill the slope to match the grade, which is approximately 18' high. The block wall is sitting on a two foot wide footing, meaning it extends about 16" past the block. If we wanted to plant FN along the fence line, we would essentially have 18" of soil on top of a 12" concrete slab (foundation). We would like to keep the trees as close to the fence as possible. Would it be ok to plant in this area, or should we move the trees past the foundation. I guess the real question is would that concrete slab below the soil affect the root growth, or would the roots travel away from that slab. We plan on only having them grow about 10-12 feet tall.

Hi @unclegarage. Can you provide an update on your hedges? Wondering how big they've gotten.

Thanks!

To @unclegarage, I'd also like an update on your ficus project if possible. I'm in San Diego and have been concerned about the roots of the FN. Have you had any problem with them? How tall are you keeping them? Do you still feel that 24" center would have been better? Thanks in advance for any info you can provide. Stay safe from the corona!

Any issues with roots from the FN?

Will the roots from a ficus Nitida cause problems if the plant is placed next to a slump stone wall or fence?

Thinking of planting ficus nitida next to slump stone wall. Will the roots eventually cause problems with the wall?

I never heard any updates on this site so I went ahead and had my landscaper plant 20 ficus nitidas next to a fence one month ago. My landscaper assures me that they will not be a problem. If they are, I will update here. Stay safe/healthy everyone.

An update from my little project. We went ahead and planted 50 or so 5 gal ficus spaced 2 feet apart. We installed a root barrier between the FN and newly installed pavers. So far, we have had 0 issues with roots. The trees are now about 7-8 feet tall.

Thanks for the update. Our project used 15 gallon which started at around 7 feet tall with no root barrier, spaced approximately 30 inches apart. I also hope to have no issues down the road as these were just planted about a month ago.

@unclegarage sorry to bring up a super old thread but how are your FNs doing now? Also, I love your planter. Do you mind sharing the dimensions?

@sdsunn how are your trees doing now?

@Ed Vazquez How are your trees doing now?

@Jonathan Ruddy did you ever end up planting? How are they doing? Do you have photos?

@shinedale beautiful photos! How are your trees doing now? Do you have updated photos?

They are doing great! They are about 15’ tall, and have filled in to provide some privacy from our neighbors!

Hello @shinedale what trees are these and how tall were they when you started? I'm in LA, if you know of where to find 10, please share.

Thank you

Erik

@Matthew E Jacobson these are ficus nitida trees - otherwise known as Indian Laurels. I'm in Orange County and I just ordered 50 of these from Sanchez Nursery in the El Monte/Hacienda Heights area. Our quote from Moon Valley Nursery was triple the amount from Sanchez. They delivered the trees yesterday and they are beautiful!!! Highly recommend that you give Sanchez nursery a call.

@shinedale - wow, they are gorgeous! How often do you need to maintain/prune them to keep them looking like this? I'm in OC as well but we ended up not going through Moon Valley - found them to be way too expensive for the amount of trees we needed. Anyway we had 50 of these delivered yesterday.

question - Do you feel the 3 foot spacing was ideal? I'm thinking 3-3.5 feet spacing because I really don't want to turn these into a hedge. I also don't want them to get too huge - I think 8-10 ft tall is perfect for our needs.

Did you end up using a root barrier at all? We're going to install a drip system but I'm terrified of everything I've been reading about their aggressive root system. We have a pool so I'm extra concerned about that aspect.

Thank you for sharing your updated photo!

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I do not recommend this tree at all. My neighbor had this tree and its roots busted the fence and have encroached to my property affecting my sprinkler and lawn area. My neighbor does not want to fully reimburse me to fix the fence and remove the roots. The largest root is 10 inches wide. This tree has now become a source of tension between us that I'm now considering a lawsuit to recoup my cost. If you still want this tree, pls make sure you maintain it and not burden your neighbor with expenses that shouldn't be theirs.

I don’t have the best picture, but this is an update to my post. We went with the tree line around the perimeter. We did use a root barrier to protect the pavers and installed a drip line. i was told by a couple landscapers that you can control the roots by watering and trimming properly. keeping them at a reasonable height controls the roots from growing too big. Also, the drip system keeps the water close to the tree so the roots don’t venture off searching for water, keeping them in place

If you keep ficus tight and small..roots are not a huge problem. Still,they might lift paving right under them as years go by. Ficus are dicey- any species. Even the Ficus vine will tear apart the cinder block fences you see all over the Los Angeles area.

Glad to see this thread is still going. I'm in Northern California and our lots are very tight. I bought my house new in 2008 and landscaped it but things either died or got too big. All the houses are two-story with lots of windows facing my backyard. I've removed everything and am now starting with a new paver patio and seat wall. The fence line is like maybe 40 to 50" off the patio area. I am contemplating these Ficus but thought I would try to plant them in large (30") pots to help stunt their growth some. I really only need for them to get maybe 10' to 12' tall. I am very concerned about the roots as I've read stories about these old growth Ficus tearing up sidewalks in Hollywood (I believe they are also known as the Hollywood Hedge). Has anyone ever tried growing these in large pots? If so, how did they do? I've seen the Carolina Laurels growing in 24" boxes at my local nursery. I just need some that I can easily control with pruning but won't destroy my paver patio.

Hello! This is such a great thread! Im hoping your insight will help me in my quest. Our house is fenced and walled in on the side and back, but not the front. We panic when our little one runs around the front yard since the incline increases from 1-2ft at the front of house to 5.5-6fit on the side. We want to plant around the border of the wall something that offers a buffer. We have sprinkler systems in the front back and side but my main concern is planting here so close to the wall. Any ideas?

Hello All!

Any ideas of what we can plant along our brick wall here in the front. The wall starts at around 1-2 fit high in the front but as you go around the side its 6ft tall from the sidewalk! Thankfully for our little one our backyard is fenced but we would love to plant something in the front to help bring some safety and and privacy use of the front yard. Any ideas?

Heres a better image of the side

I always liked Japanese Privet. Ficus look without the roots or out of control growth. It never gets more than 10' mostly unpruned. Boxwood for nor cal is still a winner. Photinia and new red leaves. Ficus as hedge in the bay area is so rare,i've never seen it. Not once..but I AM starting to see more F.benjamina now. Smallish...but getting a toehold with climate change.

Wow amazing thread. I have planted Japanese privet and they grow painfully slow and do require water, i live in Encino and watering them has become part time job haha but no root problems. Im considering nitida ficus for front next to sidewalk, magnolia tree has already done damage to sidewalk so I think planting nitida ficus won't be much of an issue if keeping them at 8 ft tall max. My friend planted nitida at the same time as my j privet and his has grown to beautiful hedge.

What a great thread!! I have learned so much just from this thread alone in my research to plan Ficus Nitida in our backyard. Like everybody here we're concerned about the aggressive roots and I feel that if I combine consistent trimming, a deep root watering system with 24"x24" root guard barriers I should be able to mitigate the issues and ensure I don't have root problems in the future. I'm wondering if anybody has taken this approach. We're planning on planting them along the perimeter of our backyard which have masonry/cinder block walls separating the neighbors. They'll also be close to our pool. Pictures are attached.

I'm looking at these products to accomplish this. Please let me know what your thoughts are. Thanks in advance!!

https://www.deeproot.com/products/root-barrier/

https://www.rootwell.com/retail-store/shop/pro-318-case-black

https://www.hunterindustries.com/irrigation-product/micro-irrigation/root-zone-watering-system

so glad i found this thread. we also need a Ficus hedge STAT for privacy. does anyone have a nursery they recommend ? thanks!

Silva Wholesale Nursery +1 (818) 509-4163 they just planted 50 hedges 9’ tall in our Sherman Oaks house and looks so good!!

Picture please

Planted my ficus trees over a year ago.. How can i fill the gaps between the trees for a fuller look?

And will topping the trees stop them from growing in height in the future?