Bob64 - Brush Fence along property lines

15 years ago

Ive seen the willow fences your referring to and they are awesome but our fence isnt anything that fancy. (The coolest fences are made with green wood so they are flexible and can be bent) Its in the woods where not to many people see it. First we made a pile of large branches then put both vertical and hortizontal branches and interlock them the best we can. We use whatever falls to the ground. Its not organized, but its effective. especially with Hawthorne and hemlock branches. Trying to get through the fence is umm..... painful. LOL

What kind of native vines would you suggest? Some areas are heavily shaded. I dont really care if they bloom or not. I would love to plant something on the fence. How about virgina creeper?

Thanks

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Comments (7)

schoolhouse_gw
15 years ago
I would think twice about introducing Virginia Creeper into your woods. You don't want that to get started. It will spread quickly and climb everything besides your fence and if not kept in check you may never get rid of it.

Sorry, I don't have any suggestions for something else.
cynandjon
Original Author
15 years ago
Hi Schoolhouse
Virgina creeper is native and is recommened because the birds,fox,rabbits,skunks deer,mice,catepillars etc. eat the berries.
Maybe your confusing it with something else? I personally never found virgina creeper to be a problem. It has grown in my woods as long as I can remember.
This link shows how important Virginia creeper is to wildlife. Scroll down to vines.

Here is a link that might be useful: Native virginia creeper
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I think you are overestimating the amount of shade this fence will cast. 5' is not all that tall and in midsummer there should be minimal shade during midday as the sun is more or less directly overhead......just some early morning shade. In winter, the sun is lower in the horizon and that will create a shadier situation but that is often much less of a concern due to plant dormancy. My old garden had a 6' tall privacy fence on top of a concrete retaining wall (maybe 7' height in total) along its southern edge and the area directly in front of the fence received very little shade. And that's with being considerably further north than you with the summer sun at a much lower aspect. Any plant suitable for part shade will work.
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but I've heard they don't grow as quickly as I would ideally like, ===>> conifers are trees ... and they grow in tree time.. and you are correct .. they simply arent going to fix the problem.. as fast as you probably want .... but they will eventually ... all are full ... and only tolerant to shade ... and yes.. if you plant something in more sun ... then those will probably grow faster.. once they get established ... one of my usual caveats ... is to not get caught in the property line box ... when trying to solve this issue ... perhaps you are leaving out the best place.. for the fastest solution ... and that would be a tree.. closer to the house .. namely.. where the pool is ... something in the lines of a redbud.. might work well ..even obscuring the sightline when bare in winter ... but of course.. we in snow country leave the drapes closed then ... btw.. i note the power lines ... you are planting in an easement ... so you dont want anything too fast ... else they tree maintenance guys will show up faster ... the Wichita blue grow rather fast ... but after about 10 years.. i got rid of all mine.. due to juniper tip blight ... the lesson here.. is to think of this as an ongoing process ... also with pool removal.. you will have a larger planting bed ... btw .. again.. are you having the pool removed.. or just filled in .. if filled in.. i think it is advisable to have the bottom broken up ... else you might end up with a water retaining bog .. which may or may not be a new type of garden you would want to mess with ... you might also want to look into viburnum .. or other shrubs besides conifers ... they can grow faster.. but will probably take up more ground space ... think of this as a decade long evolution of a solution ... and if you have to remove things down the road.. so be it ... in other words.. think and work in tree time .... ken
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@JoJo (Nevada 9A) I like the woodland garden idea, but not sure what that could look like. Do you have a picture you can share? Great point about the trees taking much of the soil. I know very little about gardening or plants (learning as I go – more of my husband’s territory), but the soil does feel very different here. Almost clay like. The soil is definitely full of roots -there’s tons that are poking up through the soil. Is that a sign the bedrock is right under the surface and we need to be careful with what we plant? @callirhoe123 When we first moved in we had a ton of vines on the fence and we didn’t love the look, especially since there’s so much fence line to cover. @Christopher CNC A gate in that section of the fence does sound good – especially when my daughter tossed a frisbee over the fence and it was a long walk to go get it. Love the idea of painting it black. Starting to think everyone is right- it probably just needs a good clean up and it will make a huge difference. Especially since we’re not replacing the fence. @ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5 I love your questions – and yes I am being generous calling it a retaining wall! Some more pictures of the property below. We have almost an acre, but the property is very wide, not deep. There is an inground pool on the right side of the house on the hill – that’s the additional fencing you see. It’s abandoned and needs fixing, but that’s hopefully in the budget for next year or following. For the portion with the retaining wall (actual wall, not just rocks scattered about 😉 ) we are thinking of potentially building a fire pit area in that space? That’s just an early thought though and we haven’t spent time investigating. Maybe at the base of the stairs we’ll level out the yard a bit and put pavers down to build a patio area? Feel free to tear apart these ideas and impart some wisdom!
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schoolhouse_gw
15 years ago
Well, I don't have it in a woods, it's in my flower gardens and orchard, all along the property line between the neighbor' s field and my lawn. Yes, I know birds eat the berries, I suspect that's how most of it ended up where it is (besides the runners). Maybe it's not a problem where you live, and if Virgnia Creeper is already in your woods, I bet it'll find your fence in no time. I have a love/hate relationship with it. Your fence sounds great, I enjoy the natural look of branch-work (I made that term up! ha.)
bob64
15 years ago
Hey, I just got back from Florida (where I have no clue what is or is not native - I just had to look and say "aint that pretty"). Your fence sounds good and if it keeps the deer out then it will be a great addition. Virginia Creeper sounds like a great choice. I haven't had much trouble with it but you probably would not want it right next to a flower bed. Poison ivy is native too but .... you know. There is also a native trumpet vine (supposed to be aggressive), a native wisteria, some native honeysuckles (which I can't tell apart from the invasive honeysuckle vine very easily), a native clematis, a native form of hop vine and some others I'm not remembering. The problem with many native vines is that many have non-native look alikes so you would have to know and trust your source and do a little research. So far I have done very little planting of vines so I am more full of ideas than practical advice.
cynandjon
Original Author
15 years ago
hey bob
LOL I actually do have a flower bed where the Virginia creeper was there first. hmm I never heard of native wisteria. Ill have to look into that. Thanks Ill look into those. Not sure if PA has them but Ill find out.
Im still fighting the garlic mustard and stilt grass war. They are Much more of a problem then virginia creeper by a long shot.
bob64
15 years ago
I forgot to mention that I'm not sure about the light requirements of some of these vines. I have some native trumpet vine in an area with "part sun" that continues to chug along after 2 or 3 years but has not yet flowered -- other GW posts suggest that is not uncommon. The trumpet vine is supposed to be hard to get rid of if you should ever change your mind. Some sort of thicketing, thorny shrub might also work as a barrier; like blackberries or whatever. The concern with that would be preventing them from spreading.

Here is a link that might be useful: American Wisteria
cynandjon
Original Author
15 years ago
Along the property line most is pretty heavily shaded. I do have one side that gets sun. Wisteria would be perfect. Ill have to find out where to aquire the native variety.
thanks bob.

Bob64 - Brush Fence along property lines

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Bob64 - Brush Fence along property lines

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