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planting suggestions

Saypoint zone 6 CT
20 years ago

I have an area beside my driveway, about 20 ft. wide and 30+ feet long that I need to replant. The area is South of the driveway and adjoins the property line. A row of hemlocks was planted long ago to screen the neighbor's yard, but two overgrown apple trees on my side shaded them out, and the neighbor was trimming back the lower branches on his side. When I removed the apple trees last fall a big gap was left where the sparse branches are, and you can look right thru it.

I'd like to plant some shrubs and/or small trees to restore the privacy. Someone suggested planting a few more hemlocks to fill in the bare spots, but I'd like something more interesting, maybe a mix of textures/colors that will look good year 'round. It's the first thing I see when I turn into the driveway.

Any ideas welcome,

Thanks,

Jo

Comments (36)

  • Cady
    20 years ago

    Jo,
    I'd avoid hemlocks because of the wooly adelgid invasion that is wiping out Canadian/eastern hemlocks in New England. I've heard that western hemlock is more resistant, but I've never seen it available here.

    Am wondering whether the neighbor's hemlocks succumbed to adelgid? As hemlocks are very shade tolerant, I'm not sure that the apple trees would have caused their demise.

    Can you post a pic of the area in question? It's hard to recommend a substitute to "fill in holes" without any sense of what the area looks like and how the existing plantings are situated.

  • John_D
    20 years ago

    How about planting that bug bear of modern garden designers: yew. (Which I have found to be indestructible.)

  • Saypoint zone 6 CT
    Original Author
    20 years ago

    Cady, the hemlocks aren't dead, they're just thin on the bottom ten feet or so, and only in the area where the apple trees were. The hemlocks are mine, but the PO planted them right on the property line, so the neighbor has been trimming back the lower branches on his side. All the others (200+ ft. row) are fine on my side.
    I've had the hemlocks treated twice in the past two years, and the adelgid seems to be under control. I don't think I'd want to plant any more, tho.
    I'll see if I have a pic. The weather's not very conducive to taking photos this morning.
    John, I've got a several yews, 15 ft. tall and even wider. I don't want to have to trim, tho they probably grow slowly enough to leave alone. Why bugbear? Overused? I like yew.
    Jo

  • mjsee
    20 years ago

    Jo--what do you want from these bushes--aside from scrrening? Scent? color? If ALL you want is screening--could you work some bamboo or willow panels between the barespots? Just until whatever you plant gets large enough...or wouldn't that look right with your garden style?

    Another thought--saw a garden show where they planted fresh willow screening and it grew--but that was in the UK--don't know if it could work here. It would be COOl though!

    Found a link for some attractive willow panels--pricey but they look like they'd be relatively easy to make. You could set them up a few feet inside your property line as individual screens--if you coudl get a rhythm going...I dunno. It's hard to describe the what I can see in my head...

    Just thinking of ways to screen your view until you figure out plantings!

    melanie

    Here is a link that might be useful: Willow panels from the UK...

  • bry84
    20 years ago

    You could plant a type of Buddleia, it's fast growing, has plenty of flowers in almost any colour you want, and the somewhat random growth is very elegant, thus you don't have to prune it to make it look good. I have two old Buddleia in my garden that have been there since at least the early 1970's, and from what I can see they've never once been pruned and still they look good every year and get complimented. Few plants are this easy to grow, they could care less about the soil quality and seem to survive drought without any problems. The truth is, they're a Chinese weed. On the up side, they don't seem to go on the rampage as some imported plants have, and in all the years I've had my Buddleia it's never once caused another plant to sprout up in my garden.

  • mjsee
    20 years ago

    I'm afarid Buddleia won't screen very effectively in ht winter here--and it has turned up on several of the US invasive plant lists...

    melanie

  • Saypoint zone 6 CT
    Original Author
    20 years ago

    Hey, Melanie!
    Cool willow panels. I'm not in a huge rush to screen, it's just the neighbor's driveway that I can see, and they're hardly ever out there, it's just for a bit more privacy. I'm thinking of a mix, some good foliage, some evergreen, flowers are always good, a nice combo of texture/color.
    The driveway is on the side street of a corner lot, I'm still looking for a picture.
    I'll look into Buddleia, Bry, have some behind the garage.
    Jo

  • Saypoint zone 6 CT
    Original Author
    20 years ago

    Here's a photo, doesn't really show the approach angle, tho. Gravel drive enters from right of picture, woodpile has been moved to where woodchips were (yeah, I spread all those, plus 4 more piles just like it, my aching back).
    To the left out of the picture is a small pear tree, foreground is where rotting crabapple tree was removed from perennial border area.

    Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1186444}}

  • Cady
    20 years ago

    Jo,
    Good photo. Thanks - it helps a lot to get an idea of the problem.

    I'd say that your site would benefit from clumping bamboos between the trees, maybe a staggered row in front of them. Fargesia murielae, Fargesia robusta and Fargesia dracocephala would give the coverage you need. You'd want to get well-filled out specimans and use lots of compost to hasten their filling out, but they would do fine as screening there.

    I suggest greating a multi-layered, tapered screen of shrubs and subshrubs or perennials between and in front of those trees, with the tallest stuff near the trees - and gradually tapering to lower plants in front. Fargesias can get 12' tall or so, and they fill out into a dense vase or umbrella shape.

    I like Melanie's willow panel idea, too. There is a company in Florida - Safari Thatch Co. (they may still have a website) - that sells and ships similar kinds of screening, made from eucalyptus, bamboo, thatch and other natural materials.

    There are also a number of bamboo and rattan suppliers that sell panels or rolls of fencing. It's an attractive alternative to trees and shrubs, easy to install and remove, and you can plant things in front of them to add depth and dimension to the scene. That's what seems to be missing (besides privacy) in that border right now.

  • Saypoint zone 6 CT
    Original Author
    20 years ago

    I should have mentioned, I'm aiming for a more or less early nineteenth century garden. Not strictly authentic, but I'd like to be sensitive to the period with plant selection.
    Jo

  • ginger_nh
    20 years ago

    Jo-
    Taken from the list of authentic shrubs and trees for the period of 1776-1850 (from "Landscapes and Gardens for Historic Buildings," Rudy and Judy Favretti, 1997), it would seem to me that a mixed border of some (or all) of the plants listed below would be appropriate. For screening purposes, most are evergreen and do well in a shady, wooded prospect. Exceptions are the tree peony, which is deciduous, and the camelia; situated at the edge of a shrub border, they would lend an exotic note - plants held in high esteem by the well-to-do. The rest are plants that I use today with great success in client's gardens and yards; easy to maintain and grow; some are native; all are hardy. The one exception is the camelia - have only used that as a corsage on Mother's Day!!

    A mixed border of these broadleaf evergreens would fill in the bare legs of your hemlocks. They would have to be planted out from under the hemlocks.

    Ilex (both holly and winterberry - can give you the listed
    varieties if you are interested)

    Kalmia angustifolia (Sheep's laurel)

    Kerria japonica

    Leucothoe (andromeda)

    Rhododendron and azalea (many varieties listed)

    Paeonia suffruticosa (Tree peony introduced in 1800)

    Camellia japonica (introduce in 1797--especially fashioable in 1900)

    Ginger

  • Saypoint zone 6 CT
    Original Author
    20 years ago

    Thanks, Ginger. I already have some of these in other areas of the yard. I didn't know camellia was hardy in my zone, had them in NC when I lived there.
    The Favrettis' book is one that I don't have yet.
    Jo

  • Cady
    20 years ago

    Jo,
    You have a couple options for camellias, believe it or not. C. sasanqua is cold hardy too. The experts say zone 7, but they've been observed to survive sub-zero.

    Here is a link that might be useful: hardy camellia

  • mjsee
    20 years ago

    I'll vouch for the sub-zero part--Jan 21, 1985 it got to 9 BELOW zero here. The ligustrum died back to the ground, but the camelias survived. I remember the date becasue it was my birthday--and the furnace quit!

    melanie

  • Cady
    20 years ago

    Wow! That's colder than it gets here, Melanie. I'm buying a batch of hardy camellias this year!!!

  • mjsee
    20 years ago

    Well, it was just one night--and for a few hours...and the camelias in the yard WERE somewhat protected...but MY thermometer said -10---the OFFICIAL low was -9. ALSO--the bush survived, but the flowers did NOT. Didn't bloom again until the following winter,as I remember. It WAS 19 years ago!

    melanie

  • nandina
    20 years ago

    Cady,
    I was never able to get Camellia japonica to grow in your area. Tried everything. Planted them in the protection of 6' high old stone granite sheep walls and hid them in lots of other very protected spots. No luck. Hope you fare better with some of the newer, more cold tolerent varieties.

  • Cady
    20 years ago

    Thanks, Melanie and Nandina.
    Melanie, I still believe you, even if it happened long ago. There are a lot of factors that come into play, for a plant to survive conditions not normally endured by the species.

    Nandina, I think I will try not to be rash, and instead will experiment conservatively. I've been reading claims about C. sasanqua, as well as C. japonica, and am curious as to how they might fare in this climate. The lowest temps here were -4F for a few hours on several different nights, and -6F for a few hours on one night.

    I was amazed that a number of bamboos I grow, listed as top-hardy to just 0F, came through the cold snap without a bit of damage. I had sprayed them with Wilt-Pruf, and suspect that that helped. Using antidesiccants or special coverings during the coldest-windiest times may make a difference for camellias as well.

  • ginger_nh
    20 years ago

    Jo-
    In doing some more reading last night, I came across references to the "tree and shrub thicket" advocated by both McMahon and Downing as boundary line plantings. They were composed of several tall evergreens in the middle background, then surrounded by deciduous shrubs, and finally lower growing perennial flowers. Not very many evergreen shrubs, tho' available, were used in these boundary borders. Downing sometimes referred to these lot line thickets as "mingled borders."

    Recesses were to be left in the boundary thickets for grottos, statues, and or "temples." That should give you something to think about, Jo!

    Ginger

  • crunchpa
    20 years ago

    Planting or suggesting marginally hardy plants for screening makes little sense to me.Trying questionable plants here or there is fine but to lose your screen again and start over would seem foolish.Viburnum species are varied in size,zone, some possibly evergreen in your zone....varied flower color,fall color,sun exposure.....they are reliable for your region.
    Juddii..shasta....mohican are all wonderful plants

  • Cady
    20 years ago

    Viburnums were on the tip of my toungue! Can't promote them enough. They're versatile and varied, and some handle part shade well. Watch out for the influx of viburnum-chomping beetles that have made their way to the Northeast, however. Some cultivars are more resistent than others, but you could get details on the Shrub forum.

  • ginger_nh
    20 years ago

    The camelia and tree peony suggestions were given not to create the basis of the screen but to give a little icing -on-the-cake interest; Jo already has the more common shrubs and might want something a bit extravagant for interest. Also because I have been reading recently about hardier camelias.

    I listed broadleaf evergreens for year round screening. But to be even more "authentic" I guess one install the deciduous "thicket" on the boundary lines of a property of her home's era--and viburnums would be lovely. My lists say that the varieties used between the years 1776-1850 were: v.alnifolium(hobble Bush or Wayfaring), v. laevignatum(Cassioberry Bush), v.nudum (Smooth Withrod), v. plictatum (Japanese Snowball - introcuced 1834), v.tinus(Lauristinus), and v. tomentosum var. sterile(also known as Japanese Snowball).

    There were many, many ornamental deciduous shrubs available
    by that time.

  • mjsee
    20 years ago

    Jo--please plant peonies. I LOVE peonies--and there are so few that grow well down here...I could love them vicariously! I have three--and they bloomed pretty well last spring--am hoping they do even better this year. Plan to get a few more...once I save up the money.

    melanie

  • Cady
    20 years ago

    Problem is, peonies die to the ground in the winter. But, they would be in the forward layer of lower-growing plants and could easily be blended in with dwarf conifers and evergreen or dense-twigged deciduous shrubs. They also need at least half sun to be happy.

    Mock orange is another shrub to consider.

  • ginger_nh
    20 years ago

    Hi, Cady!

  • mjsee
    20 years ago

    ANOTHER personal favorite--but be certain to buy it in the spring--WHEN IT IS BLOOMING. They don't all have that heavenly scent--even when they are the same variety.

    What about hydrangea macrophylla (sp?)? I know they look all sad and twiggy in the winter, but blended in with said conifers and evergreens--VERY nice. And the oak leafed hydrangeas have that cool peeling bark...

    melanie

  • Cady
    20 years ago

    Mock orange is on my "A" list of fragrance bloomers... but you're right, Melanie, you do need to do a "sniff test" when they're blooming at the nursery so you don't get one that is looks-only.

    P.S. Hi, Ginger! I'm waiting to read the rest of your seminar reports on the NE Grows thread. :)

  • Saypoint zone 6 CT
    Original Author
    20 years ago

    Thanks, guys. I'm taking notes, and keeping a list of your suggestions!
    Jo

  • bry84
    20 years ago

    You don't have to use evergreen plants for privacy, many of the privacy plants in my garden are deciduous and I don't mind because I'm not out in the garden much during the winter. I only inisist on evergreens around the house and other areas that need privacy all year long.

    However, it would be a nice place to plant cherry laurel, I have one in my garden and it grows in to a nice natural shaped shrub with thick branches over time, but you can clip it in to a fairly tidy hedge if you wanted to. Another option would be holly, but you have to plant a male and female holly to get the berrys that attract the birds, and of course make such nice decorations at Christmas.

  • robyn_tx
    20 years ago

    Hi - I haven't read 100% of the previous replies .... so hope this isn't a duplicate, but when I look at your space, I see firs and evergreens there, in 2-3 varieties, adding shape and form and color/berry interest throughout the seasons. Nikko Fir, False Cypress, Abrorvitae, juniper, etc. Another idea would be virburnum (which grows quickly to accomplish your objective), with a bayberry border in front. That's my two cent's.

    Robyn

  • Saypoint zone 6 CT
    Original Author
    20 years ago

    Thanks, all. I'm contemplating a mix of evergreen and deciduous shrubs for year round interest, with overflow from the perennial beds for a little extra color. Will likely plant in such a way that the woodpile is screened from view but still accessible by a small path.
    Jo

  • mjsee
    20 years ago

    Jo--hydrangeas really would be a nice addition to the mix...and (down here, anyway) they like a bit of shade in the afternoon....

    melanie

  • robyn_tx
    20 years ago

    Good luck, Jo ... with whatever you decide. I haven't really one little clue what grows well in CT, nor what type of soil you have to work with, etc. .... but I just see a layered/tiered mix of interesting shapes and leaf color, taller in back and working its way down to your perennial color. If it were me, I'd also plant a little randomly, not messy, but not everything in a straight line. To me, that would complement nicely the straight lines of the drive and the existing screen - and give the illusion of more depth. Anyway, that's what I'd like to see pulling up in my driveway after a long day of work (or shop or play!). Good luck, Robyn

  • ginny12
    20 years ago

    Jo--I have some thoughts on finding a landscape designer but no easy solution. I have a work deadline and will post on this forum as soon as possible for garden restoration people some suggestions on that topic. Sorry not to answer sooner!!

  • ZephirineD
    20 years ago

    Since no one has yet suggested the plebian Laurel, let me be the first.

    Laurel is evergreen, hardy, reasonably fast-growing, and a very easy shrub that forms a small tree with age. The white flowers, though not terribly showy, are pretty and very nicely scented.

    I used to hate Laurel because I always saw it sheared into ugly box shapes. When grown that way, it IS truly ugly...

    However, when it is judiciously pruned to guide rather than sculpt its growth, it can be quite lovely. (When the weather dries up here, I'll post a picture of the huge, fan-shaped laurel along our fence. It's just beginning to bloom now.)

    Laurel is also very much in keeping with a Victorian garden theme.

    Love,

    Claudia

  • ZephirineD
    20 years ago

    Sorry, Bry84! I see you DID suggest "cherry laurel" -- which we yanks just call "Laurel".

    My apologies. You are certainly NOT "nobody"!

    Love,

    Claudia