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creating a privacy hedge
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Posted by
austin608 Texas (
My Page) on
Sat, Aug 7, 10 at 18:08
| I am really wanting to add a privacy hedge to divide the neighbor's front yard from mine and add some privacy. I've considered planting wax myrtles, but I'm concerned how 50 feet of that would look. At the moment there is no distinguising divider between the yards. I'm not a landscaper, and I don't want to spend that kind of money when I don't know how it will look. Any advice or tips will be appreciated. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: creating a privacy hedge
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| Even though I like wax myrtles, 50' of would be sort of mundane. I always think of them as accents. Do you want an absolutely can't see thru screen, or just a buffer where a little see thru would be ok? My neighbor across the street has done a similar thing with knockout roses and ornamental grasses, and it look really nice. You might could incorporate the myrtles with some well behaved ornamental grasses and maybe 1 or 2 other complimentary evergreen groupings and have a much more interesting screen. I don't know how these would do in Austin, but some other possibilities would be abelia, nandina, and loropetalum. My personal taste is to have shrubs that grow into nice shapes naturally - I don't care for boxed hedges, but that's just what appeals to me. |
RE: creating a privacy hedge
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| You're not giving the resident landscape gurus much to visualize here. The typical suburbanite retreats to the back yard for privacy, and thinks of the front yard as the face presented to the public, a place to interact with neighbors. In such a situation, a hedge planted along the property line from the house to the street, for the purpose of blocking lines of sight, might look somewhat awkward, even eccentric. |
RE: creating a privacy hedge
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| That's a good point to consider whitecap, but in a lot of neighborhoods, especially those with larger front yards, you often see hedges on each side. In a house we once had the former owner had planted a hedge of pampas grass on the sunny side (it was gorgeous) and boxwood on the shady side. Front yard hedges are all over the neighborhood I live in now. My friend Georgeann who lives up the street from me has a yellow jasmine hedge on one side. People often make flowerbeds along the inside of the hedge. I like Deb's suggestion of a mixed hedge, maybe planted with taller shrubs or small trees toward the back and lower grasses, small shrubs and/or Knockout roses zig zaged toward the front. Different textures and colors shrubs that would not need pruning would be easy to care for and very tasteful. Heavy mulching would prevent weeds. Maybe drive around neighborhoods near you to get some ideas of what looks good and also get suggestions from good nursery personnel. Others on here may have some other suggestions to consider. Happy planting! |
RE: creating a privacy hedge
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| Ah, but we don't know the size of the property, and how it relates to adjacent properties. And the proposal on the table is a hedge along the property line, tall enough to create a sense of privacy. Might we agree that one should here bear in mind making one's appropriate contribution to the overall attractiveness of the neighborhood? Then there is the little matter of beds. A hedge without a bed, in turf grass, is a difficult proposition. |
RE: creating a privacy hedge
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| If it were me, before I spent any money I would be certain the convenants in the HOA will allow such creativity. HOAs have a tendency not to encourage or appreciate homeowners' creativity, particularly in the front of the home. |
RE: creating a privacy hedge
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| We are using a mix of Pomegranate, Texas Sage, Viburnum, and ornamental grasses. It looks natural and provides privacy without creating a wall. We have planted Texas Mountain Laurel there also and will eventually move the Sage. This type of "hedge" is common in our area. |
RE: creating a privacy hedge
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| I created an partially evergreen bed of yaupons,wax myrtles,texas mountain laurel,american wisteria "tree", rose of sharon and kidneywood. I will plant evergreen and perenial flowers for color as well. It's more of a microclimate windbreak than a hedge and I want it to look like a regular flowerbed. The other side is a shorter property line. It has a holly against the house, a path to next door (kids), then a crepe myrtle to match the one in the center bed, and 3 cenzios. It will also look like a flowerbed more than a hedge. |
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