I'm looking for suggestions for a tree which would screen out a view. It's on the edge of the driveway, so well drained, perhaps too much so. Really no restrictions for height or width. It faces northwest & get mainly afternoon sun. Evergreen or deciduous is fine & I am fine watering it for the first couple of years but would like something a bit more drought tolerant as I'm on a gulf island. thanks, GG
I don't need to screen the bottom portion, I would like more of a tree shape than a shrub shape, although I suppose if a shrub would screen as high as I need that would be fine too. I probably need to screen from about 4'-5' from the ground & then 20'+. I am screening the neighbours house from my patio, we like our neighbours but we also would like to have some privacy when we are sitting on the patio. Along part of the driveway I have put in various evergreen hedging & while they will eventually do the job they aren't very interesting. I would see this tree from my kitchen window where I do dishes everyday so something interesting would be great.
I vote for an evergreen Magnolia, Magnolia grandiflora (smells great too), Cedrus deodara (Himalayan Cedar), Tsuga canadensis (Eastern Hemlock), or Tilia sp. (Linden)--deciduous, but can get LARGE and FULL.
What kind of soil, sandy, rocky and droughty or more retentive? This has a big effect on what will remain looking good without watering.
The soil here is non existent, I have brought in 32 yards of top soil so far but it doesn't go far. It is sandy & rocky. I don't mind watering it somewhat but my garden has to do with water collection to cisterns only, sometimes by the end of summer my cisterns are pretty dry. I'm having a problem trying to keep a weeping katsura from curled leaves which I'm thinking is a water issue.
Thanks for these, some of them are way too much like what surrounds me (I'm in a forest) so the cedar & hemlock are off the list. I do like the linden, I wonder if the magnolia would be too open for privacy? Large & full isn't a problem, I have lots of space.
Oh I looked at a golden locust the other day & wondered if it would be good, arbutus unedo was on my short list, thank you for confirming this would be a good choice. I haven't seen the olive tree here, but it looks interesting too. I now seem to have at least 5 good choices, I will now have to see what I can get here. Thank you all..... now if I could just get my weepy weeping katsura to smarten up.... :)
Missed that you are surrounded by forest; might be rough on the arbutus unedo, as it's prone to getting black leaf spotting (quite badly) in damper, forested sites. Locust still works, though.
Magnolia grandifolia and Linden would both be very thick for privacy and both are known to be drought resistant once established.
I think I forgot to mention this, I tend to forget.... thanks for letting me know about arbutus, I don't need any more problem plants.
The linden looks very nice. I had a magnolia grandiflora at my last house & I remember it being very drought resistant, thanks for reminding me. Now I will have to see what the garden centres here have in stock as I would like to get one of some size.
Personally, I planted a beech (Fagus grandifolia) for privacy. Will be a massive deciduous tree. It's also drought resistant when established. Also, although it's deciduous, it likes to hang on to its dead leaves over the winter until the new ones come out in the spring. Then it drops all the dead ones at once over a day or two. Interesting!
Thanks, I'll put fagus on the list as well. I have a small albizia julibrissin that needs to be moved, would that work? I have another spot to put it if not.
The Albizia julibrissin is beautiful (I have one too), but it's not a tree that will get massive. It's not a tree that I would use for privacy.
That was my inclination but I'm happy to have someone else's opinion. I have another spot for it that "needs" a smaller but beautiful specimen which I think will fit the bill.
OH.... hhhmmmmm may have to rethink the new spot, it has space for about a 20' spread, height isn't as much of an issue.... Mind you, we get some wicked winds here, didn't I read that they are quite fragile? The one I was given was given to me because the leader snapped in last years big storm & the giver had a different shape in mind.
I grew up with that tree in the front yard in Louisiana. We called it a mimosa tree. It was a beautiful tree, but it was never more than about 25' across and about 25' high in 15 years. And it wasn't what I'd call "thick". It was a great tree for climbing. ;o)
