We live in North Vancouver near the Capilano Suspension Bridge, and until last year had a back yard, which included a deck and a hill covered with typical plants and trees of the area. A new neighbour at the top of the hill expanded his property by putting in a retaining wall of a series of exceptionally ugly "lock blocks", (normally used in construction of highways), which is now what we see when we look outside to the top of our property. We would like to plant a hedge to hide these, but are not sure what would be best. Do you have any suggestions?
Such a nice neighbour. What direction will the hedge be facing? That's a question likely to come up before people offer suggestions.
Hi Daniel, Nice neighbour, indeed! The hedge will be facing south, and is on a relatively steep slope. There are Douglas Fir trees, much ivy, a dogwood tree, and some laurel on the hill. I am hoping we can find something that will grow fairly quickly, although it will be a challenge to prune it.
Thanks, Michael, I'll see how that would work here. There are many western cedars in the area, as well.
I've seen a lot of retaining walls covered with climbing ivy (Cassiar tunnel, Kensington overpass, and along Government Road in Bby) and they looked quite nice. If they can climb those walls and hide the ugly graffiti, then imagine what they could do for you!
Ivy is now considered a nuisance plant in this region, "Seattle's worst weed". Cedar is attractive as long as the site is a prime one for it, with moist soil - otherwise it can appear unappealingly thin or unevenly furnished. This is a common situation here in its native area, where many specimens occur on less than optimal sites. A steep south slope might not be terribly suitable, unless the soil is heavy or tends to remain moist for other reasons. Since Douglas fir is already on the site, adding more of these might work out.
