What tree to put here?

As you can see, the house at the back is right in my face, I look straight into their windows from my kitchen window. To make it worse, it’s the old owners of the house I just bought. Their house is for sale, but I still want to put something there
that will cover the view.

I’d like something of a specimen tree……maybe….and something that grows fast.
But not too big…..I can’t be cutting the thing back all the time on my own.

I really like Olive trees, but they grow too slow.

What do you think Fu???

By the way the photo was taken at 2.20, note the lack of sun in that area at this time of day.

Ok I will pay it somethought today
Lacebark is exceptionally good when it comes to trees too

Thank you ....

Hi, I'm not an expert or professional or anything, but at the moment I love the autumn colour of the Sapiums and Pistachios.
Carmel.

Are they deciduous?
I’d like the leaves to stay all year round.

Thanks Carmel anyway!

yeah but she is so right The look amazing and the Sapiums (Chinese tallow) look good even when they aren't all coloured up.

I think you have a few options and not all will need to be trees

If you like the olives but they are too slow for you, what about a hedge of Grevillea Olivacae reds. 3m high and keep them clipped to around a good width for you. You can have native birds attracted to your garden them and privacy that doesn't take ages.

Grevillea Robyn Gordon will be another easy to find fast grower for there. Get a bunch in as a hedge.

Then you get to have a lovely deciduous tree like well... so many I love
A Chinese Tallow would be one

Murraya hedges will also get some legs if you get lots of organic material into the soil.
Magnolia Little gem and Kay paris will make exceptional hedges but are pricey and slow.

The standout for me would be the Hibiscus Tilleaceous rubra. most know it as a Cottonwood Hibiscus. It is fast as to grow Keep it hedged a bit and it will become dense. They are easy to find here but not sure about your side of the country May get bigger than you are wanting but they are fast growing so does that make for a compromise? I'd think about it.

Evergreen ashes will also make a wonderful tallish hedge. That is Fraxinus Griffithii.
Very nice but not super fast growing.

The feijoa or pineapple guava would be a cracker! fast growing, handles anything you can chuck at it. Deep green leaves, edible flowers for salads, nice fruit, the birds love them and they are dense growers.

Another popular hedge is one I hate, Pittosporum screen master or james stirling. You might like it though?

There will be lots of other ideas from other people no doubt and more from me too

.....unless you're extremely allergic to it. Like me. It's a very common cause of severe skin allergies, according to my dermatologist, and the rash it produces is a doozy! Red, raised, itchy blisters within about 12 hours, then a lovely weeping scabby mess that leaves scars for months.

Pity, it's a beautiful plant. I can't even go near the grevillea displays at nurserys, just in case they have a Robyn Gordon amongst them. The slightest brush against leaf, stem or flower and OUCH.

http://asgap.org.au/APOL2009/mar09-s1.html

You can put that in your trivia file, Fu.

Oh what a shame Kek. I love the Grevillea Ned Kelly which is a hybrid ( think that's the right word) of Robyn Gordon.

I do remember all the talk about Robyn Gordon being one of the most common ones that people were allergic to. BUT then it was one of the most common ones around. very popular.

Our boys always referred to our "Ned Kelly" as the bee tree because the bees loved it, as did all the small nectar feeding bids. I'm hoping to put some in here.

i knew about it but because I'm not allergic to them I tend not to pay them any mind

A girl who I had working in a nursery I ran was allergic to them. She'd handle them so carefully the poor love. She would still get in there. Then break out in a rash later. I never expected her to do it either.

I guess there is always someone allergic to something.
I get itchey from Callistemon. Oh they'd do the job too Michelle

I can admire them from a distance.

In our old neighbourhood, it seemed that every second or third house had a Robyn Gordon in the front yard ...planted overhanging the footpath. Going for a walk was interesting, I'd be zig-zagging all over the place. I started to develop a real paranoia about it. Were all the neighbours out to get me?

I was brave enough to buy a pretty pink variety. Can't remember the name now, but it grew to about 3 or 4m and looked something like this:

Never mind going all over the place avoiding the Grevilleas. Just don't step on the cracks in the path!!!!

My cousin suffers the same with it.

Thanks heaps Fu!!!!

I’ll print out what you said, not fussed on the Pittosporum either!
LOVE and I am going to put all the around the fence line Murraya’s.

Just need to find the right small tree.

Found this on Google while looking for the Hibiscus

http://images.google.com.au/imgres?imgu ... kQX-gf2lCw

Hey that is mine
Homeone wins again
google the "Fu signal"
Only Obama comes up second to Homeone
Nice one TDL

The Claret ash is a nice one.
The Manchurian Pear
Chinese tallow
Silver birch (but 3 of them planted in a small grove )
Flowering plum (Prunus Nigra)
They are all deciduous but with a nice hedge behind, you still get privacy with some nice winter sunshine.

Fu, I went to the nursery today, armed with your notes and a photo of the space.

They sold me a Magnolia “Kay Parris”…….Apparently excellent for the crapy soil we have at North Nowra. I get all my stuff from these guys, they know me well.

I’m happy with the tree, its nice looking foliage.

Thanks heaps Fu for all your help!

Heh heh, I have one in my garden too, in fact I have two too
I think they are the best of the small evergreen Magnolias. The have more flower, grow narrower than Little Gem and faster too