Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Jan 10, 2011 2:07 pm We've built a house and as the area grows have found that we're overlooked by a neighboring house. Plus our house is next to a reserve. So screening plants are a priority to plant when the weather gets coolers. The back fence is 27.5m long and the side 30m. So we're looking at plants that grow quickly but are low maintenance and not too expensive. We're thinking about planting Small Leafed Photinia or Lauristinus. We're in the Adelaide Hills and both seem to grow quite well here. Can anyone advise which of the two grows faster and denser? And how far apart should we space the plants to maximise the screening? This is a house we plan to live in long term so we want to get it right. Cheers! Re: Fast growing screen plant/hedge - NOT pittosporum? 6Jan 15, 2011 10:40 pm the max - Just mild frosts. Nothing major. We were out in the backyard today and have worked out we will need at least 2.5m in height for the hedge, possibly 3m, if we don't want the neighbors looking into our dining room! Something we didn't count on when we were building. In time we'll have a garden established but we want to get onto planting the screening plants ASAP. Keen to get something that grows as quickly and densely as possible. Still wondering about Small Leafed Photinia vs Lauristinus for speed of growth. Anyone? Re: Fast growing screen plant/hedge - NOT pittosporum? 7Jan 16, 2011 9:59 am Maybe you could look at Viburnum odoratissimum 'Emerald Lustre', see if it's suitable. Quick and dense. Will find you a pic. www.themaxbuild.blogspot.com forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=20717&start=300 www.leahspaperpassion.blogspot.com Re: Fast growing screen plant/hedge - NOT pittosporum? 8Jan 16, 2011 3:37 pm There's even a thread just about viburnums http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=39688&hilit=+viburnum ... There are plenty of pics too. Ever since I've learned that they exist , I see them everywhere. The one thing I definitely don't like about them is the large white-ish flowers (or should I say small flowers, but gathered into large 'pendants' ). My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Fast growing screen plant/hedge - NOT pittosporum? 9Jan 16, 2011 3:46 pm www.themaxbuild.blogspot.com forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=20717&start=300 www.leahspaperpassion.blogspot.com Re: Fast growing screen plant/hedge - NOT pittosporum? 12Jan 16, 2011 7:27 pm Thanks Lex and themax! Really like those darker, glossy leaves and the flowers are nice too. Did a bit of Googling and found that Viburnum odoratissimum 'Emerald Lustre' perhaps isn't very frost tolerant (?). We get frosts here in the Adelaide Hills but as we've only been here for one winter and with no garden, can't say whether it's mild or not. Would probably lean more towards it being mild-medium. Pittosporum - not big fans of it because it's everywhere and we're going for a formal garden with dark green hedging. Mind you, pittosporum is the fastest growing hedging plant isn't it, so we'd get an quicker result... Re: Fast growing screen plant/hedge - NOT pittosporum? 13Jan 16, 2011 8:02 pm Roar the max - Just mild frosts. Nothing major. This is why I asked this question initially. Roar Thanks Lex and themax! Really like those darker, glossy leaves and the flowers are nice too. Did a bit of Googling and found that Viburnum odoratissimum 'Emerald Lustre' perhaps isn't very frost tolerant (?). We get frosts here in the Adelaide Hills but as we've only been here for one winter and with no garden, can't say whether it's mild or not. Would probably lean more towards it being mild-medium. Pittosporum - not big fans of it because it's everywhere and we're going for a formal garden with dark green hedging. Mind you, pittosporum is the fastest growing hedging plant isn't it, so we'd get an quicker result... Perhaps it would be an idea to take a walk around your area and see what is doing well in other people's gardens and parks. This is always a good indication I think of what will survive and thrive. Asking friendly neighbours about these things is also helpful I find. www.themaxbuild.blogspot.com forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=20717&start=300 www.leahspaperpassion.blogspot.com Re: Fast growing screen plant/hedge - NOT pittosporum? 14Jan 16, 2011 8:19 pm Pittos are lovely. We had a large one (about 3m+ high, 2m+ wide), but it was in the middle of nowhere, so we demolished it with the house It was truly a trouble-free plant and so beautiful. We shaped it into a fat oval and just trimmed it a little a few times a year. It had silvery small leaves. The lushest and densest viburnums (and super quick growing) I've ever seen are close to us, but they are at the bottom of a road dip (the lowest point of the road) where there's more moisture and cool air (tiny creek possibly close by too), and I think that spot also has more protection from frost (being down lower and also there are lots and lots of tall trees around to provide protection). Not sure how would it do on a high spot like ours and also in full sun I suspect it would not be lush at all. Hope this can help EDIT - isn't it always when you press Submit and the system comes back with your post, you see that someone else has already posted something but clicked before you My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Fast growing screen plant/hedge - NOT pittosporum? 15Jan 16, 2011 8:26 pm I have put a Vib. 'Emerald Lustre' in my garden, not as a hedge but as a single specimen divider. It's pretty well in full sun and gets as much water as everything else. I like the full green and shiny leaves as I prefer a tropical look and this seems to fit the bill. It's doing really well BUT I am in Sydney South and not in the Adelaide Hills! www.themaxbuild.blogspot.com forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=20717&start=300 www.leahspaperpassion.blogspot.com Re: Fast growing screen plant/hedge - NOT pittosporum? 16Jan 17, 2011 7:40 am How about Lillypillies? Native, reasonably fast growing, depending on variety, can be fine leaf, some with red new growth. Flowers nothing to write home about, but fruits can be interesting. Tolerant of normal fertilisers; we have some Acmena edging a lawn. If you want a 3m hedge, get one that crows to 4m, and plant them .75m apart. Re: Fast growing screen plant/hedge - NOT pittosporum? 17Jan 17, 2011 2:01 pm We're considering lillypilly, but turns out it's a weed here. There's lots nearby used as hedging and they look pretty neat. Guy next door has a massive one that's now a tree in his garden and it looks pretty. Might still go against my own desire to do the right thing and get it! Sweet pittosporum also a weed here and we've just spent yesterday getting it (and the mirror bush - surprise, surprise, it's a weed here) out of the garden. Re: Fast growing screen plant/hedge - NOT pittosporum? 18Jan 17, 2011 2:48 pm Native Lilly pilly a weed, really? I haven't heard that before, they are huge in the nurseries and sell heaps them to the public. They look nice but they grow soooo slow in vic, good for a hedge not as a quick screening plant. Re: Fast growing screen plant/hedge - NOT pittosporum? 19Jan 17, 2011 9:21 pm KerryF We're considering lillypilly, but turns out it's a weed here. There's lots nearby used as hedging and they look pretty neat. As you are probably aware, there are many species and cultivars of Lillypillies. One I have is only a metre high full grown, another is suppose to go to 4 m, yet others are trees. Re: Fast growing screen plant/hedge - NOT pittosporum? 20Jan 18, 2011 7:27 am Hi Beatrix & PHL. Yes, I am aware that there are many species of Lillypilly. I definitely saw something yesterday when I was looking at loads of weed info about the Acmena smithii cultivar that grows to around 10m being a problem, but for the life of me I can't find it again. If I do find the info, I will reply in a separate thread so as not to hijack this one Will say I'm not so sure about them growing slowly everywhere in Victoria though. In most favourable conditions, lilly pilly can do 2m in a year apparently, and most of those round here (where I live in Belgrave) seem to do about half that. The hedge in particular I'm thinking about is trimmed twice a year, rather than the once that's often recommended, to keep it just above the fence level. So perhaps it would grow to more than 1m otherwise? That's still pretty reasonable growth I would think, though perhaps not as fast as Roar wants! 0 4690 You have no photo with your post. Best I can say is to remove an A&L flyscreen don't be afraid to distort the frame almost like a trapezium. It doesn't take a lot of… 1 7063 2 4475 |