Re: Suggestions for hedge please.
- Subject: Re: Suggestions for hedge please.
- From: J* S*
- Date: Sun, 14 Oct 2001 10:32:20 -0700 (PDT)
Jennifer:
You've come pretty close to asking for the perfect
plant but you forgot to request "Big colorful flowers
all year followed by non-messy edible fruits that
taste of mangoes and sweet cherries".
You do, indeed, have a challenge. I'm not sure if
there is a "perfect" plant for the situation but you
might try these angles...
If you think a bamboo might work, here's what I think
are the most adpatable and drought tolerant: Chusquea
coronalis, Otatea acuminata aztecorum, and
Thmnocalamus tesselatus (clumping types) and
Phyllostachys viridi-glaucescens (most drought
tolerant but RUNNING!).
There's some great slow-growing cedars that would be
upright and "open": Cedrus libanii 'Stricta' and C.
libanii atlantica 'Fastigiata'. These can be pruned
or even "hedged" with no problem.
I'm not sure what cultivars of Nandina domestica are
available over there, but I'm sure some tall-growing
type might be around. It's surprisingly drought
tolerant and it's certainly adaptable to almost any
soil or exposure.
You didn't say what kind of "wire fence" is on the
property. If it's what we call "chain link" (heavy
wire in an angular criss-cross fashion; or something
that a vine will twining grown on), you should think
about vines. The most drought-tolerant vines I know
of are: Antigonon leptopus, Araujia sericofera,
Canarina canariensis, Dipogon lignosus, Hardenbergia,
Mascagnia lilacina and M. macroptera, and
Muehlenbeckia complexa.
And birds are quite resourceful -- when the wasps are
in short supply, the birds will find other munchies to
fit the bill.
Best of luck,
Joe Seals
Santa Maria, California
--- Gemcopley@cs.com wrote:
> Dear Medit Folk,
> I am staying with a friend here in the Medit part of
> France. Inland about 25
> kms, and 300 or so metres above the sea. The soil is
> a neutral clay and very
> stony. She has a border with a private alley way
> that at the moment only has
> a rather unaesthetic wire fence and would like to
> plant a hedge/screen. The
> problem is, what ? It should not be thick as this
> would cut out the light;
> privacy is not really an issue. The ground slopes
> steeply from east to west,
> and the general aspect is west. Digging large holes
> would be a problem,
> dynamite is unacceptable for obvious reasons.
> I suggested non-invasive bamboo, one which will not
> grow too tall, but which
> one ? If there is indeed one that would fit the
> bill. And she wonders about
> the lack of water, it is expensive and time
> consuming to irrigate.
> Have any of you kind and oh-so-knowledgeable folk
> any better suggestions that
> will not cost a fortune?
> And another thing, having travelled from UK via
> France, Switzerland, Italy
> and back into S. France by car recently I observed
> that there were almost no
> wasps this year, in spite of all the usual
> attractions such as picnics,
> plums, windfall apples and so on ? Is this part of
> the boom and bust cycle or
> is there something more sinister at work ? I am
> worried for the birds which
> depend on them for food. Any ideas ?
> TIA, Jennifer
>
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