Re: Suggestions for hedge please.
- Subject: Re: Suggestions for hedge please.
- From: J* S*
- Date: Sun, 14 Oct 2001 16:14:50 -0700 (PDT)
Jennifer:
David makes a good point: most of what I recommended
would not be at its best under your conditions. To be
honest, there isn't much that would be "at its best"
-- including the items David recommended (nothing more
sad-looking than a Romneya or Echium in fall when it's
without water) -- with minimal, if any, water and poor
rocky soil.
Especially without any supplemental irrigation, only a
few true desert plants would look sharp (no pun
intended).
I suppose my suggestions were prioritized by the
aesthetic need more than the soil and water situation.
I was looking for something that was vertical and
light and requiring of little shearing to hedge them
or keep them in place.
Does it sound like a trade-off?
Dave's Grevillea suggestion deserves more research.
I'm thinking Grevillea, Banksia and the like. Of
course, most of these require acidic soil to look
best.
Joe Seals
Santa Maria
--- david feix <davidfeix@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Jennifer,
> I wouldn't recommend any of the Bamboos for such a
> location; (rocky soil, limited summer water,
> potential
> frost in winters), almost all bamboos look better
> with
> regular water, and are prone to aphids and mealybugs
> under stress. Even subtropical bamboos such as
> Otatea
> acuminata aztectorum from winter dry southern Mexico
> looks poorly here in the SF Bay Area without
> supplemental summer irrigation, and looks best with
> abundant irrigation, fertile soils and mild winters.
>
> It is accustomed to a half year of drought in Oaxaca
> and Chiapas, but this comes in their winter.
>
> For rocky, dry soils and to cover a wire fence, one
> vine that works very well here, and may in fact get
> too large for your situation, is Polygonum aubertii.
>
> I would think that Teucrium fruticans, Rosemary,
> Echium fastusoum(if hardy there), would all do well
> in
> this situation. Many of the Grevilleas are also
> most
> tolerant of dry rocky soils, if established in the
> rainy season. Our California natives like Toyon,
> Heteromeles arbutifolia, or Matillija Poppy, Romneya
> coulterii, would also do well. Most of these
> shrubs
> could be hedged, but would require room to grow, and
> clipping to maintain below 4 foot height.
>
> Most of the things that were mentioned by Joe would
> look better with more fertile soils and some
> irrigation than your friend's situation suggests.
>
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