This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

Reply Re: Privacy Hedge, LONG - PART II

(PART II)

The seven types of plants you should consider incorporating are:

*  CONIFERS like Pines, Yews, Hemlock, Arborvitae, Junipers and Spruce. 
These provide cover in winter, nesting sites and some of them make seeds
that birds relish.  Most of these get a good deal larger than what you have
in mind, but it would probably be a good plan to include at least one type.
 Cultivars of all these species would do well in your garden.  If you have
a local deer herd, you probably want to skip Yew - it's deer candy.

*  GRASSES AND LEGUMES

Grasses:

Some of the ornamental grasses would be quite nice in your border.  Grasses
provide cover for birds and seeds.  The ones that produce seed do tend to
seed around if not dead-headed -- just means weeding out the seedlings in
spring or summer.  All need to be cut back to the ground once a year.  I do
this in very early spring, before new growth begins because I think the
dried grasses and seed heads look neat for most of the winter.  When the
clumps get large, a hedge trimmer works a treat for this job.

All the following are clump formers; not stoloniferous. and all want sun.

Some large grasses:

---Miscanthus sinensis -- there are a lot to choose from:  M.s.
'Gracillimus'; M. s. 'Silberfeder';  M. s. 'Variegatus' and M. s.
'Zebrinus' are a few. - to around 5 or 6 tall.
---Panicum virgatum - to 6' tall.
---Stipa gigantea - to 6' in flower, about half that in foliage
---An annual that likes wet feet:  Sorghum bicolor (African Millet, Common
Sorghum)  A tropical plant with many uses.  If you feed birds commercial
birdseed, it's the tiny, round cream colored seeds.  I've had it volunteer
from uneaten seed and it looks something like corn until it flowers.  In
the places its come up, it rarely gets more than a couple of feet tall.  If
it were in damp soil or boggy conditions, it would probably  reach the 8 to
20 feet in height it is capable of.  If you wanted to grow it on purpose,
you'd need to start the seed inside in early spring and transplant outside,
etc. after danger of frost.

Medium grasses:  
---Deschampsia caespitosa (Tufted hair-grass) - to about 3'(1m).  Hardy to
USDA z. 5.
---Helictotrichon sempervirens (Blue Oat Grass) - Blue foliage - to about
4'(1.20m) - Hardy to USDA z. 5
---Pennisetum alopecuroides (Fountain Grass).  P. a. 'Moudry' has nearly
black bottle-brushes and seeds like mad, but its really pretty.  Other
Fountain Grasses have whitish to beige to pinkish blooms that tend to arch
over more than 'Moudry'.  All of them are great seeders in my experience.

Legumes:

---Legumes include both herbaceous and woody plants, any member of the
family Leguminosae.  
http://www.pointnet.nl/barenbrug/range/legumedif.html   is a web page with
information on various clovers and a number of other perennial legumes,
mainly used for forage and green manure crops, although I know that bees
and butterflies enjoy the red and white clovers I permit to grow in certain
areas of my garden.  Plus, if, for some reason, you want to encourage
rabbits and deer -- they both like red clover plants and probably others
described here.  I wouldn't, however, put Crown Vetch in a garden -- pretty
as it is along the side of the road.

---Indigofera kirilowii is kind of a neat little woody plant.  I just got
one this year.  It can die down to the ground, but should come back from
the roots.  Gets about 3' in height and has rose-colored pea-like flowers
in summer.  Could be used as a ground cover as it suckers.  Hardy to -20c
or -4F.

---Lespedeza thunbergii is a shrub I've been wanting.  Makes an incredible
fountain of rosy-purple flowers in early fall.  Gets about 4' to 8' tall
and can do this in a single season.  Can die back to the ground in severe
winters.  Rated hardy from USDA z. 5-8.  

(Continued in Part III)

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
Editor:  Gardening in Shade
http://www.suite101.com
----------
> From: RobsGardn@aol.com
> Date: Monday, August 11, 1997 8:03 AM
> 
> I would like the area to be somewhere in the area of 40'x40' to 30'x50'.
I
> plan on using the hedge as a year 'round divider, with perennials such as
> butterfly bush and cone flower to highlight the area as well as attract
birds
> and butterflies. If the you can suggest a mixed hedge, I would be very
> interested in it. As I said, I don't want to look too stiff, just have an
> area in my back yard that that is "protected" all year.
> message text UNSUBSCRIBE WOODYPLANTS
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE WOODYPLANTS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index