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I planted some Elaeagnus in our yard in north Raleigh on the recommendation of a landscape designer and I absolutely HATED it. It grew uncontrollably and required constant heavy pruning. I do not want plants that create that much yard work.
They do grow quickly. They work in our yard because it is a more naturalized yard vs manicured. Tucked away near the property line in the trees is a great spot for them.
Another vote for Wax Myrtle. We have used it on 3 properties for the very situation you describe and been exceedingly happy with it. It will get leggy if left to its own device, so I would recommend that you give it some pruning on an annual basis, but it is evergreen and grows very quickly. We never have had any trouble with disease, or with it being overly intrusive. Our plants probably doubled in height each of the first 2 years, and we had an 8'tall hedge in no time ( much to our neighbors' chagrin). It was lovely!!
Cannot work hard enough to discourage you from planting Bamboo...it was the bane of our existence in our last home. It can be planted in containers, but it is persistent and has been known to find its way out of containment relatively quickly. It needs constant attention and it sheds like you wouldn't believe. It really seems to have a mind of its own, and getting rid of it is exceedingly difficult.
Note that wax myrtles do shed their leaves once a year - they're not bare for months like other deciduous trees, but their coverage does thin out for a while as the old leaves drop and new leaves emerge. So you may have a period of time (early spring) when you have only a partial visual screen.
Are wax myrtles the sort of thing you can "leg up" or would that just look weird? I'm starting to think I'd like to get some plants I can leg up the first foot or two and plant low growing hostas and ferns underneath.
Are wax myrtles the sort of thing you can "leg up" or would that just look weird? I'm starting to think I'd like to get some plants I can leg up the first foot or two and plant low growing hostas and ferns underneath.
Sure. You can form them into trees, even.
But, if you are limited on the width of your space, you need to know they can get pretty wide. 10-12 feet if left to their own devices.
Space isn't too too much of an issue since it's a part of our property we currently do nothing at all with. But it sounds like for anything we get we'll have to be vigilant about correctly pruning. I guess that should be SOP for a hedge line though.
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