Planting a hedge

[Timfoilhat]

Soil is clay and sand more than anything. Very wet. This area flows when it rains. Land behind property is higher. All of the land between the fences is mine, neighbors built right on the line.
Want a hedge, maybe 10 feet tall, and no/low maintenance. Suggestions ?

 

[BatteryOaksBilly]

@Michael458 did this for a Boundary/Buffer some years ago. Soil there is sandy also....he used Holly trees.....prickly and hardy.

 

[Jeppo]

Leyland Cypress?
Fast growing but can become diseased.

Leyland cypress - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Geezer]

@Michael458 did this for a Boundary/Buffer some years ago. Soil there is sandy also....he used Holly trees.....prickly and hardy.

Prickly and hardy, describes Mike to a T.

 

[SPST]

Anything that gets 10' or taller is going to grow into both fences. The neighbor will probably be cutting the growth into his fence in a straight line up to keep it from damaging his fence. That will make whatever you plant look un-natural. Maybe use river rock and make a "dry" creek bed since you already have a privacy fence. Plus, you will be able to get to the outside of your fence in order to put wood preserver on it occasionally for maintenance. Another thing to think about is how hard it will be to replace rotten post and slats when that happens, and it will, when your hedge is all over the fence. You also might want to put a couple of catch basin drains and pipe under the dry creek bed too.

 

[Michael458]

@Michael458 did this for a Boundary/Buffer some years ago. Soil there is sandy also....he used Holly trees.....prickly and hardy.

Yes indeed..........That was on the boundary and they did fair.... I have some crap ground here to grow in.......

Leyland Cypress?
Fast growing but can become disease.

And on the other side of the drive I did the leyland, big ones, about 20 ft tall already. Very nice tree, but what a pain. I can breath on them and they will blow over. Every single little blow we have here they go down. Get the damn tractor out, tie them up, pull them back up. I even have all of them staked with tie downs, still blow over...........But, they do a great job of hiding the neighbor so they work. Very shallow planted, and do not get too much dirt on the base, they will die. Top root collar needs to be at ground level. I have now planted something else inside the Leyland, hoping one day they grow into a "wind break" for the leyland. Everything we do here is a battle one way or the other..........

Prickly and hardy, describes Mike to a T.

And that is why I am prickly as hell............ HEH..............Should have planted Devils Walking Sticks..........

 

[Burt Gummer]

Barberry bushes. They’re full of thorns 😁

 

[BatteryOaksBilly]

I'm considering Bamboo.......

 

[NCFubar]

I'm considering Bamboo.......

If you do think about if you want clumping or running bamboo.

Clumping Will kinda sorta stay within a decent area and not send new runners out in all directions. It is more expensive and you have to plant more “clumps” to form a hedge.

Running stuff is great and will spread easy to fill in spaces. The problem is it does send runners 360° so you do have to keep it in check which basically is just walking the border you want to keep every so often and trim back the runners that pop up. If you trim a runner back enough you can actually root it and plant it in thinner areas along your hedge line to help fill in faster. The one complication I could see it runners going into your neighbor’s backyard and him say putting out Roundup type stuff.

 

[Chdamn]

Should have gone with a shrubbery.

 

[Infamous1]

Bamboo it!! You can just mow right up the edge and keep it somewhat contained.

 

[Ikarus1]

Hawthorn bushes

That's what my former employer used to discourage exploration of our huge parking lot. They look good but those 1" thorns discourage cutting thru the dividers

 

[JT]

Hollies. Worked like a charm for me.

 

[CZfool68]

Wall and concertina wire.

 

[Pogue]

Bamboo. It’ll be ten foot high by the end of summer.

 

[Mirac]

Bamboo. It’ll be ten foot high by the end of summer.

Bamboo?
Why not plant something less invasive like kudzu ?

 

[Pogue]

Bamboo?
Why not plant something less invasive like kudzu ?

I hear ya, but a lot of people just don’t know how to manage bamboo. 6” landscaping edging buried in the ground will stop it in its tracks as the root system is shallow. My family’s home in Tega Cay incorporated bamboo for the exact same purpose (privacy) since the houses are stacked on top of each other. Never had any problems out of it.

 

[concepthomes2]

Should have gone with a shrubbery.

my apologies this went unanswered for this long....