Things You'll Need:
- Your choice of fast-growing, native evergreens, vines and saplings
- Shovel
- Burlap or newspaper
- Water
- Mulch
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Step 1
Type your zip code into the Growing Zone Finder at burpee.com. Use your growing zone to determine what, when and where to plant. Most of the continental U.S. is in zones 3 through 8.
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Step 2
Choose fast-growing native plants appropriate to your growing zone. These can be evergreens, grape vines, forsythia, azalea, rose bushes or raspberry and other fruit-bearing bushes. Steve Jones of LandSteward.com suggests Old Fashion Lilac (Syringa vulgaris), Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus) and Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) as living privacy fences.
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Step 3
Decide how tall and thick your fence needs to be. Most urban homes are 15 to 20 feet apart, so five to ten feet thick is sufficient. Match height to whether or not there are overhanging balconies or upper-story windows in the neighboring home.
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Step 4
Pick plants whose maximum growth will not exceed the available space. Living fences can cause problems if they grow too close to roof lines, foundations or utility lines.
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Step 5
Locate your property lines and plan your privacy fence so that you will be able to maintain it on both sides.
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Step 6
Call before you dig. Even a spade-depth hole can hit a water, gas or power line. Have all utility lines clearly marked before you plant. Planting depths will vary according to the size, maturity and needs of the plants you choose. For example, Purple Coneflower should be planted so that the root ball is even with the soil surface, which could be three to six inches. Burning Bush needs 1.5 inches more depth than its container, while Old Fashioned Lilac requires twice the diameter of its pot plus six inches more depth.
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Step 7
Arrange your chosen plants in groups of three, five or seven. Odd numbers are more likely to include both male and female varieties of a given plant, if it is dimorphic. Also, odd numbers of plants in curves or clusters are more aesthetically pleasing than creating a boring, straight wall.
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Step 8
Keep your living fence trimmed. Remove branches or vines that overhang sidewalks or touch neighboring homes. Kat Vossler of Chicagoathome.com believes, "The idea of the living fence is to be low maintenance. Spread mulch around the base of plants to keep weeds out...use sharpened pruning shears to get rid of dead and damaged limbs....water frequently until they've developed a solid root system in the ground."
