What to Plant to Create a Fence
Rather than choosing a wooden or chain link fence for your yard, plant a row of trees or shrubs. Many plants produce thick foliage that can block out ugly views or prevent others from seeing onto your property. Some favorite plants that are used as privacy screens are evergreen, which means they keep their leaves all year long rather than losing them in the fall or winter as many plants do. Does this Spark an idea?
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Bottlebrush Buckeye
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The bottlebrush buckeye is a shrub that has a spreading habit, which makes it a good option for use as a fence. This shrub grows between 8- and 12-feet tall and 8- to 15-feet wide. The shrub produces lots of branches that stand straight up and develops clusters of small white flowers on the ends of the branches in the springtime. Bottlebrush buckeye shrubs grows best in partial shade but will tolerate full sun in colder climates. The plant thrives in neutral to acidic soil. It is hardy in USDA zones 4 through 8.
Eastern Hemlock
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The eastern hemlock is a cone-shaped conifer that grows between 60- and 80-feet tall. Smaller varieties may only reach about 5-feet tall. This tree is evergreen, which makes it a good fence all year long. Eastern hemlock trees are fairly slow growing and can take between 15 and 20 years to reach about 30-feet tall, although these trees can live for about 1,000 years. The trees grow best in partial sun and in acidic, rocky or sandy soils. Eastern hemlocks are hardy in USDA zones 3 through 7.
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Littleleaf Boxwood
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Boxwoods are one of the most well known bushes used for fences. A favorite boxwood variety is the littleleaf boxwood, which grows 2- to 3-feet tall and 3- to 5-feet wide. If you let them freely grow, littleleaf boxwoods will form an oval mound. However, boxwoods are often pruned into square shapes. This evergreen shrub gets its name from its small leaves, which grow only 3/4-inch long. Littleleaf boxwoods thrive in partial sun and in many different types of soil. They are hardy in USDA zones 5 through 9.
Forsythia
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Plant forsythia if you want a living fence that will create a stunning display of yellow flowers in the springtime. Forsythia plants produce small yellow flowers all over their leafless branches in the spring. When the flowers are open, small green leaves begin to emerge. These shrubs grow about 10-feet tall and have long weeping branches. Forsythia plants grow best in either full sun or partial shade and in well-drained soil. They are hardy in USDA zones 4 through 8.
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References
- Photo Credit Forsythia Flowers image by Courtenay Smith from Fotolia.com
