They are expanding the road behind my backyard so I am trying to decide on something that will serve as a hedge to block out noise and be a second barrier for safety purposes. I currently have a tropical vibe going but also have roses, various flowering vines, etc so I am kinda all over the place!
Just need it to be evergreen, fast growing, can take full sun-ALL DAY, and pretty flowers--any color but prefer something other than white.
Thanks for your help! :)
Suggestions- ever green, flowering bush for hedge in Houston
Cape honeysuckle works for me. Flowers available in several colors, I prefer orange, and yellow. Can be planted as close as ~ 3' apart to form a semi hedge affect.
Yeah, I was thinking vines for something fast, and potentially it gets reworked later on, when you have a better sense of the road's impact.
Holly is probably the classic evergreen, but I bet where you are lots of things would be almost evergreen, depending on the weather. Pomegranate? Elbow bush? Twelve different colors of rose of sharon? Palmetto?
The final solution could be a mixed hedge - you could pick up different features from different plants, and maybe lots of variety would work with the tropical feel. (Think about the form of the planting, too - does a uniform straight line work, or do you want curves and height variation?)
What kind of safety are you worried about - cars smashing into the yard, or bad guys walking by? If it's people, think thorns. (Also consider if you need to leave a gate or a window, so you can see what's going on out there, or you want to just close it off complete.) If it's vehicles, you probably do need something with trunks, or maybe you want to build a little berm before you plant. A berm or solid wall would do a whole lot more for the sound issue, too. (Will there be new street lighting, too?)
Probably folks all along the road are facing this same question? It might be reasonalbe to pull together a neighborhood meeting, invite a wildlife habitat or master gardener type, and include someone from Roads and Bridges. Even if they aren't going to pay for a sound barrier, possibly they would pitch in with some digging or mulch dumping, as long as they're working in the area. They may have mowing or drainage info.
Do you have a photo?
Chinese Fringe tree/bush.
Thanks for the suggestions! There are so many options really just wanted to see what other people thought might be good.
Realbirdlady-not worried about people as much as noise and cars. I have a pool and children and people speed on the road all the time. UGG! I think a varied look would be better. I have all kinds of stuff in my back yard--roses, tropicals, wild flowers, and my yard is quite big so I could do a decent sized bed in the back. I was just thinking of one hedge but now that you mention it, I could do more than one thing at different heights. I have a tiki theme going and was thinking of the bamboo fencing to put on the inside of the existing fence as well but guess that would be for looks vs. safety???
bobyrd-pretty! Thanks for the suggestion. Do you have these as a hedge? How tall do they get and how fast do they grow?
jerrytx-gotta look that up and check it out! Thanks for the suggestion.
They grow pretty fast but can be trimmed into a hedge. I am prunning two I have to be trees. They make beautiful small single trunk trees. They are used pretty often as landscape shrubs.