Any suggestions for along my cyclone fence?

I sure could use some advice. My home, (my living room), faces a desert, with a dirt road, (a utility road), an empty lot and then the desert. My cyclone fence separates my backyard from the dirt road. My challenge is It used to be I'd only have to dust once a week, but a neighbor, moved in across the dirt road and decided to take over the empty lot right behind my house. He killed all the vegetation there so the garbage truck, mail person and his guests could drive on it to turn around and go back the way they came. This wasn't necessary for him to do this, because the cars/trucks can pull onto the dirt road from one entrance and go out the other. But, thanks to this man, they use the empty lot and now I have so much dust in my home, on a daily basis, it is hard to keep up. Especially since I am very disabled. He also decided to spray along my fence and other neighbors, too on my side of the dirt road, to kill any weeds. But only ended up poisoning my three dogs! He does whatever he pleases on everyone's backyards, on my side of the road, so his property would look nice! Aaaarrrrrgggghhhh!
Anyway, I've been looking at various plants/bushes/trees online, to put inside my fence, hopefully to block some of the dust and our high winds as well. AND, would tolerate the spray the neighbor sneaks around and does. Plus, it would be nice to have some shade for my living room windows, which face the empty lot, but that's not as important. Because of my disability, I have limited income, so it can't be too expensive. I live in the southeast corner of Arizona, approximately 15 miles north of the US/Mexico border, 4600 ft. above sea level and in zone 8a. My soil is like the desert's, (which is high desert here), so I need something that will tolerate the occasional 100 degrees and drought. I've looked at 'Knock Out' roses, honeysuckle, etc. online, plus a man from a nearby nursery suggested buying his very large pine trees. But I'm afraid they'll be too big and spoil my view of the mountains, which I love so much to see. I would love something long lasting, grow fast and about 10 ft. plus, but less than 20' and a fast grower. Then I can enjoy the plantings in my lifetime. I need to cover 45 ft. of the fence, which will more than cover the width of my home. I know, I'm asking a lot, but I hope there is something I can have a friend plant for me.
Does anyone have any suggestions for me? I would be honored to hear from you. Thank you, very much!

Before you plant anything I think you need to talk to the neighbor about spraying--if he's regularly spraying herbicides that are going to hit your plants then you're going to have a hard time getting anything established there. Once plants are big and well established they will probably survive the overspray, but you'll end up with parts dying & looking ugly, and when they're small and just trying to get going it could be enough to kill them.

Once you've fixed that issue--I love vines on fences, they will grow fast and you'll only need a few plants to quickly cover the fence. Good vine coverage should help with the dust but they won't get taller than the fence so maybe that doesn't solve your problem. I have Passiflora 'White Wedding' on my back fence--I have 1 plant and it's covered a good 15 ft of fence in a couple of years so you'd only need a few to cover the 45 ft (although for faster coverage plant a few extra). My summers aren't as hot as yours on average, but we do get some days every year in the 100-110 range and it's never shown any signs of stress even though it's on a west facing fence and get sun all day long. It doesn't get a lot of water either--every 2 wks during the hottest part of summer and less often the rest of the year (I have clay soil though--if yours is sandy it may need more water). I also like Solanum laxum and have it in a few other areas, it also grows fast and covers fences nicely and also handles sun & infrequent watering.

I have a few more suggestions. Vines are great and keep them in mind. First off, ammend the soil with peat, will help with retaining moisture once the plants are in. I buy it by the bale, at home depot are approx $12 for 3 cubic feet. I mix in every hole, believe me it will help. Once plants are in mulch, on the cheap I use grass clippings sometimes collected from the curb in neiborhoods on trash pickup day, some will even save for you if asked. I let them dry and spread. Now to the plants, I must admit I'm not so great on the plants you could grow since I am many zones further north but.....You will want trees that can grow fast: ie. Fruit trees (standard apples get approx25ft ish), crabtrees again 25ft.. There is a maple (ginella), blooms spring (fragrant), fast growth and only 20ft. Some shrubs if allowed to grow to full height could be in your range (ht.). Check wit your local extention office, listed in the white pages under county government for your county. Ask for plants that might fit your requirements. Then go shopping in catalogs if possible as barerooot trees and shrubs are much more cost effective than those from nurseries which are potted or balled and burlapped. Could even check with your local home depot or lowes as their prices for potted fruit trees and crabapples are very reasonable ($20-30 each). Like I say some of the taller shrubs might be great also so don't forget them. And yes they should help to filter out the dust, especially as they get older. So until your trees get bigger you can plant vines and flowers (even annuals) to help do some filtering. On the absolute cheap are sunflowers, the species can grow to 12-15ft. Might not be the prettiest but a few packs for $3 or $4. might help for this season, and then leave them up thru the winter. Hope that helps. Kathy.

pix is Daucus carota, Queen Anne's Lace, a biennial, at 6ft, blooms spring and I have plenty of seed if you would like some d-mail me, I also have bags full of cosmos seed too.

Something else I forgot to say was....you need to talk with the county about the spraying, ask what is allowed and what isn't. Are your dogs still alive? and whose property is he using if it's not yours or his (county clerk and recorder will have records). Could contact the owner and ask for their input on the land being used without permission, cuz if the owner doesn't object, they could loose the land to the guy who is using it. I know it's a weird law but it has happened here in colorado, and did last summer in Boulder county, Colorado.

This message was edited Mar 7, 2012 7:19 PM