Hi - I live in South Florida and am planning on growing a long privacy hadge of hibiscus. Does anyone have a recommendation for a particular type of hibiscus? Any kind I should look out for? Any growing tips? Thanks so much.
Hibiscus Hedge Question
I would recommend a different plant for your hedge. Hibiscus are water lovers and we have a serious water problem here.
Consider using a native plant that would require very little water once established. A fast growing native that's readily available and very cheap is firebush. It blooms all year, is great for attracting butterflies, moths and birds to your yard. It's basically a no care plant, except for the trimming to give it a neat appearance you would want in a hedge. There is a native and a African version. The native has different colored leaves and flowers than the African version. You can create a colorful hedge using a little of each plant. They grow about the same as far as density and height goes.
Another native that's good for a hedge is Simpson's Stopper. It's also a no care plant that attracts wildlife and very easy on the water.
There are many other good natives you can use. By considering natives you eliminate many of the problems that can come up with non natives.
I hate to sound like a broken record (does anyone use records anymore?) but over the long haul you will save yourself lots of trouble by being smart early on. You will also save time in ripping out problematic plants and replanting over and over again which will save you your time and your money.
Art
I love firebush! And what's great is that the Zebra Longwings love it, too. If you want something with a hibiscus look, you could try a native abutilon. Come to think of it, the Zebra Longwings love that one, too. Mine has gotten kind of huge, but you could trim it to keep it in line. I also think Florida anise (illicium floridanum) has a nice "hedge" look to it. Hibiscus are kind of boring, it seems like everyone has them. And yes, we do need to save our resources so our kids and grandkids might have clean drinking water.
Melanie
Just this month the local extension agent and his assistant created and published a document on the extension website. The document is a list of Florida friendly shrubs for perimeter plantings. There has been so much destruction to ficus hedges that people were looking for alternatives, so they published this list. When looking at the list it goes from tall to short shrubs. http://www.broward.org/extension/pdf/pipolygransonshrubsperimeter.pdf
Art
I lived in FLL for a while. There was a nice hedge of red hibiscus. I could tell when the gardeners were due for pruning. Always when the bushes were loaded with buds, and there were one or two flowers open. Bzzzzzzzz! nice hedge, no stupid flowers!
Does Florida have that horrid pink aphid? Or was it scale? They wrecked most of the hibiscus here in the Caribbean. Booo.
Mm
Hi everyone. We actually already planted our main hedge along the front of our property a few months ago. It was my understanding that once established, hibiscus don't require excessive amounts of water. The UFL site reports the need to water once a week during periods of drought. Not as good as a drought resistant plant, but this doesn't seem too bad to me. We use rain barrels and do try to be responsible about our impact on the environment.
We are planning on choosing different plants along the sides of our house and I'm definitely going to have some firebush there. I love the plants that attract butterflies. We have a dutchman's pipe that they go nuts for! So thatnk you all for your advice.
I had never heard of the abutilon. It is beautiful! How much of the year does it bloom for you, mellielong?
Hibiscus are quite pretty - do you keep them pruned down to form a dense hedge? How about the blooms? I have several in my front flower bed that I rarely water. The water they get is from the roof and gutter run off. If our summer gets too hot and dry then I do water that flower bed :o)
When I bought my house I planted Firebush (hamelia patens) on both sides of my driveway. It gets to about 8 feet tall then I prune it back to about 18 inches in late winter or after a freeze. It grows back quickly each year. Since our winters aren't too bad the foliage remains all year around. It provides almost too good of a privacy wall :o) One of my neighbor's says he can't see my driveway and front yard which works great for me!!!
Bees and hummingbirds love it as well as a variety of butterflies which is a positive. Guess if I would have really thought it out I would have planted a hedge made of duranta bushes instead. The purple blooms on those really do attract many more butterflies.
This is the firebush hedge on the west side of my driveway from back in August of 2007. It's only about six feet tall in this photo but it does provide a good privacy barrier and wind break.
Lots of business and houses around town use it for hedges but they keep it pruned down to a reasonable size and shape - so unlike me!!!
~ Cat
My abutilon pretty much blooms year round. It's gotten pretty big, I need to trim it. I've heard people say they bloom more in the fall, but mine pretty much blooms the same all the time.