My house faces North. The West side of the house gets very hot (blazing!) here in 7a Fort Worth in the Summertime, and I would like to plant something (tall hopefully) along the West side to block some of the sun and maybe provide some privacy from my neighbor to the West. We're not doing anything weird over here (I think), just wide open. Here's the problem: septic tank is about 15 feet off this West wall, so I'm worried about invasive roots. Trees would have been very welcome here but I guess the planners weren't thinking about dealing with sun exposure on that West wall. Some type of hedge might work (?), but it would have to be something whos roots would not be invading the septic tank/line. Any ideas? Anyone facing the same situation? Help! I need to get a handle on my cooling bill. :) Stacey
Advice?: tall plants for West side sun screen
I suppose that you would want an evergreen if you want privacy from the neighbors and the sun too.
I can't think of anything that would be tall enough without having long roots.
Maybe tall posts with cross bars to support some evergreen vines would work.
Crossvine http://wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=BICA
and Carolina Jasmine, http://wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=GESE
These are both evergreen and could do the job and I think the roots wouldn't go as deep as a large shrub or tree.
Josephine.
I use cannas for the screen along my alley way which happens to be East. However they are not deep roots and the variety I have grow 7-8 feet in the summer. They have multiplied until they really good screen and shade. Might consider it.
Thanks you Josephine. 15 feet just isn't much space for roots, is it? I could do something like a trellis that is anchored into that west wall and then cover it with the crossvine or carolina jasmine. That will at least give that wall some covering instead of absorbing all of that sun.
I was thinking about some chaste or redbud there because I think the root systems are not real large or invasive. What do you think? Would that be pushing it?
We crossed paths in DG Space LouC! Oh I love cannas. I could definitely see that happening. Will they do ok on a West wall with super heat, sun from mid-afternoon to sunset? Stacey
The other option would be to plant a smallish to medium sized evergreen tree or three in very large containers. To cut down on watering maintenance, install drip lines to run into the containers/barrels so you are not constantly watering by hand July/August. Mulch, mulch, mulch the containers to retain moisture.
All very good ideas, now you have many to choose from.
Aardvark, I'm no tree expert, but when we were planning the landscaping for some commercial property the landscaper suggested Tx mountain laurel. He said it's a good choice when you need shade and don't have a lot of room for roots because the root ball is relatively small. They are designed by nature to survive where there's not a lot of soil. They grow slowly, but with some alfalfa tea and a little TLC they would probably grow faster and they are really awesome trees.
I have had these cannas for many years and have moved them from one area to another. They take a lot of abuse. They are on the other side of the chain link fence from the yard and don't get as much water. Some people complain about leaf rollers but I have had little trouble with them. The tubers are barely covered with dirt. Might use them intermixed with other things that take longer to develop. When you don't want them anymore they could be moved or traded.
If you are in search of an evergreen vine, I may suggest Confederate jasmine. It doesn't attach to the house, doesn't need lots of care once establish and will grow tall with support. Wonderful fragrance for about 30 days in springtime also. It takes the heat and sun well but a slower grower.
All great suggestions; and I think it would make good sense to use a combination of these since some are fast and some are slow growers. I have heard the mountain laurels are very slow growers but if I start with one of significant size it would certainly be worth the wait; gorgeous native tree. I like the cannas because they grow tall and would provide some cover until the vines and small tree could reach enough size to do the job. Thank you all so much for your suggestions. This has really helped me see the problem and solutions differently than I was initially thnking. You gals/guys are such a great resource to have! :)
Oleanders would work. They're evergreen and bloom to boot. You can get full size that gets to be tree sized or the shorter varieties. I'm not sure how invasive the roots might be.
Crow
Thanks Crow. I did think of oleanders, but I have a dog that doesn't seem to have any sense about what is a good thing to eat and what is not. She will try just about anything; caught her eating my morning glories one morning, something about how they were swaying in the wind I guess. Anyway I think those may be more poisonous that I want to try out with her. Also 4 children which, while I'm sure they are intelligent... oh, lets just say they are children. Thanks for the suggestion though. Under other circumstances it would have been one of my top picks.
Last night when I couldn't sleep I was thinking of what you could plant there. How about climbing roses, I have China Blush and Lady Banks and they require very little care once established.
Why not bananas. They get up to 15 ft. and you may even get some food. They put out lots of short roots but they should not be a problem. I did mine up just before first frost and keep in the garage then plant out in the Spring. This way I start out with 10 ft. tall plants and have a better chance of getting bananas.
Lisa, I love roses but reached a point a couple of years ago when I swore off of them. I had some hybrid teas and pretty much killed them, after a slow and painful death. I just can't seem to get roses no matter how much I tried, and I fretted over those roses all the time. Eventually I decided they were too finicky and difficult and I have too many things to do than baby roses. Now I usually grow things that are low maintainance and drought tolerant, love natives. But recently I recall someone telling me that not all roses are finicky and high maintainance. Are the climbing roses easy? If they are prone to disease and insect attacks I don't want to deal with it. But if I could find one that was agreeable to being left to its own devices for the most part with occasional water and fertilizing, I think I would love roses.
Kenboy, while my daughter would go bonkers with joy if I planted a banana tree, I don't see that one in my yard. I love bananas but I don't want to deal with moving things in and out for the seasons. I'm kinda lazy gardener in some ways. I just want things to grow and be happy where they are and if they aren't I will just take them out and put somebody else there who will be happy. :) Thanks alot for the suggestion though; I appreciate your input.
I do ABSOLUTLY NOTHING with the 2 roses I mentioned above but I don't know about the root thing. They don't even get watered. I don't think the LADY BANKS has thorns either and it comes in pink or yellow. You can get them at Walmart or HD, I think.
Lisa
OK maybe I need to revisit roses. Thanks Lisa, I'll take a look at those. :) Stacey
Lady Banks roses planted 4 feet apart would create a 12 to 15 feet tall hedge that the light of day can't penertrate. Lady Banks is thronless and is almost evergreen, mine just have less leaves in the winter and they love the sun. I have 2 planted eight feet apart. I will post a picture tomorrow of the two and I also will measure their spread. That's a good ticket as I envision it. The spring color show will be almost unbelieveable. I have never did anything to or for mine except pull the johnson grass out for a couple years. No fert, no mulch, no nothing. They do grow slow for a couple of years, maybe fert, mulch and water would make them grow faster. I betcha. After that nothing grows underneath them. Too much shade. I have never watered mine except for a few times the summer I planted them. Stick them in the ground and they go on autopilot.
You may want to go to the rose forum and get advise there, but my China Blush is growing up into an oak tree. From a distance it looks like the oak tree has pink bloosoms. I have sworn off roses here myself, I lived in So. CAL. for the first 29 years of my life and I thought roses grew big and beautiful everywhere, then I moved to TX. Here they take a lot more work and up keep. I finally decided that if I was going to spend that much time on something I was at least going to grow something I could eat! No offense, but I hope I don't think of you tonight and get some sleep, however my boys watched something about ghosts so even though they are too big (13 and 11) to fit in my bed I'm sure they will end up in my bedroom.
lisa
Been thinking about your situation a bit. The more I think about all the issues, I like the very large container/barrel solution. Here are some trees/tall shrubs to consider.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1188/ Not evergreen, but a wonderful, hardy, drought resistant (read good in container), spicy smelling large bush/tree. By placing in a container, you limit potential root spreading issue.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/57160/ By planting in a container, you limit some of the invasiveness problems. You will also limit its potential height by planting in a container.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/64645/ absolutely beautiful tree
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/79395/ might not quite get to 15 feet in a container
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1432/ wish I had one of these
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/53821/ Now I am getting jealous. Dreaming of more space to plant trees.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2762/ One of my favorites, wish I had one.
Here is a tree link to browse.
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/xeriscape/table5.html
Enjoy your research. Keep us updated.
I did not list bradford pear or some others due to high wind problems and tree breakage issues with these winds.
There are a few good palms that might work, but I feel its difficult to pull off the palm look in DFW
Here is a good link on container growing
http://bexar-tx.tamu.edu/HomeHort/F4Best/GardeningwithContainers.htm
CCtx-thanks for going to all that work on your post. Now I just need more space and more time.
Stacey...If you decide to do the cannas, you can pick up a whole lot at the RU I am sure. A lot of us have cannas and are always swapping color varieties. Just watch the trade threads.
No problemo, enjoy researching. Was thinking that since this is west facing close to a house, think of this a micro 8a-b zone in your 7b map area.
Wow CC! Awesome selections and thank you bookoodles for your research! I have so much to thinka about now. Have to run these by DH.:)
Sheila, I will be on the lookout for cannas on the tradelists. :) Never grown them before but so looking forward to it!
I don't know which RU you're going to, but I have cannas I need to thin out.
Silver, I am planning to attend the Central and North Central RUs in May and April, respectively. I would love to take some cannas off your hands :), so maybe I'll have some items on my list that you would be interested in and we can swap. What kind of cannas do you have? Are they tall ones?
will give my group the once over and perhaps have some to bring to you as well.
Christi
Right now I'm hoping I can get to the College Station RU, but if we don't meet at a RU there is still hope. There's always the mail if you can pay postage. Or maybe somebody at the CS RU can pass them along to you.
My cannas are sort of a lite red and about 4 1/2 feet tall and get am sun only. I have to look in my journal to see which kind they are. I started with 5 three years ago and now probably have 20. They don't all multiply at the same speed. I have some Black Knight cannas that get full sun and have spread only half as much.
Is there an RU around Austin? I would love to do that, we could have it at my house!
Sure you could have a RU in Austin. Just pick a day and say ya'll come!:) It can also be fun to combine a RU with a nursery trip. There are lots of good ones in Austin.
Here's some more info (and a better link) to the Red Buckeye. Awesome tree/large shrub
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1336/
I want to post this link for anyone wanting to create a tall trellis. Cat used livestock fence panels to create a lot of different trelllis creations. I want to try the three sided one.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/684265/
Thanks for the link, Shiela. We have a rather large stump right in the front of our house. Now we know what we want to do with it!!
