VIBURNUM Caprifoliaceae there are over 90 species.
I've been told it provides great privacy and grows quick.

I'm looking into planting something to create privacy myself.

Here is a link that might be useful: Viburnum

Look no further than Viburnum O. It grows tall and lush, is easy care, and fills in to the bottom - making a virtual plant wall. It is fast growing. Viburnum S - according to what I hear and not by my personal experience - has a foul odor at times. I do know the S is not as fast growing.

Thanks for your input. What about the Cypress, Leyland. They are zoned down here and appear to have a really nice look when shaped to a hedge, any thoughts on them?

Thanks!

I agree that Viburnum odoratissimum is a good choice .
Start with tip pruning the tops until they fill out .
Then let them go with as little pruning as possible .
Use Bayer Tree & Shrub Care once or twice a year .

When posting links , please make sure that the links are for Florida .
The link " By George" is for Tennessee with zones 4 to 8 .
Here is one for Florida :

Here is a link that might be useful: Selected Shrubs for Central Florida

If I lived further south, I would plant those ficus type hedges around my yard, although they do grow very tall. You see them a lot in Palm Beach.

Ficus can be a problem. Roots can be invasive and it really wants to be tree not a hedge. Whitefly is also a pest. Can you tell I don't like ficus? :-)

Podocarpus is another excellent choice. A little touchy the first year but after established, it's wind resistant and drought resistant and grows relatively slowly so you're not pruning all the time. Stay away from ficus. Roots are invasive and you'll need to feed it pesticide to avoid the white fly.

Viburnum odoratissimum and Podocarpus are good ones, another is Silverthorn, it grows fast and makes a very thick hedge. I wouldn't go with Leyland Cypress, it's meant to get tall and doesn't have a long life-span. If you like fragrance and don't mind spending a little extra, Lakeview Jasmine is wonderful! Another one that I really like is Texas Sage. It is a small silvery green leaf (if you like that color) with pink-lavender flowers when there is rain on the way. Hummingbirds love it. It gets a little puny in the winter but doesn't lose all it's leaves and when you cut it back some it fills in really nice. It isn't as dense as some of the others, though. Then if you like the tropical look, split-leaf philodendron grows gigantic, only problem I don't know if you get bad frosts in your zone. They do get knocked back but you cut all the dead stuff off and it comes back.

Thanks for all your help. I have decided against Leyland Cypress, definately not going with Ficus, I had some and it died off in the frost and the root system is too much for me! I need about 60 plants for my yard (3ft apart)so I am looking to start off with just baby plants, I am in no rush and as you can imagine 60 plants would be quite expensive if I buy them mature. I really like the sounds of Silverthorn, and Lakeview Jasmine from what I am reading online. Are there any online nurseries that sell these? Thanks for all the help!

Here is my idea of a Florida hedge - just started last fall...

{{gwi:837790}}

PLanted in this bed are Dahoon Holly, Texas Sage, Thryallis, Milweed, Blackberry lily, Yellow Walking Iris, Pentas, Red salvia, Fountain grass, Firebush, Jamaica Caper, Silver Buttonwood, Lantana, Purple Porterweed, Bush Daisy and probably something I forgot.

Last summer that back fence row (neighbor's side) was a ficus hedge and a 65' tall Cuban Laurel. I like this for year round interest and the layers work well for screening. It will be a controllable screen between the properies in a short period of time.

Good luck in your search for what is right for you!

Terri
(who has an '88 Honda Flat 6)

Terri, I consider that not to be a ho-hum hedge, but a beautiful and diverse border, and it looks great.

Thanks Rita.

Where are you? I could pull 10 or 15 Lakeview jasmine babies of various sizes tomorrow. Just pulled a couple of good-sized ones today. It would take awhile to get these babies to hedge size, but you could increase your spacing of the purchased plants and get volunteers from me, or someone closer to you, depending on where you live, to help fill in the spaces faster. The smaller ones won't have much room to get wide, so they'll catch up in height pretty quickly. I'm in Miami. There's a GW swap up in Jupiter Farms next weekend. If that's convenient for you, I'm happy to bring all I can pull.
If not, you might post on the exchange section. You can probably get Lakeview Jasmine from a lot of people.
Also, I have a friend down in the Redland who has a jasmine hedge and a nursery near him comes by every year and pays him to air layer a bunch of branches. I've also done that, when I wanted a larger branch for the front yard and it's easy. That might be another way to save some money by buying fewer plants and propagating your own.
Susannah

imagardener2

You mentioned that ficus is a problem because of whitefly. I agree. I have a ficus hedge that I believe is infected with whitefly. My local nursery sold me some

Malathion oil

They claim that they spray it on all of their plants at the nursery and it works great. But i've also read from other people that its a harsh chemical. Any other advice?

As far as the original question: honda03v6

I did some research and I ended up buying Podocarpus. I am starting to replace my Ficus with Podocarpus.

Keep the Podocarpus well watered the first year to year 1/2. You may get some sudden branch die back (just cut it off), I never could quite figure out what it is from, but it seems to happen less when they get plenty of water. After they are established there is no need to water.

Don't be afraid to mix it up. My side yard has several different plants as a border and it's much more pleasing to the eye (including clumping bamboo) than the hedge of Podocarpus.