How about a row of fruit trees? In Miami you could have mangos. After establishment, they shouldn't need supplemental water. They have dense pretty foliage. If you get dwarf varieties you could easily keep them pruned to 8'.

There are dozens of nurseries in the Miami area that grow Cocoplum in larger sizes. The standard 3-gallon size is always the cheapest and the plant DOES grow fast. But you can buy 15-gallon size that will plant out at 6' tall quite easily.

If it was me:) And hence the name I have a passion for bamboo.

Bambusa Multiplex, Alphonse Karr planted on 5 foot centers so you would need 20. A beautiful yellow culmed clumping bamboo that will get maybe 20 feet high but can be hedged at any height. You can also get the green culmed Multiplex as well or inter mix them.

All plants need water especially during establishment so if you are lazy or forgetful as I am:) You go to Lowes and buy 100 feet of 1/2 tubing made by Mister ($11) and you buy the 180 degree sprinkler heads ($5) per 12 so you would need 2 packs. You simply pierce the pipe and screw them in...put them on a timer to water once or twice a day and fool proof. I have probably 3000 feet of that system running and I adore it, so dang easy and so fast to install.

If you mulch the plants and put them on a water system that bamboo would grow fast. Here are some pictures....the first is a 2.5 year old plant. Can you see what is behind this row of plants? Nope, which shows what a fast and awesome screen they make.

This past March I cut single culm (stem) with some roots from those 2 year old plants and this is what those 6 month old plants look like today. Each plant will double in size yearly, both in height and number of culms for the first few years. Eventually you can thin the bottoms out so you just see the culms and they in themselves will block your troubling view.

At the left of the picture (behind the weed) you can see the orange "Mister brand" sprinkler head and the black poly pipe. Remember 6 months ago that was just a single culm (stem) 5 foot tall and if you look closely in addition to the culms in the pic that you just see their bases you will also see 4 more culms just emerging from the ground that will be 10 feet tall in just a month which will bring it to about a dozen culms total IF those new 4 are the last of the season. Next spring it will produce more, perhaps 20++.

This picture shows part of the new run of Multiplex planted 6 months ago as the single culms. It is part of what will be over 1000 feet of multiplex planted on 5 foot centers and in 2 years it will be both a physical and visual barrier. Because it grows mostly up and becomes dense it does not take up much area of the yard as some hedges do. This particular run is along a fence that borders the neighbor.

I am a bit biased toward the bamboo I admit:) And no, I do not sell it.

Silverthorn (Elaeagnus pungens) is a good, thick hedge. I've seen Golden Dewdrops planted as a hedge, beautiful with white or purple-blue flowers. Viburnum grows fast, Lakewood Jasmine is a beautiful plant with fragrant flowers, but may be too slow-growing. How about some ornamental grass like Pampass Grass? Then there are some great Junipers like Blue Point, but they grow slower too. You've got an enormous length to plant something. You know, Split-leaf Philodendron is a great plant for a lot of coverage, especially down south there where it doesn't freeze. We had some at the corner of our house in Tampa and it got enormous. So do Elephant Ears.

Bamboo, do you have any other recommendations for bamboo that is a good screen? I just planted an Alphonse Kar and would like maybe another variety in partial shade. Tampa bay area.

Chinchette,

My favorites of the commonly available ones would be Bambusa chungii Tropical Blue, Bambusa textilis 'Kanapaha' or Dendrocalamus minor 'Amoenus'. Don't worry about the sun or lack of it. Now those are the semi-large type clumpers but they are also a good screen. Bamboo is odd as the more shade the bamboo is planted in the bigger it will get but it will get there slower. If you want a smaller clumper like the Karr there is the regular green culm multiplex and others like goldstripe but nothing beats the Karr. If you want an experts advice and a source to buy from there is a very good person right in Tampa, his entire yard is filled with bamboo and all of it growing in shade. If you want his name and contact info drop me a line at Bamboo_rabbitAThotmail.com.

Thanks. I don't want to hijack this thread I will e-mail you.

Sorry, can't e-mail to that address.

I think you mean Roy? Right?

He recommended blue chunghii barballatta as it is similar but smaller scale. Goes to 22 feet in my area. What do you think about the taller ones in a smaller residential yard? I do LOVE the blue chungii!

Chinchette,

That email address is right you just have to replace the AT with the @ sign. Yes though I meant Roy, many of my bamboos came from him.

It all depends on the look you are going for. You can grow any clumper in a small yard. You could limit the bamboo to just say 5 culms. Each year after the bamboo puts out it's culms you remove the smaller ones So after a few years you would have just full size, full height bamboo with just those 5 culms or whatever number you choose. If you go to Roy's he has a few like that as he has limited space. I believe his Blue is confined to just a few culms. There is something elegant about the large bamboos confined to just a few culms.

Good advice bamboo. With that in mind, I could plant a viburnum or something else listed in this thread along the fence for my screen and bamboo out in front of it- a loose clumper and keep it contained to not as many culms. Something that you see through. I could then possibly phase out the viburnum as the bamboo grows if I want more of that.

Chinchette,

I think that is a workable plan. Most simply depends on what one likes to look at.