Privacy Screen North side of Two Story House

9 years ago

Hello!

I live in Los Angeles and I want to plant something that will grow into a nice privacy screen on the north side of my house. It will be planted in a narrow side yard along a fence. The length is approximately 20 feet and I would ideally like the height to get to 20-30feet. A fast grower would be great, but I need something that can tolerate deep shade/no sun. I tend to favor ficus as a hedge but I have been warned that their roots can get invasive overtime. I am thinking podocarpus may be a good candidate. Does anyone have any thoughts or a different tree I should consider?

Thank you!!

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Comments (6)

hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
9 years ago
How wide is the space? Podocarpus is not as bad as Ficus, but eventually it also has massive roots, as in nature Podocarpus can be 60-70-80-90 feet tall and wide.

The standard for screening in Southern California for decades was Syzygium paniculatum, aka Eugenia, but the Eugenia psyllid arrived and ruined that. A predator of the Eugenia psyllid was released, and the Eugenias at least around here have bounced back quite well. That might be again worth considering--a good local nursery could give you their opinion as to how Eugenia has bounced back in your area.
julie
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you for the input! The space is about 6.5ft wide. I would ideally like to leave some space for a walkway. I will look into Eugenia. Thanks again!
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PRO
Campion Walker Landscapes
9 years ago
the usual go to in quick cover is Bambusa Oldhamii. stays somewhat narrow at the base and flares into great cover on the top, and gets there quickly....... doesn't take any more water than other types of hedge once established. I've had the water turned off on mine(except what little bit of rain we've had) for around a year and it still looks great.
julie
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you for the input.. actually we currently have some bamboo planted in this location, but we are planning to rip it out..It drives me crazy on windy evenings because it bangs and scratches against the house. It is beautiful but I'm sort of over it!
PRO
Campion Walker Landscapes
9 years ago
Yeah it can definatly catch the wind, the next choice for "quick" upright screening would be the Ficus nitida but it eventually becomes a

constant maintenance project. Podocarpus gracilior is great also but slow and currently very small in the nurserys due to supply shortages.
julie
Original Author
9 years ago
We do have a nice ficus hedge bordering our fence in the front yard, which we planted a year and a half ago. I do love it, it's my first choice because I love the simple green screen, but I'm really worried about roots later since this will be bordering my neighbor's yard. I've done some reading and it seems like if you trim them and maintain them properly then you can control the roots. Not sure if this is true or not. I'm assuming it's the same for podocarpus. Bummer there is a shortage right now!