Crape Myrtle Natchez spacing to create a border
I’m trying to create a privacy border similar to the picture below at the back of my backyard using Crape Myrtle Natchez. The length is about 40 feet. The garden center said I can plant 8 trees 5 feet apart but everything online says they should be much further apart. I don’t think it will be an issue at first because I’m buying 15 gallon trees but as they grow will it be an issue? I do want them as close as possible. Thoughts/ suggestions?
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6 years agoRelated Professionals
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PRO6 years agoThe garden center is selling trees so, of course, they want you to space them as closely together as you could be convinced was reasonable.
I look for opportunities to see if the tree spacing can be coordinated with any of the background. Here, there is a fence panel repeating at distinct intervals -- probably 8'. Yet for the height of tree you need (as it will have proportionate width) that still seems like a bit tight of spacing, if you want the trees to display some character as individuals, and not just a monolithic background screen. As a compromise, I would consider a wider spacing, such as every other other fence panel (every 16' +/-) and making it a double row. That way you still get a solid screen, but the front row of trees stand out with enough separation from each other that they read as individuals, not just generic screening. (A single row at 8' on center would look like a giant hedge.) And you have plenty of yard depth to do it. Of course, the backs of the front row will blend together with the fronts of the back row, but since you won't see it from your primary viewpoint, it won't be a point that matters.
With tree screening, the fence itself and the ground space below the trees can become quite dark. The fence will tend to disappear into a black hole. The conditions stand a good chance of being unfriendly to growing shrubs, and much more suitable to growing groundcover ... like a mass of ferns or something. At any rate, you'd probably want all the space below trees to be a bed rather than lawn, since grass isn't going to grow, giving you the opportunity to cut down on mowing.
Natchez can be a lovely tree, but with a background of open sky -- often almost white -- a white flower color strikes me as likely to be disappointingly underwhelming. In your inspiration picture, where there is dark forest behind the right-side trees, the white flowers stand out. But at the left-side trees, the white flowers are lost in the upper portion of the trees. 'Muskogee' -- also a big crape -- strikes me as a much more effective flower color choice. Anything BUT white in a big crape would work.
melissachiodi thanked Yardvaark- 6 years ago
6 years ago
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