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le_r76

EDITED Need landscape advice! Privacy while keeping sun for edibles?

3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago

Ok here's a photo, blocking out the neighbors' houses along with a revised post.


Thank you so much for all your suggestions, I am reviewing them now. Just getting back as I got pulled away to deal with some other things.

I'm in overwhelm and just can't figure out how to place things to make them look good.


Central FL zone 9a in a mobile home park with close-by neighbors. Would love to create a backyard that is a privacy screen -peaceful, flowy, private, green oasis that attracts birds and wildlife. Layered trees. Not manicured, not severe, pointy shapes, dark or sharp (hollies). Think park or artist garden. Delicate. Private, fluttery serene space that catches the sun on the leaves and attracts birds and butterflies.


Also, an area of edible fruit trees but they need full sun, and also lose leaves in the winter, leaving myself and the neighbors looking at each other. Hence the dilemma.

I'd like to show some of the extended lawn (not the houses) from neighbors to give a green grassy feel and keep continuity and have an open feel, while still screening for privacy esp. in the area noted in the photo.


More info:

We lost two beautiful oak trees recently to mistletoe, which left massive trunks under the grass. I thought I'd use that as a peanut shaped grassy middle area or plant fruit trees around it and take advantage of the decaying trunks underneath.

The sun passes right over it so they would need to be angled properly. Not sure how to make that look good.


Trees also need to be able to stand up to high winds.

The yard is 20 yards long and the backyard faces NE.

I'ts got to be budget as I cannot afford to build raised beds, stone structures, pagodas etc.


Trees I have (in pots currently)

2 Dwarf cavendish bananas

1 Barbados cherry (worried about safety for squirrels)

1 Dwarf blueberry

1 Meyer lemon currently covered with fruit (so can't plant yet)

Also, gardenia bush

Bouganvillea that needs replanting (optional)

3 Strawberry plants currently in pots

Maybe climbing roses on a trellis

Some anise hyssop in a pot


Must-Have Trees -

Arbequina olive (1 but prefer 2), prefer kept small

Loquat


Preferred -

Peach tree

Mulberry

Avocado (pref dwarf)


Also -

a small pomegranite (in a pot on the porch to protect him from the cold),

Beautyberries

small orange tree

Elderberries

Another blueberry

If I can get the major trees in place and have them look good and create a private space, I can figure the rest out from there. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.





Comments (15)

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    So, you have 60 feet across, but how much planting space is there? That is, just the yard and not the entire property. Olive trees can,when mature, be 20' or more in width and 25' or more in height. It is always good to take mature size of all the plants into account even when they are slow-growing. Sambuccus (Elderberry) is the same. I suspect that things grow more quickly for you in Florida than they do fro me in Northern Virginia, but I have left a lot of room for growth for my Sambucca.

    I am not an expert by any means-just a long-time gardener who still makes lots of mistakes, but if you could make a more accurate drawing to scale, the "real" designers here might be able to help. It just seems to me that you are being very ambitious in your "must have" plants. Perhaps photos looking toward your home from the property lines would work and certainly would be a help.

    ETA: Since you mentioned a trellis, perhaps letting go of the idea of lots of trees, you could camouflage neighbors with rose-covered trellises which could allow for the sun you need.

    ETA2: I totally get wanting a private oasis. I am planted to completely hide neighbors here, but the woods behind us have recently been clear-cut for development. I am furious and will now be adding more evergreens way back there! ;-)

    LE R thanked cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
  • 3 years ago

    Just a general comment on sun direction- read some things about sun- mapping.
    Identify the South- Southwest areas of yard - back or front or side—and whether those have plantable areas. Including options for large for large containers.
    Avoid planting trees or close shrubs that will block this south- southwestern light. Often you could get away with some low shrubs beyond the veggies since high summer sun will clear those most of day. In general you can “ layer down” with tallest trees to the north and lower plantings as you move south.

    Your gardening site options may include several different amounts of sunlight, so remember you can create pocket plantings—salad greens , parsley, cilantro and other lower light veggies in one area ( especially easy in containers also) ; tomatoes and peppers in the best & most hours of sun.
    Lot of information available about what crops can do okay with 4-6 hours of good sun vs all- day sun. Sure, yield may not be as good but if you’re determined, there’s always something.

    LE R thanked marmiegard_z7b
  • 3 years ago

    Plus of course if you plant very many trees or shrubs on a small property, you will have root zone competition, not for creating veggie beds and for sucking up water.

    I do like the trellis idea for limiting height, and no tree canopy.
    Lacey spreading forms ARE lovely, but take up more space. If you prefer greenery to trellises, you could research some fastigiate cultivars.

    LE R thanked marmiegard_z7b
  • 3 years ago

    HU, "Fastigiate"! Thanks for this new-to-me word!

    LE R thanked irma_stpete_10a
  • 3 years ago

    Palms and bamboo(in pots or the non invasive stuff) at the corners. Raised veggie beds for the rest.

    LE R thanked Rachel Lee
  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Thank you everyone for your suggestions! Revised my post and added a photo.


    Regarding SW areas of the backyard, the house faces SW. So it gets hit with the eastern sun, and then later in the day starts to shade the area by the bushes as the sun goes over the house. The future "fruit tree" area facing east gets a lot of sun right now.

    I do have a veg garden along the side which gets a good straight shot of sun during the day.


    As for full size of the trees, yes I desperately wanted to put a Chinese Elm on the left side of the yard and then saw what the full size was! And the trunks, yes that's a concern. There's not a lot of planting room there.


    Love the rose trellis and bamboo ideas also. Athough there are some concerns with hurricanes or high winds.


    Still trying to figure out the best placement of things.

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Wow! That's beautiful, thank you so much!

    Love how bringing those trees more inward seems to anchor things more. I couldn't get things to look balanced. It screens while leaving it open enough to not feel suffocating.

    Love the way the tree trunk area is utilized and featured.

    Visited a fruit tree farm recently that had a food forest area set up similarly in the back, angled for the sun to go across, with a walk-through path in between. It had mulberry trees, loquat, peach trees, avocados and all kinds of things.

    The walkway anchors it and makes it work. Would have to plant on the edges and I'm not sure how far those roots go out, but the trees underneath were massive. I'm thinking maybe even those bushes can't be planted there? Right now it's a giant pile of mulch where the trunk was.

    I was planning to put the banana back there but it would probably be happier in the front and work really well. It will freeze in the winter though and may be unsightly but that spot actually is really good because it gets the most water from the gutter and a lot of sun.

    Would really like to sit down and go through the plants but can't make out the text in the image. I can see the Meyer Lemon, loquat and the banana tree. What's the big red tree? And what are the plants at the corners of the yard in the back?


    (Edit) I am really worried about those roots. They appear to be almost up to the house.

  • PRO
    3 years ago

    Pomegranate & Date Palm

    LE R thanked Dig Doug's Designs
  • 3 years ago

    Re tree stump/ roots concerns, you could bring in and mound some dirt to create a berm (or two) above the area where the trees were. This would give your young plantings some fresh dirt to start out in before hitting tree roots, which by that point will hopefully be decomposing.

    LE R thanked Old House Restorer
  • 3 years ago

    Thanks. THis might work for some of the underplantings.

    I've been removing the mulch slowly for the past few weeks and taking it out for trash day. It's supposed to be great for planting, but I"m concerned after a year of sitting there that it might be a termite risk.

  • 3 years ago

    That seems a teriible waste of good organic material. It is good planting material. Can't you use it or compost it away from the house? Are you never going to use mulch again?

  • 3 years ago

    Maybe. I've kept it this long intending to use it but do see flying things in it - if it has termites, coudln;'t it destroy whatever trees I plant? Seems risky.

  • PRO
    3 years ago

    Termites tend to eat dead wood, so they should leave your live trees alone. People use wood mulch around trees all the time just fine. You should mulch around your trees, what else were you planning on using if you throw out your mulch?

  • 3 years ago

    I was planning to use pest-resistant mulch such as melaleuca