What is the best privacy hedge/plant?

Question

I have neighbors on all three sides of my home and need some privacy. I live in central PA, Zone 6. I'm not a gardner by any means and need help. What grows fast and is attractive - I don't want it to look like I just through something up.

A friend at work gave me Forsythia and said even i couldn't kill it...I'm going to place it in the back border of the yard and let it grow natural. I know it wont be there for privacy (beauty only) but I still need something that will work for privacy (got some very nosey neighbors all around).

I've got 6 eastern white pines (7 foot tall) on two sides in an "L" shape on the one corner currently and they look great but it will be years before they do anything for me. Any help would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Wow, you really have a lot of answers. The forsythia grows well and after a few years it will grow very, very tall. Then, if you do not clear out the dead canes, the flowers will only bloom at the top and the bottom will be a bunch of sticks. The lilacs become huge and they spread. The stalks grow very thick and you will need a saw to cut them back. Lilacs do smell nice when they bloom. The arborvitae and privet look nice if you prune them. I like the idea of having the hedge in different heights with the euonymous because it will look better on your side, but again you will have to prune each year because they grow and grow. Rachel McLeod has many years of experience in gardening... particularly with herbs. She recommends high bush cranberry Vibernum trilobum. She can be reached at 905-659-1001. http://www.everydayliving.com/HomeGarden.html
Raspberries spread rather quickly and they do have thorns. You can build a supporting trellis and grow grapes. It looks nice to have a weeping cherry in the corner. Hygerangea bushes are nice and they do grow quite tall, though not as tall and wild as the lilac or forsythia. The flowers can be cut, hung upside down to dry and kept for a long time. The Rose of Sharon is very pretty. A variety of red hibiscus flowers can be dried and used to make tea that can be drunk hot or cold and tasts somewhat like red zinger tea. I like it a lot. Hispanics call it aqua de jamaica (pronouced ha-MIKE-ah -- not like the Caribbean island). Also called roselle or Jamaican sorrel, it is Hibiscus sabdariffa var. sabdariffa. Unfortunately, it may only grow well in Florida, not in your latitude, though I thought I would mention it bedcause I like the drink.

This is a website for native plants of Pennsylvania http://www.pawildflower.org/g3/03_list/list.htm This is the website for Pennsylvania small trees and shrubs and has a lot of information such as height, watering infor and light info. http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/wildplant/smtrees.aspx These are the poisonous plants of Pennsylvania http://cal.vet.upenn.edu/poison/index.html In case you have trouble growing your plants the botany department of University of Pennsylvania has troubleshooting pages on its website and includes introduced plants as well as native plants http://www.paflora.org/

Have you visited the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia? You might want to see what the plants look like before planting them. Also you might want to visit a formal garden and see what the hedges look like. See Chanticleer Garden in Wayne, PA. http://www.chanticleergarden.org/gardenguide/index.html The Botanic Garden of Western Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh, PA is huge. http://www.botanicgardenwpa.org/plan.htm Penn State University has a website with a lot of information about fruit plants such as raspberries,blackberries, gooseberries, currants to name a few. http://ssfruit.cas.psu.edu/

You might want to obtain your plants from:

Arborvitae, Euonymous, Lilac, and other shrubs and trees from Ryan Family Nursery in Kirkwood, PA http://www.ryannursery.com/#

Vines, climbing roses, clematis, wisteria, honeysuckle
Bushwood Nursery http://www.gardenvines.com/catalog/planting_guide.php

Rose Franklin's Perienials in Spring Mills, PA. [e-mail] http://www.butterflybushes.com/

Edge of the Woods Nursery in Fogelsville, PA. http://www.edgeofthewoodsnursery.com/

Octararo Nursery in Kirkwood, PA http://www.octoraro.com/nursery.phtml

Not for a privacy fence but for beautiful hardy perennial terrestrial orchids contact the Wild Orchid Company in Carversville, PA http://www.wildorchidcompany.com/index.html

Answer 2

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Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
What is the best privacy hedge/plant?
I have neighbors on all three sides of my home and need some privacy. I live in central PA, Zone 6. I'm not a gardner by any means and need help. What grows fast and is attractive - I don't want it to look like I just through something up.

A friend at work gave me Forsythia and...

Answer 4

What To Plant For Privacy

Answer 5

They grow very dense and can be easily trimmed or left to grow. Depending on the variety, they will be 3-10' wide. Growing 6-12" upward a year, they can be topped at any height to maintain a formal screen. Arborvitae prefers loamy or heavy soil to dry, sandy soil. They tolerate moderate shade and grow best in full sun. Drought, in the last five years, has adversely affected some arborvitae and made them susceptible to insects. In July and August, check your plants for stress and water heavily, if necessary. At this time of year, the most serious insect pests are evident. The University of Maine Cooperative Extension, a library, or your nursery professional may help identify an insect problem

Answer 6

I have/had the same problem, except mine wasn't nosy neighbors. Its because we live on a corner and have a lot people out walking their dogs ans stuff and my dogs would go crazy every time another dog went by. Our city has some pain-in-the-butt ordinances that say we can't put up more than a 4-foot tall fence, which deosn't do a lot of good for privacy.

So we went on craigslist and posted that we were in search of free lilacs and that we were willing to come dig them ourselves. We had dozen of people contact us saying that their lilacs needed to be thinned out and that we were welcome to as much of thei bushes as we wanted because they always keep growing. We lierally got enough bushes and shoots to create a hedge that's over 25 feet long. Won't give us much privacy for a year or two. But eventually we will have a nice, natural looking private, and great smelling side yard! And at 100's of dollars less that it would have cost to buy plants. Check into cragslist for your area.

Answer 7

Hey "RunTheDog"...& if the Hemp doesn't work as you suggested--- she can always invite all her neighbors over and smoke it! Everyone would mellow out then and she won't worry about privacy anymore! LOL...
But, my suggestion is the Box Elder...it's a tight little green leaf & I like it so much better than the Laurel hedge...either one has to be trimmed (like Edward Scizzorhands did)...but they make a nice either natural or trimmed privacy hedge (if you don't want a fence).
The Forsithia is a neat bush...but for privacy? I never thought of it that way. I would prefer just planting a bunch of Hydrangeas and letting them do their thing every year. I had an old man neighbor who used to try to cop a peek at me sunning on my own backyard deck...and I planted those and let them just do their thing...and now he can't even see my deck! THEY HAVE PRETTY BLUE FLOWERS AS BIG AS A DINNER PLATE TOO!

Answer 8

Arborvitae (Thuja) are the most commonly used for privacy hedges. They grow very dense and can be easily trimmed or left to grow. Depending on the variety, they will be 3-10' wide. Growing 6-12" upward a year, they can be topped at any height to maintain a formal screen. Arborvitae prefers loamy or heavy soil to dry, sandy soil. They tolerate moderate shade and grow best in full sun. Drought, in the last five years, has adversely affected some arborvitae and made them susceptible to insects. In July and August, check your plants for stress and water heavily, if necessary. At this time of year, the most serious insect pests are evident. The University of Maine Cooperative Extension, a library, or your nursery professional may help identify an insect problem.

Answer 9

I have/had the same problem, except mine wasn't nosy neighbors. Its because we live on a corner and have a lot people out walking their dogs ans stuff and my dogs would go crazy every time another dog went by. Our city has some pain-in-the-butt ordinances that say we can't put up more than a 4-foot tall fence, which deosn't do a lot of good for privacy.

Answer 10

I have neighbors on all three sides of my home and need some privacy. I live in central PA, Zone 6. I'm not a gardner by any means and need help. What grows fast and is attractive - I don't want it to look like I just through something up.

Answer 11

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