HELP ,is a PRIVET HEDGE a good plant to make a privacy closing?

Question

I just don want to see my neighbors, I need same thing to grow fast

Answer 1

no because in the winter the leaves fall off, the best plant to use for a privacy hedge would be a japanese pine or any type of tree that holds their foliage all year long. ie. rhododendron, mountain laurel, junipers. I would visit your local garden centre and shop around. It will be expensive though because you will need mature plants for that kind of privacy, maybe you should just install a fence

Answer 2

It really depends on what zone you live in - in Arkansas - privet is a semi deciduous evergreen meaning that it loses some of its leaves, but not all - they grow very vigorous here.

DO NOT BUY PHOTENIAS! They get and keep this air born disease - a blight that can not be controlled! We quit carrying them because we could no longer purchase new ones without the blight already being on them.

Italian Cypress are nice, but there are a few others that I would like to recommend. The Leyland Cypress is an evergreen that grows about 3' per year here in Arkansas. They get about 10' tall by 6' wide. There is also a Green Giant Arbortivae that grows the same as the cypress - we sell these by the loads for natural privacy fences.

Do some research in your area - check with some garden centers and see what does best in your climate! Good Luck!

Answer 3

Depends on where you live. Out here in California, privets only loose their leaves during viciously, record-cold winters. I've yet to see that happen. However, they do loose their leaves if you forget to water them VERY often in the summer time. (My **** sister won't take care of the ones I bought her.) and in my experience, they don't grow very fast, they tend to need a lot of space (like three feet or more) to be very private, and unless you trim them so that the top is narrower than the bottom, the bottom tends to loose it's leaves. If you REALLY don't want to see your neighbors, I would not recommend privet. Honestly, hawthorne probably grows faster, and thicker. It also has flowers.

I would suggest planting a row of italian cypress about three feet apart each. They form a much denser wall, are evergreen, and rarely go bare any higher up than two feet off the ground. Ground cover such as rosemary will take care of that little gap, if you need it to, and the colors and leaf shapes are reasonably similar. Italian cypress grow pretty slow too, but they require minimal care, and can usually be bought at a sizable height to begin with. Eventually, they will tower over everything if you want them to, and you hardly need to worry about watering at all. There are many other types of cypress, some of which might make even better privacy screens, but the italian cypress won't need as much trimming as most of these, since it goes straight up.

I might also suggest many types of vines. Ivy, blackberries, bouganvilla, lavender, or even climbing roses allowed to creep up a fence make a far denser privacy "hedge" than privet, and can be far prettier. Most of them are also nastier to tangle through, and some produce food.

As far as bushes, holly, pyrrocantha, and hawthorne are probably just as good, if not better than privet... Although of that list, hawthorne is the only one without spikes of some kind, which is worth considering if you must trim it yourself.

Answer 4

No on Privet's. They take awhile to grow.

I would suggest phototina. They grow to 8' tall. Buy the larger sized ones. They are also pretty and get at "reddish tint" in the fall.

Answer 5

perhaps you don't want to see them but if you plant Privet you could be asking for more than you can chew, Privet is highly allergenic - so why not change your plant it could be that you or your neighbours suffer hayfever