Hi All,

I have a question which I am sure has been asked many times before
about screening plants (for Melbourne). I have a picket fence approx.
4ft (1.2m) high and 15ft (4.5m) in length which I would like to plant
in front of. I am not looking for a complete privacy screening hedge
nor something that is super tall.

Ideally I am looking for a medium coverage, approx. 10ft (3m) tall.

Suggestions so far have been pittosporums, bamboo or conifers, none of
which I am really interested in.

Any thoughts? I have tossed up ideas about weeping trees of some sort
like a weeping cherry that would grow higher than the pickets then
cascade over slightly.

Thanks Heaps

"Joe" <bmarshall2 [at] gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1141610356.120933.161560 [at] i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> Hi All,
>
> I have a question which I am sure has been asked many times before
> about screening plants (for Melbourne). I have a picket fence approx.
> 4ft (1.2m) high and 15ft (4.5m) in length which I would like to plant
> in front of. I am not looking for a complete privacy screening hedge
> nor something that is super tall.
>
> Ideally I am looking for a medium coverage, approx. 10ft (3m) tall.
>
> Suggestions so far have been pittosporums, bamboo or conifers, none of
> which I am really interested in.
>
> Any thoughts? I have tossed up ideas about weeping trees of some sort
> like a weeping cherry that would grow higher than the pickets then
> cascade over slightly.
>
> Thanks Heaps
>
Well, a weeping cherry that would grow higher than the pickets then cascade
over slightly would be nice. Seriously, if that is the image you have in
mind, go for it. Dwarf varieties of most things are available now, another
idea is a grafted weeping rose. This is climber style rose that has been
grafter on a very tall root graft, so you have a long 'trunk' with lovely
weeping rose branches. they usually retail for $50-$70 depending on the
nursery, and $50 plus postage from a rose catalogue. also we have a lovely
weeping ti tree in our yard, it has white, smooth, trunk and branches, and
resembles a weeping willow in style.Good luck!!

"Joe" <bmarshall2 [at] gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1141610356.120933.161560 [at] i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
(snip)
> Any thoughts? I have tossed up ideas about weeping trees of some sort
> like a weeping cherry that would grow higher than the pickets then
> cascade over slightly.
>
> Thanks Heaps

weeping things have become quite de rigeur in my suburb (i'm in canberra -
unfortunately ;-) and they really are just beautiful imo. the only problem
is winter - they do look odd when they have no leaves. or perhaps that's
just me. at any rate, they're not leafless long anyway i suppose.
kylie

"0tterbot" <spl [at] t.com> wrote in message
news:aeTOf.2927$z03.2425 [at] news-server.bigpond.net.au...
> "Joe" <bmarshall2 [at] gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1141610356.120933.161560 [at] i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> (snip)
>> Any thoughts? I have tossed up ideas about weeping trees of some sort
>> like a weeping cherry that would grow higher than the pickets then
>> cascade over slightly.
>>
>> Thanks Heaps
>
> weeping things have become quite de rigeur in my suburb (i'm in canberra -
> unfortunately ;-) and they really are just beautiful imo. the only problem
> is winter - they do look odd when they have no leaves. or perhaps that's
> just me. at any rate, they're not leafless long anyway i suppose.
> kylie
>
It's true you would lose the privacy value for a few months over winter, but
the spring display of a flowering cherry is well worth it! Or you could go
evergreen, like the native ti tree I mentioned. But IMO, flowers are an
added bonus, so I'd go the cherry, or a weeping rose standard. You can get
any colour now, including icebergs, which are lovely, and also the newer
burgundy iceberg makes a lovely display. You can also co-ordinate this with
a matching or contrasting climber over the fence if you want to go all out
on the roses!! I'd match a burgundy iceberg standard, with a weeping cherry
and jasmine on the fence for a lovely, almost-all-year round display of pink
and white fragrance

On 5 Mar 2006 17:59:16 -0800, "Joe" <bmarshall2 [at] gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> I have a question which I am sure has been asked many times before
> about screening plants (for Melbourne). I have a picket fence approx.
> 4ft (1.2m) high and 15ft (4.5m) in length which I would like to plant
> in front of. I am not looking for a complete privacy screening hedge
> nor something that is super tall.
>
> Ideally I am looking for a medium coverage, approx. 10ft (3m) tall.
>
> Suggestions so far have been pittosporums, bamboo or conifers, none of
> which I am really interested in.
>
> Any thoughts? I have tossed up ideas about weeping trees of some sort
> like a weeping cherry that would grow higher than the pickets then
> cascade over slightly.

Camellia Sasanqua "Red Willow".

In article <1141610356.120933.161560 [at] i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>,
"Joe" <bmarshall2 [at] gmail.com> wrote:

> I have a question which I am sure has been asked many times before
> about screening plants (for Melbourne). I have a picket fence approx.
> 4ft (1.2m) high and 15ft (4.5m) in length which I would like to plant
> in front of. I am not looking for a complete privacy screening hedge
> nor something that is super tall.
>
> Ideally I am looking for a medium coverage, approx. 10ft (3m) tall.
>
> Suggestions so far have been pittosporums, bamboo or conifers, none of
> which I am really interested in.

They would provide complete coverage and would be much taller than desired.

> Any thoughts? I have tossed up ideas about weeping trees of some sort
> like a weeping cherry that would grow higher than the pickets then
> cascade over slightly.

I don't think that would make your height requirement.

4.5m is not very long at all. If you were looking for shrubs to 3m, you would
only be able to fit two of them into this space, and possibly only one,
depending on the shrub. A lot of shrubs are wider than they are tall. Would
a small tree be better? Is there an absolute height requirement imposed by
power lines etc?

When you say you want these things planted *in front of* the fence, do you
mean between the fence and the street? This is usually a very narrow bed,
inappropriate for shrubs or anything spiky (otherwise I'd suggest shrub
roses). Or do you mean *in front of* from your point of view?

And what colour scheme are we looking at?

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"... if *I* was buying a baby I'd jolly well make sure it was at
least a two-tooth!"
Mary Grant Bruce, The Houses of the Eagle.

"meee" <pleaseaskfirst [at] meee.com> wrote in message
news:ZWTOf.2958$z03.171 [at] news-server.bigpond.net.au...
>
> "0tterbot" <spl [at] t.com> wrote in message
> news:aeTOf.2927$z03.2425 [at] news-server.bigpond.net.au...
> > "Joe" <bmarshall2 [at] gmail.com> wrote in message
> > news:1141610356.120933.161560 [at] i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> > (snip)
> >> Any thoughts? I have tossed up ideas about weeping trees of some sort
> >> like a weeping cherry that would grow higher than the pickets then
> >> cascade over slightly.
> >>
> >> Thanks Heaps
> >
> > weeping things have become quite de rigeur in my suburb (i'm in
canberra -
> > unfortunately ;-) and they really are just beautiful imo. the only
problem
> > is winter - they do look odd when they have no leaves. or perhaps that's
> > just me. at any rate, they're not leafless long anyway i suppose.
> > kylie
> >
> It's true you would lose the privacy value for a few months over winter,
but
> the spring display of a flowering cherry is well worth it! Or you could go
> evergreen, like the native ti tree I mentioned. But IMO, flowers are an
> added bonus, so I'd go the cherry, or a weeping rose standard. You can get
> any colour now, including icebergs, which are lovely, and also the newer
> burgundy iceberg makes a lovely display. You can also co-ordinate this
with
> a matching or contrasting climber over the fence if you want to go all out
> on the roses!! I'd match a burgundy iceberg standard, with a weeping
cherry
> and jasmine on the fence for a lovely, almost-all-year round display of
pink
> and white fragrance
>
>
I guess the good news is not many people run around naked outside in the
winter time!

I am undecided on what to plant near fences. Most creepers go everywhere and
can cause the fence to come down. Trees break the fence and shade out your
yard and the neighbours. So my preference would be shrubs that grow to 3
metres maximum, can be pruned to 2 metres. They provide a screen and don't
cause as much damage as a tree and if it gets to the stage you need to take
it out you can do it yourself with out the need of a treelopper.

Some planting suggestions could be Coprosma repens - mirror bush, Hibiscus
mutabilis - Rose of Sharon, Royena lucid - snow drop bush and not so shrubby
Standard Roses are nice Iceburg a standout as thorns are light on. Downside
is lots and lots of flowers so lots and lots of dead heading.

Have fun

Richard

Thanks for your suggestions. As for the colour scheme - there is no
particular concern there. Someone did suggest plumbago and the blue
would go quite nicely I would imagine. As it is not primarily to
screen off the view for privacy and doesn't need to be super thick
coverage then I don't necessarily mind the lack of it during winter..
and no - no running about naked then I can assure you..

As for the space, it is on the backyard side of things so there is some
room to play with depth wise and no problems with powerlines.

Roses I already have along the drive so I was looking at alternatives
to this. A hibiscus is a potential, and another suggestion was a crape
myrtle. Any ideas on these? A weeping cherry does look lovely I agree
but I definitely would want at around the 2m in height so if this
doesn't reach that height???

In article <1141701425.992154.126260 [at] i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>,
"Joe" <bmarshall2 [at] gmail.com> wrote:

>
> Roses I already have along the drive so I was looking at alternatives
> to this. A hibiscus is a potential, and another suggestion was a crape
> myrtle. Any ideas on these? A weeping cherry does look lovely I agree
> but I definitely would want at around the 2m in height so if this
> doesn't reach that height???

Sorry -- I meant it would be a long way OVER 3m! Is there some reason not to
have a small tree?

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"... if *I* was buying a baby I'd jolly well make sure it was at
least a two-tooth!"
Mary Grant Bruce, The Houses of the Eagle.

How stupid of me a non powdery mildew crepe myrtle is heaven on earth. I
even have one in my own backyard. The flowers are beautiful, and when it is
naked (through its leaf drop) the trunk with its colours and shape
wonderful. Go for Lagerstroemia indica - Crepe Myrtle (not as large as the
others and is a delight).

Have fun in the garden even if not naked.

Cheers

Richard



"Joe" <bmarshall2 [at] gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1141701425.992154.126260 [at] i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> Thanks for your suggestions. As for the colour scheme - there is no
> particular concern there. Someone did suggest plumbago and the blue
> would go quite nicely I would imagine. As it is not primarily to
> screen off the view for privacy and doesn't need to be super thick
> coverage then I don't necessarily mind the lack of it during winter..
> and no - no running about naked then I can assure you..
>
> As for the space, it is on the backyard side of things so there is some
> room to play with depth wise and no problems with powerlines.
>
> Roses I already have along the drive so I was looking at alternatives
> to this. A hibiscus is a potential, and another suggestion was a crape
> myrtle. Any ideas on these? A weeping cherry does look lovely I agree
> but I definitely would want at around the 2m in height so if this
> doesn't reach that height???
>