Howdee folks
Just wonder if anyone has any good idea’s for my Dad at his new place. He’s gone from a 4.2 acre property to a small villa in suburbia with a tiny, tiny courtyard. The fencing is not very private and he’d like to plant something that will give more privacy but take up too much space otherwise he won’t have any ‘yard’ left.
He mentioned some bookleaf conifers or maples, but I said not good to both of those….so maybe someone here might come up with somethin before he goe’s back to his original idea of boug’s….which might be ok….they have some now without thorns don’t they? But probabaly still need lot’s of cutting back?
Anyone got any suggestions?

Muschee said:

Howdee folks
Just wonder if anyone has any good idea’s for my Dad at his new place. He’s gone from a 4.2 acre property to a small villa in suburbia with a tiny, tiny courtyard. The fencing is not very private and he’d like to plant something that will give more privacy but take up too much space otherwise he won’t have any ‘yard’ left.
He mentioned some bookleaf conifers or maples, but I said not good to both of those….so maybe someone here might come up with somethin before he goe’s back to his original idea of boug’s….which might be ok….they have some now without thorns don’t they? But probabaly still need lot’s of cutting back?
Anyone got any suggestions?

a fruit tree espaliered?

painmaster said:

Muschee said:

Howdee folks
Just wonder if anyone has any good idea’s for my Dad at his new place. He’s gone from a 4.2 acre property to a small villa in suburbia with a tiny, tiny courtyard. The fencing is not very private and he’d like to plant something that will give more privacy but take up too much space otherwise he won’t have any ‘yard’ left.
He mentioned some bookleaf conifers or maples, but I said not good to both of those….so maybe someone here might come up with somethin before he goe’s back to his original idea of boug’s….which might be ok….they have some now without thorns don’t they? But probabaly still need lot’s of cutting back?
Anyone got any suggestions?

a fruit tree espaliered?

Firstly, what is the orientation of said fence? What is the local climate?

A fruit tree on the southern side of the fence isn’t going to fare as well as one on the northern side. A passionfruit vine is always a good answer as it is a dense screen more easily managed, no thorns and edible. Deliciously so.
I note that a passion fruit vine on a north/south aligned fence fruits on both sides of the fence but generally slightly better on the western facing side.
Choko vines are good but they tend to die back in the winter where it is frosty. They’ll also pull the fences down. Any climber on a fence will eventually destroy the fence though they do protect wooden fences from the sun somewhat. A separate trellis thus needs to be built for support. Similar with espalier. I find Jerusalem artichokes a good shield for much of the year but again they die right back in winter. Can be dug for food and then left to do the same again the next year.

Clematis or Pandorea are both good screens many of which are native. Also Marsdenia species (formerly Leichardtia) Again native and edible.

What about a clumping bamboo? They can cover a large space vertically without taking up much space on the ground, can’t they?

I would vote for espaliered fruit tree or a passionfruit vine.

Thanks for the idea’s folks..

During my travels today I noticed some lilly pilly’s and wondered how much work they would be to create a hedge?
I’ve not had much to do with them and work is somethin my 80 year old Pa doesn’t need.

Muschee said:

Thanks for the idea’s folks..

During my travels today I noticed some lilly pilly’s and wondered how much work they would be to create a hedge?
I’ve not had much to do with them and work is somethin my 80 year old Pa doesn’t need.

Syzygiums do require a regular clipping to keep them noice and toight, but the cool things is, they are fairly slow growing, so prolly only require a trim maybe every 8-10 weeks.

painmaster said:

Muschee said:

Thanks for the idea’s folks..

During my travels today I noticed some lilly pilly’s and wondered how much work they would be to create a hedge?
I’ve not had much to do with them and work is somethin my 80 year old Pa doesn’t need.

Syzygiums do require a regular clipping to keep them noice and toight, but the cool things is, they are fairly slow growing, so prolly only require a trim maybe every 8-10 weeks.

similar to westringia on that front. a tip prune every couple of months.

roughbarked said:

painmaster said:

Muschee said:

Thanks for the idea’s folks..

During my travels today I noticed some lilly pilly’s and wondered how much work they would be to create a hedge?
I’ve not had much to do with them and work is somethin my 80 year old Pa doesn’t need.

Syzygiums do require a regular clipping to keep them noice and toight, but the cool things is, they are fairly slow growing, so prolly only require a trim maybe every 8-10 weeks.

similar to westringia on that front. a tip prune every couple of months.

informal, un-pruned lillypilly headges look great too, and some forms are upright and not too wide :)

trichome said:

roughbarked said:

painmaster said:

Syzygiums do require a regular clipping to keep them noice and toight, but the cool things is, they are fairly slow growing, so prolly only require a trim maybe every 8-10 weeks.

similar to westringia on that front. a tip prune every couple of months.

informal, un-pruned lillypilly headges look great too, and some forms are upright and not too wide :)

True, many natives make great hedges with only a prune every several years to keep them within the space desired.

roughbarked said:

trichome said:

roughbarked said:

similar to westringia on that front. a tip prune every couple of months.

informal, un-pruned lillypilly headges look great too, and some forms are upright and not too wide :)

True, many natives make great hedges with only a prune every several years to keep them within the space desired.

What if she got the smaller forms? Also, do lilly pillies need lots of water?

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

trichome said:

informal, un-pruned lillypilly headges look great too, and some forms are upright and not too wide :)

True, many natives make great hedges with only a prune every several years to keep them within the space desired.

What if she got the smaller forms? Also, do lilly pillies need lots of water?

Mine don’t.

How tall a screen are we talking about?

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

trichome said:

informal, un-pruned lillypilly headges look great too, and some forms are upright and not too wide :)

True, many natives make great hedges with only a prune every several years to keep them within the space desired.

What if she got the smaller forms? Also, do lilly pillies need lots of water?

They can be messy when they’re dropping fruit and it’s too small to easily pick up.

bubba louie said:

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

True, many natives make great hedges with only a prune every several years to keep them within the space desired.

What if she got the smaller forms? Also, do lilly pillies need lots of water?

They can be messy when they’re dropping fruit and it’s too small to easily pick up.

hopefully plenty of birds will eat them

trichome said:

bubba louie said:

Dinetta said:

What if she got the smaller forms? Also, do lilly pillies need lots of water?

They can be messy when they’re dropping fruit and it’s too small to easily pick up.

hopefully plenty of birds will eat them

they hardly make a dent in my Riberries.

bubba louie said:

trichome said:

bubba louie said:

They can be messy when they’re dropping fruit and it’s too small to easily pick up.

hopefully plenty of birds will eat them

they hardly make a dent in my Riberries.

maybe not as many birds in the city

trichome said:

bubba louie said:

trichome said:

hopefully plenty of birds will eat them

they hardly make a dent in my Riberries.

maybe not as many birds in the city

Heaps of em.

Not all lilly pillies fruit that heavily.

bubba louie said:

Not all lilly pillies fruit that heavily.

maybe time for some nice jam :)

trichome said:

bubba louie said:

Not all lilly pillies fruit that heavily.

maybe time for some nice jam :)

Tried it, wasn’t impressed.

bubba louie said:

Not all lilly pillies fruit that heavily.

I cannot recall seeing fruit nor flower on my Lillypilly hedge….

painmaster said:

bubba louie said:

Not all lilly pillies fruit that heavily.

I cannot recall seeing fruit nor flower on my Lillypilly hedge….

You probably choped them off. I was thinking more of the freeform hedge that had been suggested.