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Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

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Friday - June 03, 2011

From: Seymour, CT
Region: Northeast
Topic: Privacy Screening
Title: Privacy Screen options for Seymour CT
Answered by: Brigid & Larry Larson

QUESTION:

Hi Mr. Smarty Pants: Looking for a quick growing privacy hedge for a home in Seymour CT. Thank you very much, I appreciate your help.

ANSWER:

Greetings!

  Privacy Hedges seem to be one of the most popular questions asked of Mr Smarty Plants. So, please forgive me that I’m going to get lazy and simply reference a few excellent previous answers.

  I found these by going to the Mr Smarty Plants page and doing a search on “privacy” – Then I separated out the questions asked from cities close to Seymore, CT. Be aware that since I live in Texas, this means within a couple states up there!  I also searched out questions from Connecticut and reviewed them for ones addressing quick growing privacy hedges.

This question from Garrison NY is quite recent and covers a spread of possible natives as does this answer to a person in Holmdel NJ

                   
Prunus virginiana
             Cornus florida                 Pinus virginiana

  The folks on Long Island don’t seem to be a concerned about deer, but I would expect their climate to be pretty similar.  There were three questions on privacy hedges from there:  From Sag Harbor, Smithtown and Bayport.

                   
Ilex opaca
                      Thuja occidentalis             Lonicera sempervirens

Questions from my search on Connecticut weren’t as specifically about privacy hedges but here is a question from Oxford about covering utility boxes; one from Newtown wanting a fast  growing screening tree; and one from Orange looking for a tree that grows fast and tall to cover the power lines.

                    
Juniperus virginiana
           Juniperus communis               Juniperus virginiana

 I hope that isn’t too much for you!  For local help – we also generally recommend that you contact the local extension office.  For you that could be the UCONN Office in North Haven.  This website also references other locations in case that may be more convenient for you.

 

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