Native Plants
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.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
rate this answer
Wednesday - August 10, 2011
From: long beach, NY
Region: Northeast
Topic: Privacy Screening, Shrubs, Trees
Title: Need suggestions for plants for a privacy screen in Long Beach, NY.
Answered by: Jimmy Mills
QUESTION:
I have recently added 1500sq.ft. to my backyard. My backyard faces a busy road. I would like to place native trees and bushes along the fence for added privacy, shade and to protect my house from the wind. Do you know which native plants are hardy, grow quickly and are good for this? Thank youANSWER:
Mr. Smarty Plants receives numerous inquiries concerning appropriate plants for privacy screens. He doesn’t have a “list for all occasions”, so he is going to introduce you to our Native Plant Database, that you can use to help you select the plants for your landscaping project. The Database contains the names of 7,188 species of native plants from which to choose. There are several ways to use the Database, and we are going to start by using the Recommended Species list.
After clicking on Native Plant Database, scroll down to the Recommended Species List box and click on the View Recommended Species page. Next, click on New York on the map, and you will get a list 112 commercially available native plant species suitable for planned landscapes in New York. This is more information than you need, so let’s eliminate some of the names for now. You mentioned perhaps planting bushes, so lets see what’s available. Go to the Narrow Your Search box to the right of the window and make the following selections: select New York under State, Shrub under habit, and Perennial under duration. Check Sun under Light Requirement and Moist under Soil Moisture (or use the conditions that apply to your site). Click on the Narrow Your Search button and the list is reduced to five. Clicking on the scientific name of each plant will bring up its NPIN page that has a description of the plant, its growth requirements, and photos. These can help you select plants suitable for your location. Pay attention to the moisture and soil requirements of the plants so you can match the plants to your growing situation.
Repeat the process, and this time select Tree under habit, leaving the other choices the same. This will give you a list of 27 trees to choose from.
For some help closer to home, you could contact the folks at the Nassau County office of Cornell Cooperative Extension.
Growth rates vary from plant to plant depending on the growing conditions. For perrenials, a growth rate of 2-3 ft./year is considered fast growth.
More Privacy Screening Questions
Evergreen replacement for bamboo in Redding CA
July 27, 2009 - We have just removed bamboo from our backyard and need to replace it with a plant that will give us the same type of privacy. What plant would you suggest to plant along a fence line that will surviv...
view the full question and answer
Landscaping a Fence with Native Plants for Central Texas
March 08, 2013 - I'm looking to landscape my fence that I've lined with woven bamboo. The area gets the hot afternoon sun in summer and is pretty shady in winter. The plants need to be drought and heat tolerant. I'...
view the full question and answer
Trees to replace Ligustrums, and evergreen vines for privacy screen
January 21, 2008 - We had 3 ligustrum trees growing along a creek bank in our back yard and under the City of Austin power lines. Our backyard is on a terrace about 7 feet above the creek's flood plain. The Ligustrums ...
view the full question and answer
May 01, 2015 - Greetings!
I am hoping to gain privacy on a 30' swath with existing 6' privacy fence, I need about 14' of height to hide unsightly apartments. Location is full sun without a nearby spigot, I can ...
view the full question and answer
Need plant suggestions for a 700' long privacy screen in Wimberley, TX.
May 27, 2011 - I live in Wimberley. Tx Dot has ruined 700' of my side yard's (& back yard's) privacy by clearing all the plants/trees that had grown up in their right of way adjacent to our property. They're als...
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |