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
Tuesday - January 29, 2013
From: Reading, MA
Region: Northeast
Topic: Deer Resistant, Privacy Screening
Title: Barrier Planting in Boston
Answered by: Anne Van Nest
QUESTION:
I live in the Boston area and a school is being built right behind my property. The school kindly left me a 100' barrier that includes some 40' high pines, a couple of tall oaks and some spindly poplars. They have offered to put in a barrier planting within that area. Any suggestions for something native to my area that is resistant to deer and the hemlock wooly adelgid? I would prefer something more natural looking rather than a row of one plant. Thank so much!ANSWER:
What a great opportunity you have to create a native planting at the back of your property that will also be enjoyed by the neighboring school students. Think of the space as three layers – the upper tree canopy, the middle shrub or small tree section and the lower section that has groundcovers, perennials and biennials. Your plan can easily include excellent native plants for all three of these layers. You can also have several different plants in the middle and lower layers that have attractive flowering, foliage or fruiting features during different times of the year.
The first place to go to find a list of potential plants is our Native Plant Database. Use the Combination Search feature instead of Recommended Species. This will provide a bigger selection with much more choice to narrow down. The volunteers and staff at the Wildflower Center who maintain the database have partners in different regions to help with these recommended species lists based on what is easy to access in local nurseries.
Under Combination Search, select the following categories: Massachusetts, All habits (or just search for trees, shrubs, etc.), and Duration – Perennial. You can narrow down this search further by indicating blooming time, soil moisture and height specifics.
Follow each plant link to our webpage for that plant to learn its growing conditions, bloom time, etc. At the bottom of each plant webpage, under Additional Resources, there is a link to the USDA webpage for that plant. Take a look there for more specific details about suitability before you put them on your final planting list. Think about including plants that have interest during a variety of seasons and that have more than one attractive feature (flower, fruit, foliage, bark, etc.) so you can get more benefits out of fewer plants.
Once you have a large list of potential plants for your three layers, then it is time to cross reference them with the deer-resistant species. To do this, take a look at our recommended species list of deer-resistant plants. Then narrow your search to those native to Massachusetts and other specifics you would like.
Some of the deer-resistant plants that you might consider include:
Aquilegia canadensis (Eastern red columbine) Perennial to 2 ft.
Eupatorium serotinum (white boneset) Perennial to 3 ft.
Symphoricarpos orbiculatus (coralberry) Shrub to 4 ft.
Amorpha fruticosa (indigo bush) Shrub to 10 ft.
Rhus aromatica (fragrant sumac) Shrub to 12 ft.
Cercis canadensis (Eastern redbud) Small tree to 30 ft.
Ptelea trifoliata (common hoptree) Small tree to 30 ft.
Juniperus virginiana (Eastern red cedar) Evergreen tree to 30 ft.
Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore) Tree to 100 ft.
Lastly, you said you specifically wanted to avoid plants that were hosts to the hemlock woolly adelgid, a tiny insect closely related to an aphid. This insect severely weakens and kills Tsuga caroliniana (Carolina hemlock) and Tsuga canadensis (Eastern hemlock) over several years. In the Northeast, avoid planting these two hemlocks because of the seriousness of the hemlock woolly adelgid situation.
From the Image Gallery
More Privacy Screening Questions
Transplanting large Silverado Sage bushes from Mesa AZ
August 19, 2013 - We just bought a condo with three Silverado Sage, each one is 6-8 ft tall, trained to grow as "trees" with bare branches for the bottom 4 feet or so, and beautiful flowering branches on top. They ar...
view the full question and answer
Thorny shrub for deterring break-ins in southeast Texas
February 05, 2013 - Looking for a very, very, thorny three or four foot tall shrub for in front of windows to deter break-ins. Considering Rosa Rugosa rose but it is not native.
view the full question and answer
Looking for tree to absorb sound from neighbor's pool
August 09, 2012 - Our neighbors have put in a new pool with a harmonic pitch sound which resonates in my home. We have tried rubber mats and foam on the fence. Nothing is working. My pool guy suggested trees as the ...
view the full question and answer
Screen plants to replace non-native Chinese raintrees in Marble Falls, TX
February 15, 2010 - Five four year old Koelreuteria bipinnata (Chinese Rain) trees were mistakenly cut to the ground. They were planted fairly close together, perhaps ten feet apart. The purpose for them was to provide a...
view the full question and answer
Hedge to cover chain link fence
September 04, 2010 - Hi, I would like to hide 250 feet of 6' tall chain link fence on a western facing, sloped, very rocky soiled back yard I had to use a jack hammer to dig the holes. Esthetically I would like to be abl...
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |