Native Plants

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Sunday - September 13, 2009

From: Houston, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Shrubs
Title: Shrubs for fenceline in Houston
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

I live in Houston, TX and would like your suggestion on what plants, trees or shrubs would work best to grow alongside a fence to hide a neighbor's backyard. We all have relatively small backyards.

ANSWER:

The Native Plant Society of Texas–Houston Chapter has a wonderful list of Native Plant Information Pages that includes, among other things, a list of "Native Shrubs" for the Houston area. Here are some evergreen choices from that list that should do well along your fence line:

Morella cerifera [syn. = Myrica cerifera] (wax myrtle). There are dwarf cultivars available so you want to be sure you pick one that isn't dwarf to use as a screen for your fence line.

Ilex vomitoria (yaupon)

Cyrilla racemiflora (swamp titi) is semi-evergreen in the Houston area since the leaves that turn red in the fall generally stay on the tree until spring.

Sabal minor (dwarf palmetto)

Evergreen vines would also be a possibility to use as a screen. Here are some that are native to your area:

Bignonia capreolata (crossvine) is semi-evergreen.

Gelsemium sempervirens (evening trumpetflower)

Lonicera sempervirens (trumpet honeysuckle)

You can also look for other possibilities in our Texas-East Recommended list. You can use the NARROW YOUR SEARCH option and choose 'Shrub' or 'Vine' from the General Appearance to limit the list to shrubs or vines for the East Texas area.