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
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
rate this answer
Sunday - February 21, 2010
From: Dallas, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Trees
Title: Privacy hedge for Dallas area
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
We live in the Park Cities area of Dallas, and our neighbors are right on top of us. Our lot is small, but I'm looking for a privacy hedge or small tree to plant along the side of the fence. It needs to grow about 10 feet tall, be very hardy and not be too wide, as our backyard is small. Do you have any suggestions?ANSWER:
Mr. Smarty Plants assumes that you are interested in evergreen shrubs for your hedge. Here are some suggestions that are generallly within your size range. As they grow wider, they can be judiciously pruned to keep them from encroaching on your yard space.
Morella cerifera [syn. = Myrica cerifera] (wax myrtle) and here is more information. There are dwarf varieties of this shrub that only grow to 3-4 feet so you would need to be certain that you aren't buying one of those.
Leucophyllum frutescens (Texas barometer bush) and here is more information
Ilex vomitoria (yaupon) and here is more information.
Mahonia trifoliolata (agarita) and here is more information.Rhus virens (evergreen sumac) and here is more information.
Sophora secundiflora (Texas mountain-laurel) and here is more information.
There are three evergreen vines that you might consider growing on your fence:
Lonicera sempervirens (trumpet honeysuckle) and here is more information.
Gelsemium sempervirens (evening trumpetflower) and here is more information.
Bignonia capreolata (crossvine) and here is more information.
More Trees Questions
Norway Pine vs. Norway Spruce
April 28, 2010 - Dear Mr. Smarty Plants,
Is a Norway Pine the same species of tree as a Norway Spruce?
view the full question and answer
Fruit trees for Buckeye AZ
May 16, 2010 - I am moving to Buckeye Az from Utah and would like to know what type of fruit trees I can grow.
Thanks!
view the full question and answer
Tree resembling live oak, but with thorns
August 04, 2008 - I'm trying to ID a tree in our backyard, most of our trees are Live Oaks and the tree in question has a dark almost black and gray bark that looks just like a Live Oak. The leaves are similar but lig...
view the full question and answer
Problems with fruit of Mexican Plum from McKinney TX
May 19, 2013 - MY Mexican plum tree (about 5 years old) has small fruit on it. Some of them are severely deformed, and look rotten almost. They are bumpy and ragged looking. Or they are pasty white,rotten and dried ...
view the full question and answer
Problems with Shumard Oaks and Crepe Myrtle in Cooke Co. TX
September 07, 2013 - I have a Shumard Oak Tree that has been in the ground approx. ten years. It has done great, even passing up some of my older Shumards. In August it began to lose its leaves at an alarming rate. They a...
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |