Native Plants

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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.

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Thursday - April 14, 2011
From: Austin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Privacy Screening
Title: Need suggestions for plants to form a privacy hedge in Austin, TX.
Answered by: Jimmy Mills
QUESTION:
I live on a corner lot with the backyard facing a busy street. My lot is 4 feet lower than street level. I am looking for a privacy screen to plant along this North facing side. I have a canopy of live oaks that shade the area most of the day until 3 pm, when blast of SW sun hits this area. I have a 4' limestone wall with 4' wrought iron fence on top of the stone to cover and hopefully grow above. I'm looking for something 8-10' or more. I live in southwest Austin. Thank you so much for your time.ANSWER:
Mr. Smarty Plants often gets questions regarding hedges as privacy screens. I am going to take this opportunity to introduce you to our Native Plant Database to help you answer this question, and to share the ancient wisdom of the “green gurus” by referring you to some previously answered questions (really not that ancient).
Our Native Plant Database contains 7,161 plants that are searchable by scientific name or common name. If you are not sure what you are looking for, you can try the Combination Search or the Recommended Species lists. There are several ways to use this feature to find plants, and I will show you just a couple. Click on the Native Plant Data Base link, scroll down to the Combination Search box, and make the following selections: select Texas under State, Shrubs under General Appearance, and Perennial under Lifespan. Check Part Shade under Light Requirement, and Moist under Soil Moisture. Click on the Submit combination Search button and you will get a list of 70 native species that you can chose from. Clicking on each of the Scientific names will bring up its NPIN page that gives the characteristics of the plant, its growth requirements, and in most cases, photos.
To use the Recommended Species lists, go to the Native Plant Database and scroll down to the Recommended Species List box. Clicking on the map will enlarge it so that you can click on Central Texas. This will bring up a list of 155 commercially available native plant species suitable for planned landscapes in Central Texas. After reading through a few of these you’ll realize that all of them aren’t shrubs and you need to narrow your search. Go to the ”Narrow Your Search” box on the right of the screen and make the selections as before. You can get several different lists by changing the selections in the Narrow Your Search box.
Next, let’s look at some answers to previous questions from Texas.
Austin, TX #2080
Austin, TX #4355
Porter, TX #6506 Coral honeysuckle Lonicera sempervirens (Coral honeysuckle) could be a great addition to your wrought iron fence.
Austin, TX #3664
Georgetown, TX #6126 Note the warning about the difficulty of growing some plants under Oak trees (allelopathy).
As you read through these, you will see that there is quite a variety of possibilities to use for for privacy hedges. You can also see that Wax Myrtle Morella cerifera (Wax myrtle) seems to be one of our favorites, and hopefully one of yours.
More Privacy Screening Questions
Screening plants for edge of pond in Illinois
December 16, 2008 - I have a backyard pond that I am restoring, adding aeration, plants, etc. Unfortunately, there is a farmer that stores old equipment on the shore of my pond and refuses to move it. It is an eyesore....
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Small trees for property edge in Katy TX
April 16, 2012 - By deed restriction, I must have five trees on the side of my small suburban lot just west of Houston, TX. Due to the lot layout, the trunks are only about 8-10 feet from the house, with the trees abo...
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Care of non-native Buddha Belly bamboos
November 08, 2014 - I have several budha belly bamboos. They froze down last winter. I have got them back to 5 ft. I need them around 8-10 for privacy.
Any suggestions? Also how to I protect them this winter?
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A privacy hedge for a shady spot in Austin, TX
July 02, 2012 - What is a good choice for a privacy hedge in west Austin in a predominantly shady area? I'd like it to be 8-12 feet, along the fence, so as to obstruct the view of the neighbor's yard.
view the full question and answer
Construction problems on site in Mansfield OH
April 28, 2012 - Last year we had a rectangular above ground pool put in the person who "leveled" for use did a terrible job and basically dug a huge hole for us to put our pool in. The back side of the pool is abou...
view the full question and answer
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