Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Before we begin, let us give you some caveats (that means we can't do everything you want us to)

1.  The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is committed to the growth, propagation and protection of plants native not only to North America but also to the area in which those plants have evolved; in your case, Greenville Co., northeastern South Carolina. This helps ensure that plants chosen are already accustomed to climate, soils and rainfall when you plant them.

2. Fast-growing woody plants (trees and shrubs) tend to be short-lived. The speed of growth can depend on the amount of sunlight, the soil and temperature.

3. Completely blocking out a view would probably take years to achieve. We suggest a group of different types of plants, with different heights and textures, to distract the eye and focus on the attractiveness of the plants nearer the viewer.

With all that in mind, we will go to our Native Plant Database, scroll down to Combination Search, select South Carolina on the drop-down menu for State, "tree" under Habit, and "part shade" (2 to 6 hours of sun a day) under Light Requirements. We will run succeeding searches with "shrub," "grass" and "herb" (herbaceous blooming plant) under Habit, leaving other specifications the same. We will check to ascertain that each plant we select does grow natively in your area. You can follow each plant link on our list to our webpage on that plant to determine growing conditions, soil moisture and type, etc. There were many more selections in each category, so we invite you to utilize the database and go looking for plants that suit you better.

Trees for Northeastern South Carolina:

Ilex opaca (American holly)

Juniperus virginiana (Eastern red cedar)

Ilex vomitoria (Yaupon)

Pinus taeda (Loblolly pine)

Prunus angustifolia (Chickasaw plum

Vaccinium arboreum (Farkleberry)

Shrubs:

Kalmia latifolia (Mountain laurel)

Rhododendron maximum (Great laurel)

Herbaceous Blooming Plants:

Agalinis purpurea (Purple false foxglove)

Aruncus dioicus (Bride's feathers)

Grasses or Grass-like:

Chasmanthium latifolium (Inland sea oats)

Schizachyrium scoparium (Little bluestem)