Any green thumbs out there have suggestions for a type of tree, I could plant against my back fence to stop people climbing/looking over?
We have a public walking track over our back fence.
I'm looking for a type of tree that provides privacy, doesn't attract bees and is very low maintenance.
I don't mind pruning once a year, but that's about the extent of it
I'm guessing that you want something fast growing. Things like pittostorum (that spelling probably isn't right) or photinia grow quickly (but this one can be bad with allergies). Bottle brush is quite quick growing and has pretty flowers but is short lived (20ish years) but my current favorite is feijoa (sometimes called pineapple guava) as in years to come it will have pretty flowers and fruit as well.
Is there a reason you don't want bees? They are awesome for your garden... anything with flowers will attract bees and I only like flowering/fruiting plants so take that in mind with my suggestions. Also, consider how tall you want the trees to be and that will help you weed out your choices.
For privacy along one of our fences (in Melb near you so they would suit your area) I chose callistemons as they are fast growing, native and have lovely flowers, a loquat as they fruit and have gorgeous big leaves and a feijoa as they are nice and dense for privacy and fruit, but they are slow growing so I put it at the edge where I'm not fussed about privacy as quickly.
I would steer clear of natives (bottle brush) as they have a tendancy to die suddenly after a number of years. The pittosporum suggestion would work. Marayas (mock orange) would be a really great choice. They are quick growing, bushy and thick but not strong enough for someone to climb on. They get beautifully scented blossoms after rain all year round and little orange berries which aren't harmful. Also only need a prune once a year or so to maintain shape if you want.
We planted viburnum odoratissum along our fencelines in our last house. Went from a bush about 20cms tall at planting to well over 3 metres tall in about 18 months. Really thick foliage (so thick we didn't know when half our fence blew away in a storm), upright so it doesn't impact on your yard area, no maintenance required (we fertilised once I think after planting).
This house we've planted cottonwoods along our dividing fenceline for privacy. They're supposed to be pretty fast growing too. Only reason we didn't go with the viburnum again is they would have been really expensive given that we have an acre of fencelines now.
At our last house we planted Silver Stirling's (pittosporums) all around our boundary. They grew quickly and gave great screening. They require pruning every couple of months to make them tall and bushy but other than that are very low maintenance. Cut the tops if you want them to thicken up, cut the sides if you want them to grow taller - or cut both for tall, thick trees!
My only advice would be to go the cheaper option and just get the 1ft trees. We used 1ft on the two sides of our property (I think they were $4.90 per tree) and along the back we used 1ft, 3ft, 1ft, 3ft.... you get the idea, as our neighbours could see over the fence. The 3ft trees were about $24.90 each. Within 6 months you couldn't tell which were the more expensive trees as the 1ft had caught up!
We planted the trees when we moved in in 2005 and we sold last year. I remember that within 12 months of planting they were well over the fence and by the time we sold they were as tall as the double storey house behind us, and so thick that you couldn't see any of the fence.
i have been trying to make the same decision but for our side boundary fence for about 2 months. We planted james stirling pittosporums in our last house and they grew really well from about 60 cms to up to the fence in about a year. then we sold the house and they looked really good. But we have one of the same in our current backyard and it is gigantic - about 4 metres tall but never been trimmed. so I am thinking the are a bit too big for a side fence. but probably great for a backfence. We also have a walkway at the back and the pittosporum provides good privacy.
Am now leaning toward the "mock orange" as it is supposed to only grow to 3 metres and I like the idea of the scented flowers near the front entrance.
google burkes backyard privacy plants - it has a succinct list of most of the practical choices.
Our neighbours over the back have some some sort of small lillypillies. The foliage is lovely and glossy and very dense. And I can't perve into their yard anymore so they must be working
Reply With Quote
Registered User
Trees for back boundary fence
Bookmarks