Many people are rediscovering the joy of staying at home. The garden is an ideal place to relax during the day. Screen plants can provide privacy for your garden, hide unsightly areas and provide shade. Hopseed Bush, Brush Cherry and Italian Cypress are three types of shrubs or small trees that can be used for shelter, rapid growth or drought tolerance. Some plants have these three qualities at the same time!

When creating your backyard paradise, these sheltering shrubs can also help create “walls” to establish separate sections in the garden, so you can create different “garden rooms” in your yard. Two of them are also suitable for planting in narrow spaces between houses to help isolate the world. Try these versatile plants in your heaven patch:

Hopseed Bush (Dodonaea viscosa)

United States Department of Agriculture: 9-11

Sunset zone: 7-24

Sun: Full sun to partial shade

Water: medium to low, drought tolerant

The leaves of hop seed shrubs are bright, lemon green or dark purple. The leaves of both versions are about 4 inches long and 1/2 inch wide, and are very shiny on multiple shrub branches. These drought-tolerant shrubs grow rapidly, are about 10 feet tall, and have almost the same width. They need plenty of sunlight for partial shade. Once established in the garden (1-2 years), they can survive on rainfall alone.

The growth habit of linseed shrubs is a bit airy, with many small branches, and long leaves increase the feeling of lace. They can be trimmed into hedges or espaliers for a slightly denser effect. These are conducive to layering, creating a full, lush feeling on the border. They are perfect for placing behind the bed (where the sprinkler cannot reach), along a fence or as a border screen. In late spring, they will grow large, papery seed pods, usually light brown, that can last for several weeks and produce significant results. Although the seed pods decompose quickly in the soil, I do not recommend planting these shrubs near the pond.

Brushed cherries, Prunus caroliniana (Prunus caroliniana)

USDA zone: 7-9

Sunset zone: 5-24

Sun: Full sun to partial shade

Water: medium to low

Brush Cherry is another reliable and versatile garden shrub that can be used to quickly shade and plant hedges. These shrubs can grow up to 30 feet tall and 10-12 feet wide. Although I have seen the mature stands of Carolina Laurel grow taller. They can grow to partial shade in full sunlight. Once established, they can survive in drought conditions. However, in desert areas, they prefer less sunlight and will appreciate more water in the hottest summer weather.

Brush cherries have a dense growth habit and have many branches, so they can be used as hedges for pruning and can even be used for pruning. If they are not pruned, they will still maintain a neat shrub-like shape, but there will be no leaves growing inside. They can also be trained as small multi-trunk trees. The new growth is a very red rust color in the spring. They will spray white flowers, followed by clusters of small bright red cherries. Cherries will stain the concrete and make a mess. If there are not enough birds in your area to take care of the cherries, just trim them off before the flowers fall. This will also reduce the pressure on plants to produce seeds.

Italian Cypress (Cupressus sempervirens)

USDA zone: 7-9

Sunset zone: 4-24

Sun: Full sun to partial shade

Water: medium to low, drought tolerant

The Italian cypress is a familiar staple food in this city, growing along the border, like a tall screen. They grow up to 60 feet tall on a single tree trunk and are usually 1-2 feet wide, but mature plants can be wider. All cypress trees like full sun, but will tolerate partial shade, and once they are established within a year or two, they can survive in a small amount of water.

Italian cypress is the perfect shrub for problem areas. They are tall but thin, so you can squeeze them into narrow spaces. Their trunks will eventually reach about 12 inches, so your narrow bed should be at least that wide. Their growth habit is smooth and cylindrical, with most leaves facing upwards. They lose a small amount of needles throughout the year, but the litter of these trees is not a big problem. Their growth rate in the first year is not very fast, but they will make up for the lack of growth in the second year. Constantly trimming the tops will cause the bushes to be slightly fatter, but they are fairly free and do not require trimming.

When you plan to keep the bushes alive in the rain, it’s best to soak the plants every few days instead of spraying topsoil every night to promote early root development. Even mature plants can be deeply immersed in heat waves, weather exceeding 100 degrees, or particularly dry and windy.

All three plants grow happily in the heavy clay and alkaline soils of Southern California that are hot and sunny. Good luck and happy gardening!



Source by Laura Zinkan

Hopseed Bush, Brush Cherry and Italian Cypress-reliable drought-tolerant privacy screen plants

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