08. South Privacy Screen
A mixed screen border with new and old.
We miss how remote the south edge of our property used to be. A side effect of removing blackberries was the exposure of our neighbor’s shed. Unlike the north property line which is a formal and linear line, I want the south property line to be more natural and mixed. I also wanted privacy right away.
My fast privacy screen solution
Mixing new plants with transplanted existing plants. Cass Turnbull from Plant Amnesty taught me that rhododendrons don’t mind being moved, so I picked three from the yard and started to build my privacy screen.
Trash to treasure
One non-organic addition to the south property line was a new play set for the kids. This replaced another non-organic “feature” from the area, a pile of trash. I could not believe that the little hill at the south property line was not a pile of dirt but a collection of old construction debris: chunks of countertop, casework, and miscellaneous other trash. My first task was to haul away the trash to make a flat surface for the play set. Once that was complete, I continued my explorations further south and cut away all of the blackberries and other prickly, stingy shrubs until I reached the property line. Our awesome south neighbor offered to clear away the blackberries from his side of the property, too. The end result was a nice clean slate.
The plant mix
The remaining plants along the south property line included tall evergreen trees, a couple medium sized maples, several large tree stumps and an existing bamboo plant (EB).
I mixed new plants with existing plants picked from other parts of our property. The transplants included Rhododendrons (RR), a mystery plant (E), a Wisteria Tree (WT), and a Heavenly Bamboo Nandina (HB) split into two.
Plant Details:
Transplanted Rhododendrons (RR)
Mature Height: about 5 Feet
Mature Width: about 4 Feet
RRP = Relocated Rhododendron with Purple flowers
RRM = Relocated Rhododendron with Magenta flowers
Transplanted Heavenly Bamboo Nandina (HB)
Mature Height: about 5 feet
Mature Width: about 2 feet
Japanese Holly Ilex Crenata Convexa (JHC)
Mature Height: 5 feet
Mature Width: 6 feet
Growth Rate: slow
Sunlight: full sun, partial shade
Quality: more open
Japanese Holly Steeds (JHS)
Mature Height: 6 feet
Mature Width: 5 feet
Growth Rate: slow
Sunlight: full sun, partial shade
Quality: more dense
Cryptomeria Japonica Radicans (CJR)
Mature Height: 30 feet
Mature Width: 15 feet
Growth Rate: 3 to 5 feet per year
Sunlight: full sun
Japanese Maple Sango Kaku — Coral Bark Japanese Maple (JMSK)
Mature Height: 20 Feet
Mature Width: 15 Feet
Sunlight: full sun, partial shade
Summer Leaf Color: Green
Fall Leaf Color: Yellow/Orange
Somehow everything seems to shrink once it is in the ground. Right now the Twilight Crepe Myrtle (TCM), Red Maple (RM), Magnolia Tree (SBM) and Japanese Maple Olsen’s Frosted Strawberry (JMF) just look like twigs. Even the existing bamboo and transplanted rhododendrons look pretty dinky. Another challenge is to fill in the ground before the blackberries and stinging nettle take over the area again.
One year ago, we first visited the site. This part of the property was wild. Now, it is tamed but with a lot of growing to do.
The next step is to add a specimen Japanese Maple as the focal point of the arrangement and more nandina shrubs to fill in the gaps. My dream is for this part of the yard to resemble the existing mature landscaping that we have right next to the patio. Patience.