Greetings all.

I live in Eastern Oklahoma (Zone 7) and am looking for a plant to use
as a hedge/screen to shield about 250' of my property from the sight
of traffic (and hopefully abate some of the noise) on a nearby road. I
have privets there now which do a fairly good job until they lose
their leaves in the fall.

Any ideas or suggestions on what to plant that would be fast-growing
and drought resistant preferably native to the area.

Thanks in advance.

--Stu

Stu said:

Greetings all.

I live in Eastern Oklahoma (Zone 7) and am looking for a plant to use
as a hedge/screen to shield about 250' of my property from the sight
of traffic (and hopefully abate some of the noise) on a nearby road. I
have privets there now which do a fairly good job until they lose
their leaves in the fall.

Any ideas or suggestions on what to plant that would be fast-growing
and drought resistant preferably native to the area.

Upright junipers, boxwoods, and yews would all be good candidates for a
screen. The junipers will require the least maintainence, and are xeric.
Boxwoods are nice and dense, but grow less than a foot a year. Buxus
sempervirens 'Handsworthiensis" would be a good choice for a boxwood. Yews
would probably be the cheapest, however be thorough with your research on
the cultivar. A lot of yews aren't drought tolerant. They also don't grow
very fast, and any damaged areas on them take quite a while to fill in, due
to the fact that the leaves are all at the ends of the branches, unlike
boxwoods, whose leaves go much deeper towards the trunk.

250' is a long way to cover with a screen. For immediate results, you'll
need to purchase larger plants, which could get expensive. If each plant
has a 5' spread when mature, you're looking at 50 plants, possibly up to
15# pot size. You also may want to purchase one or two extra. Chances are
good with that many plants, that you're going to lose a couple. You could
also consider doing a double row, staggering the plantings. This would
provide the best visual and sound screening, but also would double the cost
of the project.

Keep in mind that whatever you plant, won't be immediately "drought
tolerant/resistant". They'll all need regular watering until their roots
develop.

HTH
--

Eggs

A man walks into a bar with a slab of asphalt under his arm and says: "A
beer please, and one for the road."

Try the "Green Giant" variety of arborvitae --- several sites exist online
with info. These are fast growing reasonably resistant. I've having
several planted for same purpose ... my concern is deer-resistance but all
persons I have spoken with, including extension services, say no issue.



"Stu" wrote in message
...

Greetings all.

I live in Eastern Oklahoma (Zone 7) and am looking for a plant to use
as a hedge/screen to shield about 250' of my property from the sight
of traffic (and hopefully abate some of the noise) on a nearby road. I
have privets there now which do a fairly good job until they lose
their leaves in the fall.

Any ideas or suggestions on what to plant that would be fast-growing
and drought resistant preferably native to the area.

Thanks in advance.

--Stu

I planted a half dozen "Emerald Green" about 10 years ago. They
recover well after snow storms and the deer are interested in them.
Plus, they're CHEAP! I seem to remember $4.95 each in an end-of-year
close out sale.


Buster Chops wrote:
Try the "Green Giant" variety of arborvitae --- several sites exist online
with info. These are fast growing reasonably resistant. I've having
several planted for same purpose ... my concern is deer-resistance but all
persons I have spoken with, including extension services, say no issue.



"Stu" wrote in message
...
Greetings all.

I live in Eastern Oklahoma (Zone 7) and am looking for a plant to use
as a hedge/screen to shield about 250' of my property from the sight
of traffic (and hopefully abate some of the noise) on a nearby road. I
have privets there now which do a fairly good job until they lose
their leaves in the fall.

Any ideas or suggestions on what to plant that would be fast-growing
and drought resistant preferably native to the area.

Thanks in advance.

--Stu

On Sat, 28 Oct 2006 09:11:31 -0500, Eggs Zachtly
wrote:

Upright junipers, boxwoods, and yews would all be good candidates for a
screen. The junipers will require the least maintainence, and are xeric.
Boxwoods are nice and dense, but grow less than a foot a year. Buxus
sempervirens 'Handsworthiensis" would be a good choice for a boxwood. Yews
would probably be the cheapest, however be thorough with your research on
the cultivar. A lot of yews aren't drought tolerant. They also don't grow
very fast, and any damaged areas on them take quite a while to fill in, due
to the fact that the leaves are all at the ends of the branches, unlike
boxwoods, whose leaves go much deeper towards the trunk.

250' is a long way to cover with a screen. For immediate results, you'll
need to purchase larger plants, which could get expensive. If each plant
has a 5' spread when mature, you're looking at 50 plants, possibly up to
15# pot size. You also may want to purchase one or two extra. Chances are
good with that many plants, that you're going to lose a couple. You could
also consider doing a double row, staggering the plantings. This would
provide the best visual and sound screening, but also would double the cost
of the project.

Keep in mind that whatever you plant, won't be immediately "drought
tolerant/resistant". They'll all need regular watering until their roots
develop.

HTH

Thanks Eggs.

I don't mind spending the money if the results are worth it. You have
certainly given some good advice and will check in to all your
suggestions. I especially like the idea of staggering the plantings.

--Stu

On Sat, 28 Oct 2006 18:00:57 GMT, "Buster Chops"
wrote:

Try the "Green Giant" variety of arborvitae --- several sites exist online
with info. These are fast growing reasonably resistant. I've having
several planted for same purpose ... my concern is deer-resistance but all
persons I have spoken with, including extension services, say no issue.

Thanks Buster.

Hadn't thought about the deer problem. I'll look in to the arborvitae
too. A poster on another group suggested pyracanthas. Thoughts?

--Stu

"Stu" wrote in message
...

Greetings all.

I live in Eastern Oklahoma (Zone 7) and am looking for a plant to use
as a hedge/screen to shield about 250' of my property from the sight
of traffic (and hopefully abate some of the noise) on a nearby road. I
have privets there now which do a fairly good job until they lose
their leaves in the fall.

Any ideas or suggestions on what to plant that would be fast-growing
and drought resistant preferably native to the area.

Thanks in advance.

--Stu

My suggestion -- if your planting area has enough depth -- would be not to
use just one species, which might result in losing everything at once under
the wrong circumstances (disease, drought, etc.) The variety would also
provide a more attractive landscape and be a haven for bird life. Some
evergreens, some deciduous for variety. Your extension service should have
a good list of large shrubs and trees which do well in your locale -- If I
were living there I would check out the evergreens that have been suggested,
plus pyracantha, crepe myrtle, etc., but concentrate on native plants which
are likely to be more acceptant of weather variations and less susceptible
to disease. I would also check out some of the clumping types of bamboo for
one part of the screen area. Regards --

On Sun, 29 Oct 2006 11:30:53 GMT, "JimR" wrote:

My suggestion -- if your planting area has enough depth -- would be not to
use just one species, which might result in losing everything at once under
the wrong circumstances (disease, drought, etc.) The variety would also
provide a more attractive landscape and be a haven for bird life. Some
evergreens, some deciduous for variety. Your extension service should have
a good list of large shrubs and trees which do well in your locale -- If I
were living there I would check out the evergreens that have been suggested,
plus pyracantha, crepe myrtle, etc., but concentrate on native plants which
are likely to be more acceptant of weather variations and less susceptible
to disease. I would also check out some of the clumping types of bamboo for
one part of the screen area. Regards --

Thanks Jim.

I have only about 12 feet or so to work with. I have privets planted
there now directly on the fence line. There is one chinese privet (I
think) that stays green all year. I also have a few crepe myrtles
closer to the house but they lose their leaves also.

I like the idea of staggered plantings and will do as much as I can. A
poster in another group suggested pyracanthas with boxwoods which
sound good to me. Another poster suggested Arizona cypress. My big
concern is that I only need to hide 8 feet or so of vertical space and
am a little concerned about the plants/trees getting out of hand. I'd
like to keep the view minus the ugly road and traffic.

I emailed the OK extension office yesterday and hope to hear from them
this week.

Thanks to all who have taken the time to post to this question. All
ideas and suggestion are greatly appreciated.

--Stu