Grow your own colorful privacy fence
Q: Do you have suggestions for a privacy barrier along our back fence? We’d like to screen two big, neighboring houses. Perhaps upright, fairly narrow evergreen shrubs will help. I was considering bottlebrush or oleander. There are power lines running above, so a height between 12 feet and 20 feet may be the range that works.
A: Bottlebrush is an option, but globe-shaped oleander may grow too wide without considerable pruning in future years.
Learn the mature size of a considered shrub and measure the distance you would like to screen to determine how many plants you will need. Avoid planting so close to the fence that the shrubs will grow flatsided.
Other possible options include:
• Pineapple guava (Feijoa sellowiana) is a handsome evergreen shrub that works well as a single, focus plant or as a hedge in multiples. New silvery foliage matures to a blue-green with gray undersides, providing a nice spring backdrop for the white blooms with prominent red stamens. The fruit that follows the flowers makes a great jelly as well as popular food for wildlife.
• ‘Awabuki’ viburnum has large, lustrous leaves that form
a 15-foot-tall evergreen backdrop for white spring flowers. This shrub tolerates pruning.
‘Walter’s’ viburnum has small, dense foliage that creates a pest-free, virtually impenetrable 12- to 15-foot screen with fragrant clusters of white spring blooms. The shrub may sucker — meaning it may send shoots up from the ground near the original plant. These can be clipped off or left to grow.
• Japanese yew (Podocarpus macrophyllus) is not a true yew but serves well as a dense living fence with blue-gray fruit. This evergreen matures to 15 or more feet; shorter varieties are available.
• ‘Bright ‘N Tight’ cherry laurel is a 10-foottall wildlife attraction with shiny leaves, sweet white blooms and black berries.
• Southern wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera), a billowy 12- to 20-foot native, has aromatic olive-green leaves and blue-gray berries. It grow wide and is a nice shrub to prune up like a small multitrunk tree. You can then plant perennials beneath the canopy.
• Golden dewdrop (Duranta repens) is a shrubby perennial that can freeze and regrow in the spring. But because our winters are so mild, that doesn’t often happen. These plants flower constantly, and the spent blooms are followed by golden berries, which attract butterflies and birds. Prune heavily if you wish to shape this extremely low-care, drought-resistant plant.
Q: I have an orange tree grown from seed. It is about 5 feet tall, but after four years, it has never bloomed. Will it ever produce oranges? I believe it is a Texas orange, since that is the only kind I eat. What should I do to have fruit? Terry Li, Houston
A: Oranges often come true from seed — meaning that a tree grown from seed will produce fruit like the parent tree. But it takes several years to find out if you will enjoy sweet fruit like that produced by the mother tree. ‘Republic of Texas’ is a good choice for our area.
While it is fun growing an orange tree from a seed, it may take many more years for yours to bear fruit. Some wait seven years, others more than 10 years. Hope your patience is not stretched that long. Meanwhile, water your tree during extended dry spells. Mulch with compost, but don’t pile it against the trunk. Apply an organic fertilizer if growth is poor.
Q: Shrubs in my boxwood parterre are browning and dying. What is causing this? Carole Harrington, Houston
A: Two possibilities are boxwood decline and root rot. I suspect the later, given recent mild winters and heavy rains during the past year and a half.
Symptoms of decline include spindly plants, browning/dying branches and a yellowish cast to the foliage. This disease can be discouraged with good light, good drainage and air circulation. Avoid overhead watering and over-fertilization, and thin shrubs to improve air circulation.
Root rot causes the entire shrub to die. This can be a problem in heavy clay, and it’s encouraged by warm temperatures and soil that remains too wet for long periods and/ or has poor drainage. The fungus can cause the plant to turn from dark green to light, then brown, and also rots roots.
Take infected plant parts in a sealed plastic bag to a certified nurseryman for help in identifying your problem.
Check the drainage, and run a soil test to determine if any amendments are needed. You may need to replace the soil in the area and include a quality compost.
If root rot is the culprit, you also may want to replant with shrubs that are not susceptible to root rot. Dwarf yaupon is an option.