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Any advice on what are good bushes or plants to plant as screens?

I have a road-facing chain link fence that I would like to screen off a bit. I'd like the plants to either be, from the start, or grow to, 4-6ft in height. Any ideas? Oh yeah, this will be in clay soil.

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  • Photo_small
    Reputation: 1235
    Moderator

    I would recommend a combination of any or all of the following. I have all of these growing in my yard so if you live in the Northwest like me they should work pretty well. The Barberry is the only one that's not evergreen so you'd get coverage year-round. Good luck and happy gardening!

    Columnar Barberry

    Escalonia

    Mexican Mock Orange (Choisya)

    Evergreen Jasmine (To grow on the fence itself). Must have full sun for this one.

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  • Tomato_small
    Reputation: 1021

    Bamboo, but plant it in boxes or pots, as it will spread like crazy.

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  • Lookalikes_small
    Reputation: 2589

    I've had great luck with photinia. They'll grow a hell of a lot bigger than that, but they're easily pruned.

    I planted 3 10-gallon photinia in my back garden to screen off a noisy and annoying neighbor on the other side. The 3 plants have grown into a 12-foot bushy hedge which helps with both visual and noise pollution. I have completely ignored them. I don't even water them. They've grown like weeds, and the birds really like them.

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  • 05-01-06_1814_small
    Reputation: 91

    Pyramidalis is another good privacy screen evergreen. Five for $100 at most nurseries, they're hardy and pretty fast-growing.

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  • Hawaii_3_luau_whales_ioa_014_small
    Reputation: 1732

    I was going to recommend privett hedge. They grow as tall as you let them, and they make a pretty good screen as well.
    But it starts as just a sprague or two that get's planted and will start to sprout from there. Just don't mow them off, or assume that they're dead too quick.

    You can try cuttings on your own, but we bought 40 fromsomething like "Michigan Bulb Company" for like 50 cents a piece, but three or four died, and when we complained, they were excellent about sending us immediate replacements that all took off and have been indistinguishable from the rest of the originals.

    Might take a few years to get to your height requirements.

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  • Swedishchef_small
    Reputation: 230

    i see lots of chain link fences with laurels as screens. laurels will grow fast and get just about as tall as you let them get. they'll take over the world if you're not careful.

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