Living Fences when you Need to Screen

Variegated Mint Bush is a good addition to a living fence in sun or shade with foliage smells like a cross between mint, thyme and oregano.

Many people only think of plants that remain evergreen when they need screening. However, if you use one-third deciduous plants to two-thirds broadleaf evergreens they will weave together and you won’t be able to tell where one leaves off and another begins. This makes mature hedges secure borders, especially if you throw a few barberries or other prickly plant into the mix. You’ll also get seasonal interest with fall color and berries for wildlife.

When you plant new shrubs that you plan to turn into a hedge, know what to expect and then let each plant develop in its own way rather than trying to make it into something it’s not. Any plant can be pruned and trained into any shape but that creates more work than if you selected shrubs than naturally grow into a form that pleases you.

Narrow spaces can be challenging when you need to screen the house next door. There’s not room for a big, evergreen tree or hedge to solve the problem. One way is to use plants that can be espaliered against a fence or trellis. Some plants like azara microphylla naturally grow flat without much coaxing on your part. This small dainty tree is fast growing and reaches 15-25 ft tall. The yellow flower clusters will fill your garden with the scent of white chocolate in late winter. They are ideal between structures. I’ve used the variegated version to screen a shower and it’s working great.

Many times a screen may start in the sun but end up in mostly shade. For your sunnier spots why not mix in a few dwarf fruit trees to enjoy, ceanothus and Pacific wax myrtle for the birds, barberry for the beautiful foliage and fall color, spirea, rockrose, escallonia and quince for their bright flowers and fragrant lilacs for cutting in the spring?

Loropetalum chinense makes a beautiful low water screen in sun or part shade

The shadier side can include Oregon grape for fragrant, yellow winter flowers, snowberry for those striking white berries in the fall, oak-leaf hydrangea, viburnum and native mock orange for blossoms in the spring. Loropetalum have beautiful flowers and burgundy foliage while Variegated Mint Bush sport lovely purple flowers and fragrant foliage. Mixed hedges appeal to bees, butterflies and songbirds while also providing flowers, berries and color throughout the year for you to enjoy.

Good shrubs for screening that naturally stay between 6-15 feet include California natives such as ceanothus ‘Concha’ or “Julia Phelps’, California coffeeberry and mahonia. Other good performers are westringia ‘Wynabbie Gem’, New Zealand tea tree, oleander, pittosporum ‘Marjorie Channon’, purple hopseed and escallonia.

Bare spots in a hedge are caused by old age and repeated shearing without allowing the hedge to grow. The problem can be alleviated by cutting away dead twigs, branch by branch and then shearing outside the last cut next time you prune.

To keep down maintenance, mulch around your plants and install drip irrigation. There won’t be any pruning to do if you choose plants that grow to the height you want.

How close should you plant a mixed hedge? Depending on the mature size of the plant, spacing could be from 3-5 feet part If you want a quick, thick screen.This gives them room to breathe and develop their own shapes. Fast growing plants can be space 5-6 feet apart or more and will usually fill in within 5 years.

Provide the best growing environment for the fastest results. By this I mean amending the soil at planting time if your soil is not very fertile. Cover the soil with mulch and fertilize with compost or organic fertilizer. Water deeply when needed especially during the first three years when young plants put on a lot of growth. Formal hedges are fine for some gardens but think of all the added benefits you’ll get planting a mixed hedge.

Helping your Garden Survive the Heat

Matilija poppies are known as Fried Egg plant. Be careful the sap of this plant
is poisonous to humans and animals.

Looks like we’re in for a hot summer. Already we’ve had scorching temperatures and since it’s only the beginning of July, you can bet there will be more hot spells. How can you help your plants survive a heat wave? Are there some plants better adapted to handle hot temperatures?

Photosynthesis is one of the most remarkable biochemical processes on earth and allows plants to use sunlight to make food from water and carbon dioxide. But at temperatures about 104 degrees the enzymes that carry out photosynthesis lose their shape and functionality. A garden that provides optimum light and water but gets too hot will be less vigorous. Tomatoes, for example, will drop blossoms and not set fruit if temperatures are over 90 degrees. Plants that endure high heat can be stunted, weakened and attract pests and diseases even if water is available.

Understanding how plants respond to heat stress is important for developing crops that can withstand rising temperatures and more frequent heat waves under climate change. Much research is being done to counter drastically reduced crop harvests from increased temperatures.

California Fuchsia has adapted to heat and drought.

Plants do have natural systems that respond to heat problems. Some plants are better at this than others. Plants can cool themselves by pumping water out through the leaves for a kind of swamp cooler effect. They can also make “heat-shock” proteins which reduces problems from over heating. All these strategies take resources away from a plants other needs like growth, flowering and fruiting.

Plants respond to heat stress by activating hormones which act as chemical messengers. Brassinosteroids are one of these hormones. They have growth promoting properties as well as the ability to increase the heat stress resistance of plants. Because it is a natural product it is approved for organic farming. Research continues to create varieties that are more resistance to heat stress and also provide more stable harvests.

It’s no surprise that many California natives are adapted to high temperatures. Bees Bliss Sage, a low groundcover that can reach 6-8 ft wide is a plant that can It has an extended bloom time from mid-spring to early fall with whorls of lavender-blue flower spikes. Bees, butterflies and hummingbirds all find it attractive.

Another plant that can handle high temps is salvia clevelandii. Their blooming cycle of electric blue-purple flowers will last through the summer. This salvia survives without any supplemental irrigation but if you give it an occasional deep watering and wash off the foliage every so often it’s much happier. All the salvias are good performers in the heat. Just be sure to keep them groomed of dead leaves and branches to keep your garden fire safe.

Jelly Bean Gold Mimulus

Who doesn’t like color in their garden? Mimulus or Sticky Monkey Flower blooms are showy and the hummingbirds love them. The Jelly Bean series has added bright pink colors in addition to white, orange, red and yellow but the traditional aurantiacus types are the most tolerant of drought.

Other California native plants that can handle the heat with little water include matilija poppy, eriogonum, manzanita, artemisia, California milkweed, California fuchsia, ceanothus, mountain mahogany, bush poppy, bush lupine, native penstemon, monardella, mahonia nevinii , fremontodendron and holly-leafed cherry.

Non-native but well-adapted plants that are known to be more tolerant of heat include butterfly bush, germander, rosemary, smoke tree, rudbeckia, coreopsis, lantana, plumbago, gaillardia, lilac, sedums, oregano and verbena.

These plants can be the rock stars of your garden. Some natives that are able to survive with no irrigation after 2 years may look more attractive with a few deep waterings per summer. And don’t forget the wood chip mulch (not bark chips) to encourage the soil microbes and keep the soil cool.