UF/IFAS Okeechobee County Extension Service

458 Highway 98 North

Okeechobee, FL 34972-2578

Phone: (863) 763-6469

E- mail:  dfculbert@ifas.ufl.edu

October 14, 2004

Feature Article - for release the week of October 17, 2004

Dan Culbert - Extension Horticulture Agent

                                        Screen out Unwanted views

ARECA PALM Courtesy FloridaGardening.com

Australian Brush Cherry courtesy http://www.TreesImpact.com.au

Hedge Bamboo courtesy Rick Warwick

Burford Holly courtesy © Texas Tech University

Cat Palm UF/IFAS Fort Lauderdale REC

Oleander courtesy Eleanor Foerste

Podocarpus courtesy Toni Moore, University of Arizona Pima County Master Gardener

Southern Red Cedar courtesy Mark Shelby

Wax Leaf Ligustrum courtesy Eleanor Foerste

Our Florida Yards are a great place to relax and enjoy outdoor activities. Many of our landscapes used to have walls just like our homes, but these green walls were made from the branches of trees and shrubs. Since many of these plants have been blown away or badly damaged by recent hurricanes, our private views are now a very public matter.

Are you ready for a solution to re-create you outdoor spaces? Consider planting screening plants which can hide unwanted views and create private places. Today’s column will give some suggestions for shrubs, small trees and palms which may planted in your Florida Yard. These cures for ugliness come from local nursery growers and our own Extension Master Gardeners.

When choosing plants for screening uses, be sure to find out what the mature height and width of the plant will be. Then, match the plant to the space available. This will help determine how many plants will be needed and how far away from the house, patio or fence they should be planted. After purchasing these tall green screen, place the potted plants where you think they should go, and before the hole is dug, walk back into your house or patio area to test the view.   This will give you have a chance to move them before they are let loose in the landscape.

Consider using several different kinds of plants to break up a monotony of a straight lined hedge.  Another suggestion is to plant clumps of three shrubs in a triangular pattern.  Having staggered spaces within your screen will allow breezes to come through, yet block the unwanted views.

There are many landscape plants that can be used as screens.  For success, they should be adapted to local soils and climate, be easy to establish, have fast growth rates and locally available. The following nine plants are adapted to our local areas and generally have an upright shape. Several of our locally owned retail garden centers plan to offer some of these at the upcoming Fall Festival on October 30 & 31 at the Okeechobee Agri-Civic Center:

Areca Palm - Mike Stewart of Dee’s Garden Center suggests that Areca Palms can do well at blocking out unwanted views. These clumping palms can quickly grow to a height of 20 feet if not cut back by frost or thinned out by pruning shears. They are the same plant that is used as a tropical houseplant, and once established in the landscape, will only require a little water during drought and once a year fertilization.

Australian Brush Cherry - A favorite suggestion from Pat Flores of Flores Nursery is one of the many shrubs called stoppers - the one she is especially fond of is the "Eugenia" cultivar called myrtifolia. Small leaves, year-round growth and a natural compact habit make this one of the premier hedge plants in south Florida. Their height will reach 12-20 feet at maturity, with a width of 8-12 feet. These plants can be trained into trees with one central trunk or allowed to develop as a shrub with multiple trunks as plants age. It is perfectly adapted to open, sunny locations where it will flourish with little care once it becomes established.

Bamboo - One of my suggestions for a landscape screen is to choose one of these woody grasses that can grow quickly. There are thousands of species of bamboos with differences in height, cold tolerance, and growth habit, so choose wisely. Two cautions: make sure that the one you choose is a clumping bamboo - those that form runners are invasive and can take over your yard and creep into places unwanted. Also be sure that bamboo you choose is adapted to our hardiness zone (9) so they don’t freeze. Plant bamboo in well-drained sandy soils. They need watering for establishment, but after that are very drought tolerant. We can refer you to the Tropical Bamboo Society for lists of adapted species and sources of these plants.

Burford Holly - One cultivar of Chinese Holly (Ilex cornuta) is suggested by Master Gardener Harold Mounts, who says it will mature at a height of 15' to 25'.  Burford Holly prefer moist, rich, well-drained, slightly acid soil soils. They can be pruned as formal hedges, or left to form their naturally drooping branches. If you want more red berries, place it in full sun.  Once established, they are well suited for low-maintenance landscapes which receive little or no irrigation or fertilizer.

Cat Palm - For areas with a little shade and protection from colder areas, Master Gardener Dick Dutton suggests a species of Bamboo palm, Chamaedorea cataractarum.  It grows without a trunk and forms a rounded clump 4 feet wide and 5 feet tall. In full sun without water and fertilizer it will be yellowed, but this tropical Mexican palm could be combined with other screening plants for a nice effect.

Oleander is one of my suggestions as a screening plant. These shrubs form a tight clump and produce colorful flowers with little care. On the negative side, they should not be planted where livestock or children are tempted to eat their poisonous leaves or stems.  Dwarf varieties only reach a 3-5 foot height, so for screening plants, choose the conventional forms which can mature at a height 10-25 feet or more. 

Podocarpus or Japanese Yew is an evergreen shrub that naturally grows into a cone shaped tree 30 feet tall and 20 foot wide. More typically it is sheared into a hedge or foundation plant at a shorter height.  It does not grow as fast as some would like, but is almost pest free and handles our cooler winter temperatures. Choose plants grown from cuttings that are male, as the female berries, while edible, may be a mess if they drop on sidewalks or patios.

Southern Red Cedar - this native tree is a screening suggestion from Carrol Word of Roadside Nursery. Like Podocarpus, it has a typical cone shape and evergreen foliage.  Locally, our Red cedars can reach a height of 40 feet tall and 20 feet in width.  In our recent storms where soils were saturated with rainwater, some of these trees did get leaned over and some branches did snap off. However, their moderately fast growth rate and ability to support watchable wildlife bring them back into my favorite list as a screening plant.

Wax-Leaf Ligustrum or Japanese Privet (Ligustrum japonicum) is a common hedge plant, and is sometimes sold as a "Ligustrum Trees".  Normally they are sheared into hedges, but can form a small tree 8 to 12 feet tall and can spread to 20 feet wide if pruning is avoided. They have thick shiny leaves and stay green throughout the year, with occasional sprays of white flowers in the warm season. Once established, it will stand drought, but does not do well in standing water.  Several cultivars are available with slight differences in leaf shape and color.

Master Gardeners can answer your questions about your Florida Yard - call or visit them on Tuesday afternoons here at our office.  If you need additional information on screening plants or want to see photos of these "hiding" treasures, visit out webpage at http://okeechobee.ifas.ufl.edu.   Specific bulletins on any of these plants are available - stop by our office at 458 Hwy 98 North in Okeechobee.  Our phone number is (863) 763-6469, and you can email us at okeechobee@ifas.ufl.edu.

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References

Culbert, Daniel F.  Oleanders for Florida ENH-116  Gainesville:  UF/IFAS Extension Service, October 1995.

Gilman, Ed  &   Watson, Dennis.  Southern Trees Fact Sheets:  Burford Holly Ilex cornuta‘Burfordii’ ST-301; Japanese Privet  Ligustrum japonicum  ST-352;   Oleander Nerium oleander ST-412;  Podocarpus Podocarpus macrophyllus  ST- 495; Southern Red Cedar Juniperus silicicola ST-326 ; Yellow Butterfly Palm  Chrysalidocarpus lutescens ST-165  Gainesville: UF/IFAS Extension Service, November, 1993.

Gilman, Ed.   Landscape Plant Fact Sheets: Australian Brush Cherry Syzygium paniculatum  FPS-567  Gainesville: UF/IFAS Extension Service, October, 1999.

Trade names, where used, are given for the purpose of providing specific information. They do not constitute an endorsement or guarantee of products named, nor does it imply criticism of products not named. The Florida Cooperative Extension Service - Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer authorized to provide research, educational information, and other services to individuals and institutions that function without regard to race, color, sex, age, handicap, or national origin.  Florida Cooperative Extension Service / IFAS / University of Florida.  Larry A.  Arrington, Dean This page is maintained by Dan Culbert