Evergreen Recommendations - Frustrated

General Gardening
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So I’ve been looking for an evergreen to “fence in” our property with. Not necessarily to create a hedge row, but I wouldn’t be mad if it became one. The issue is that I require a combination of traits that seem to be held by very few, if any, evergreens.

  1. Deer resistant. We have more deer than you can shake a stick at.
  2. Must not be a host for Cedar Apple Rust - we have an orchard.
  3. Must be able to survive in heavy clay soil.
  4. Must not grow exceedingly tall (over 20 ft tall), or must be able to be topped at 20’ or less. We don’t want to shade out our property, and gardens.
  5. Evergreen.

Hollies seem the only bulletproof recommendation, but they’re hideous. I hate them.

All of the other recommendations are met with varying levels of shrugs when it comes to their long term survivability in clay. Things like:

Techny or Technito Arborvitae
False Cypress
Dwarf Magnolias

The last thing I want to do is plant 50 of something, and watch them pitter along, and/or die.

Does anyone have experience that they’d be willing to share, that might provide some clarity?

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Not sure if your location, but I’m growing yerba and yaupon holly. Both leaves are used for tea. The Yaupon holly male will not produce berries, but makes nice little white flowers. The leaves aren’t sharp for either of these.

Yaupon Holly:woodlanders.net/products/ilex-vomitoria-male?srsltid=AfmBOopvnXU85aofMTW_WSjadRc7gizyeSasw_beM51hNZ-SBxTVYA8-
Yerba Mate: Yerba Mate Tea Tree | Live Plant | Sow Exotic

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the irony of techny arbs. shrugs as to clay adaptability but no raised eyebrows on deer?

where dost thou live? ll

minimum height?

what kind of weird site conditions do you have where apples grow but arbs might be in too much clay?

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I’m not sure if it’s from our huge deer population, or mites, or something else, but the bottom 4-5’ of most Arborvitae in the area look very thinned out.

I hate holly too. If the one with caffeine isn’t butchered by deer I’d consider growing it if I liked the tea. I see lots of people growing Japanese laurel (Aucuba japonica). Or Red Photinia? Though it gets rose family diseases and deer will probably massacre it.

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Silverberry may fit the bill for your requirements. The flowers are very fragrance. The berries are supposedly edible but mostly seeds.

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There are several compact or columnar spruce varities worth considering. They are kind of spendy though. If you want 50, prepare for sticker shock.

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white cedar grows in swamps here. laughs at clay. doesnt carry rust and deer dont eat it. it grows slow enough you can keep it as a hedge. if not it makes a long oval form. lots of folks make hedges out of it here. smells great like red cedar.

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8

Is this meant to provide privacy? or something else? and how tall do they need to get?

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9

TN, 7b.

Minimum height would be 8 feet.

That’s the question I was asking myself. Our apple trees have only been in the ground for 2 years, but still. I thought “Surely they’re over-blowing the severity of the circumstances in which these trees will find themselves if planted in heavy clay…”

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That was the other issue. Even when I found a cultivar that *might* work, the information available on it is sparse, so I can’t confirm, and it’s $100+ each.

Ultimately what I’d like to know is whether clay is a non-issue, and the internet is just repeating the same useless line of “well drained soil”, and making a mountain out of a molehill.

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11

Deer don’t bother white cedar in your location? I wonder if your deer population is low, or if you have a different variety there. They absolutely murder it here. It’s going extinct in a lot of it’s native areas in Michigan. Where it seems to do best is in the deep woods away from people, which is also where the deer can’t live in large numbers due to lack of winter food. I’m in a program with the USDA where I’m planting cedar saplings and protecting them long-term to try and ensure that when the older ones die out there’s still white cedar here. They grow so slow that the wild seedlings don’t have a chance to get tall enough before the deer eat them to the ground. It is very rare for me to find a white cedar sapling in our woodlots which are primarily cedar-hemlock wetlands.

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12

Do you think your clay soil is too wet for boxwood? Based on your list, that sounds like the sort of plant both in overall growth and characteristics you’re looking for.

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One more random thought, Japanese plum yew?

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14

Little Gem Magnolia?

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ive never seen deer or moose browse w. cedar here or see any damage to w. cedar and im a hunter.. even when our deer population was high in the early 90’s. they only eat hardwoods and some spruce if starving. maybe hares might chew them but if they do its not noticeable.

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16

Either that, or Teddy Bear. I’ve never grown Magnolia’s, so I have no idea whether they’ll do fine in TN clay soil. Or, even if the standard trees will, whether the dwarves will too.

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I don’t know, I’ve only owned the property for a couple of years now. It looks like normal TN clay soil to me, but I don’t have any experience growing any of these types of trees.

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I think they will - I would plant them a little high just to be safe but they’re southern magnolias so I think they’ll do okay.

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Be careful what kind of magnolia you pick though! A bunch aren’t evergreen (well in zone 6b… they say they are, but then in reality they’re not). Also, some get really huge.

I’ve been following because I have a similar issue. Have you tried driving around and looking at other people’s yard? see which plants are growing well that you think aren’t hideous?

I did that - my favorite was the neighbor who had just put in a what looked like a really expensive fence and a bunch of it wasn’t solid but was lattice to put vines on. It also fits your description: privacy screen that looks nice that deer don’t eat that won’t get too tall and will be okay in clay soil.

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I would highly, highly recommend doing a mixed planting rather than put all your bags into one egg as it weren’t. You never know what will be the best performer and a lot of times it’ll vary from one side of the yard to the other. What’s more, you’ll get to enjoy the benefits of different things if you, well, plant different things. And you’ll be protected from catastrophic failure. Three or four different species are always a better bet than one. Plus, when one plant randomly dies in year eight, it won’t look incredibly weird, unlike with single-species plantings like the typically Leyland cypress hedges you see everywhere.

Consider growing a combination of:

Yaupon holly, mentioned already, checks all the boxes and doesn’t look anything like most hollies, so that’s an option, it’s pretty quick growing too. Very tough, deer don’t bother them here and I’ve got insane deer that eat everything including poisonous stuff.

Inkberry is another holly that doesn’t look at all like a holly, and it’s likewise tough.

Carolina cherry laurel is an evergreen cherry with leaves full of cyanide so the deer learn not to touch it. Gets a bit taller than your criteria but responds well to pruning and shaping.

Wax myrtle, usually pretty much bulletproof. Should be readily available and cheap.

Privet, though it’s invasive as heck so unless it’s already common where you are then don’t introduce it

Silverberry, which will probably be Elaeagnus x ebbingii, is extremely fast growing and is deer-resistant. It will get above the 20 ft limit in good conditions but responds well to even hard pruning and shaping. Also invasive as heck.

Podocarpus macrophyllus is a bit slow growing, but it’ll check all the boxes you list, and taxonomically it’s really cool.

There are a handful of Eucalyptus that might manage. The “alpine gum” types like E. perriniana and E. pauciflora are surprisingly hardy. Best grown from seed, they don’t transplant well after the seedling stage but they’re (in)famously fast growing. Deer don’t touch them, way too leathery and oily and stanky.

Camelias are slow, really slow sometimes, but they fit the bill for what you’re asking. Deer resistant, perhaps not deer-proof.

Osmanthus would also be great if you don’t mind something a bit slower growing.

Illicium floridanum tops out at like 8-10 ft so it barely makes it into the consideration, but it’s a really cool one too. Same genus as star anis (but don’t eat this one, it’s poisonous as the deer will hopefully find out).

I personally don’t like Aucuba or Photinia, but they’re also options if you’re interested.

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