I have about a 90’ run along my back fence that now has 5 year old Leylend cypresses of which I am thinking of taking out due to the adjacent neighbor’s recent remodeling. Pretty sure it was a mistake on my end to plant them but we live and learn right.
Anywho, I still want the privacy and why not have something with fruit right… so would Mulberry, Dwarf Bush (Morus nigra sp.) be a good idea? I finally added it to my list this year to try out and well it got me thinking about planting as a hedge along the fence.
I have a dwarf Geraldi mulberry that I think would do well in the summer but mulberry won’t provide much privacy in the winter when the leaves fall off.
Feijoa is evergreen and would make a much better hedge and still produce nice fruit. Something to think about. In 9a Satsuma citrus may work well also.
Ya I was contemplating if they were worth me loosing the privacy (In winter) for.
Citrus was another option and honestly probably the route I will go. They are so easy to care for here. I already have Satsuma Mandarin, Cara Cara, Blood Orange, Valencia, Washington, Rio Red grapefruit & Pink Lemonade lemon. I will have to research some other tasty varieties. I had a Bearss lime but it lost its life to a couple days below freezing (Was a baby).
Not a fan of the guavas or tropical fruit in general but they are a beautiful bush (Had one planted before).
Feijoa (Pineapple Guava) is not tropical, it’s hardy to 20 F (i.e., hardier than most common citrus trees). For me, Feijoa is one of the most carefree plants.
I have seen in Lamoore, Calif many conventional Black Mulberry pruned into pretty 15 foot tall trees. In this way, they make attractive specimens for the yard.
Privacy = evergreen. I’m in the same situation that you are in. Just that I no longer have 90’+ to cover. I just planted shade trees. On my side yard, I tried two Strawberry trees but managed to kill both of them. I realized later the drainage was pretty poor.
My suggestion, go with a combo with the all of the evergreen suggestions above. So an Avocado (or two for pollination), Pineapple guava (Feijoa Sellowiana) and some spring bearing mandarins.
Jennifer,
If your travels ever go in the SF Bay area around October/November,there is a guy in Fremont,Bill Merrill,that has some of the best Feijoa that I’ve tasted.They might change your opinion about them,once sampled.
Bill has a website,called the Green Garden Guy,I think.He also has Pawpaws and White Sapote.The Pawpaws ripen a little earlier than the Feijoa and the Sapote,probably a little later.
I have a couple of Chilean Guava that I’m trying to propagate cuttings from.They might make it in the Los Angeles area.I had one once though,that may have died because of too much sun. Brady
I found this video that Bill made about his Pineapple Guava.The round ones are the fruit I ate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EowmFM4EwRQ
AFAIK, lemon guava and strawberry guava are the same species, different cultivars (like white and yellow peaches). I also believe both aren’t very hardy. I have one strawberry guava bush planted near a southern wall and it had no damage last winter, but that was a very warm winter in CA. In my area we had no freezes below 29-30 F and only a few nights when temperatures dropped to that level for a few hours, so I think it stayed above freezing in the strawberry guava’s protected location.
so would Mulberry, Dwarf Bush (Morus nigra sp.) be a good idea? I finally added it to my list this year to try out and well it got me thinking about planting as a hedge along the fence.