Living Barrier??
 

I'm interested in putting some kind of living barrier alongside about 250 yards of road. I'd like to increase privacy quite a bit but also have something that looks good visually and ideally at least part of it might produce fruit. I'm thinking this would end up being three or four kinds of plants, trees, bushes, etc. I've seen designs for multi component windbreaks and this would be something like that. This would be for the southern Missouri climate. Any ideas?

None at all! I hope to do something similar at my place in AZ if I have enough water. I can plant native desert trees but they do not provide much privacy.

My first thought would be grapevines and raspberry or (thorned) blackberry canes.

I'm following this thread - but for SW Ohio environment. Currently, we are considering blocks of American cranberrybush raspberry and blackberry bushes.

Osage Orange is the ultimate barrier tree but no edible fruit for humans, but most excellent fire wood. even will keep cattle from going through if planted properly!

I've seen Willow branches stuck in the ground and bent over,then another section started in the center of that ,kind of like a weaving. They root and grow. Rugsoa roses,will also send up shoots and the hips can be harvested. Rasberrys quickly send up shoots and become thick,mow the areas along them to keep it neat. Even put up one strand of wire and plant grapes, they grow very thick over one season, you don't Have to prune them , unless you want better production.

Nothing
 

makes a better barrier than white pine (or blue spruce if you want to wait longer) but you did mention "fruit" or something that could bare so I would say:

Grapes!

Raspberry and Blackberries make a good thick barrier but I do not know if you can get it to look "nice", just looks like a thicket or brier patch.

If you'd like to some day use it for fencing then Osage Orange was pretty common "back in the day" before barbed wire but does not have a lot of uses and the "hedge apple" it produces is not edible. Another along these lines that was used for fencing "back in the day" was Multi-flora rose. This is pretty invasive though so I'd really make sure you want to make the effort to keep it cut back.

Have you looked through the Conservation dept.'s seedling catalog for ideas?

This is a willow fence.

Some version of fast growing popular would get you an actual useful barrier in a few years.

Back that up with whatever else you want to grow, as the populars grow up fast and then die fast. You will then have your other row(s) there to be the barrier, and can replant something where the populars were.

Pine or spruce keeps a barrier all year long, hardwoods loose the leaves over winter.

If this is a dusty road, it might not be good to have the fruit trees right next to it anyhow? Also up here in my climate, the salt sprays they use on roads have really harmed certain evergreen fast growing shrub types, we've learned not to use those within 300 feet of a roadway, the drifting winter salt spray kills them. Probably not a problem in your location.

Paul

What a great resource. Several very useful plants there, stuff for the birds, etc. if not necessarily fruit that I would use. I'm beginning to think that a mix of evergreens and deciduous is the way to go. The road is a very quiet, gravel road without much traffic at all.

Which side of the road are you on? Take into account the shade as to what and where you plant....James

Beach plums might be a good option. They are fruit bearing, spreading, and nice looking too. They do pretty well in poor soil, which is a good thing near the road.

I dont know how it works in your area... but here in south central Ky if you want a "living barrier" all you have to do is forget to mow that section for a couple weeks. Its amazing how fast mom nature works when left to her own devices. :)

I like the looks of the willow fence. I've seen youtube videos of those and when they leaf out they look like quite a barrier.

We planted hazel in a line to block the view into our back yard from the street, though it isn't anything like 250 feet. With that amount of space you could plant hazel and once they are established lay a traditional English style hedge.

Keep in mind that fast growing and shrubby can sometimes mean invasive. Take your time and do your research before you plant.

The intention of planting our "living barrier" was simply to block dust coming from the road. It catches some....but there is still plenty that gets on and in the house. Still glad we planted it, though.

I'd like evergreen if it were me. Since you want variety, do some pines, there's different kinds. We have cedars shoot up everywhere, if you were close, I'd dig & give ya 'bout 100.

OMG I hate Pampas grass! I know some people like it for decoration and barriers but man did I have some battles trying to rid myself of the stuff in the past.

Those willow fences looks awesome. Does willow grow well only in cooler climates?

Don't rule out American Holly, Foster Holly, and Cherry Laurel. All will do well in your zone, stay green all year, and provide more benefit for birds and wildlife than most other evergreen plants. The Laurel grows pretty fast but the Hollys are somewhat slower.

I will be using bunching bamboo, as it doesn't send out runners and is evergreen. We are planting it along one of our property lines. On the inside of it, I can plant fruit producing varieties.

Consider if the plants you want spread. Roses spread, raspberries spread. If you are willing to mow or scythe you can keep them in check. I planted Highbush cranberry bushes. The berries are supposed to be eaten by wild birds, but I guess the birds live too far away. The berries have high nutrition, but are bitter. However, they make a great meat sauce (make like jelly).

Don’t mix edible berries with non edible, might get confusing. If you want a no care barrier, go with trees, bushes, and fill in with perennial flowers when they are young. As they grow, the trees will shade the flowers out. If you want something to harvest and don’t mind pruning, grow concord grapes near the drive way. The rest can be hazelnut bushes (they now have a winter tolerant hazelnut that grows up to 15’) and high bush cranberry. These are all native American plants. A couple of paw paws if you aren’t too far north.

I planted Siberian Peashrub along the front of our property. They are large bushes with seed pods that are high in protein(be feed to the chickens).

American highbush cranberry has an insect pest that pretty much wipes it out in a few years unless you are prepared to watch for the bugs and treat. It needs to be sprayed at just the right point in the insect life-cycle. I have barberries along the inside of a three-rung white fence. Wish they were blueberries ;) The much-lamented Miller's catalog and store had some other fun berry bushes, plus pawpaws, etc.

I've see quite a few dirt berms along property lines. They then plant those. What you plant doesn't have to be as tall and the berm does a great job of providing a visual and sound barrier.

You could plant the outside with wildflowers or ? and the inside in what you want to have provide for you. Keep sticky picking fingers out of your barrier.

euonymous grows pretty fast and is a deciduous evergreen. I just planted six as a block. You could intersperse some fruit trees among it if you give them enough room

In England they use hedgerows. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedge We planted thorny plants really close together and then partially cut through some of the branches and interwove those with the neighboring shrub. The result is a thick, impenetrable fence that also produces fruit and nuts. The plants we used are hazelnuts, and hawthorn, but osage orange and others could be substituted easily. The key is to plant them closely.

The Hedge apple is the best that I have found. If you cut the apiral stem (Top limbs ) it will bush and become impregnable. Now it the time to collect the apples and place the in wooden boxes upside down where you want them. In the spring remove the boxes and you should have growth.

Watch planting fruit beside a road. You will meet MANY people.

Mon

I’ve had high bush cranberries for 12 years with no problems. It may be a regional issue. Of course, it would help if we knew where the poster was from.

Hint: upper right hand corner of every post shows the posters join date, location, and number of posts. Go into your profile and put in your state so you can be helped with ag issues.

I like the Idea of ever greens mixed with Native fruits and Sassafras.

Maybe gooseberries? The bushes grow to about 5' tall and are thorny. They give grape-like edible fruits, but won't be much of a wind/sound barrier.

If you live in southern Missouri, there is not much chance of doing the "willow thing" unless you live in a bottomland area. In most areas it is hard enough to drive a steel post into the ground. The best evergreen to grow would probabaly be juniper (eastern red-cedar or to most of us just "cedar".... though it isn't [a true cedar that is]) You can proably dig them up in most areas. An alternative would be short leaf pine grown in two alternating rows. You can get these from the state nursery. If you decide to go this way, right now is the time to order.

I don't know what grows in your zone.

Your OP says you want the barrier for privacy. This means evergreens. Other options will drop their leaves and you won't have the visual block in the winter. Here I would plant spruce. They have vegetation all the way to the ground and block sight well.

What side of the property is this on? A line of spruce will block the sun from plants on the north side of it. You have to take into account the amount of sun the other plants will get. If it's on the north side of the property then you could plant apples and berries on the south side of the spruce and they will get full sun. On the south side of the property you could plant the apples and berries next to the road and the line of spruce inside that. As another poster said, you will make lots of new friends if you do that.

A line of spruce on the north side of the property will block the winter wind. It will keep your house warmer if it's close enough.

Up here, I would also take into account that a big snowdrift will form on the downwind side of what you plant. You don't want to shovel a bunch of snow every time the wind blows.

Research whatever you plant. Don't plant something that will spread to your neighbors place......
Bamboo for instance ...in some places will never get out of a 6 ft patch...in other soil/clime it will spread like wild fire. Autumn olive will not stay on your place but will be spread as far as birds carry it. One man in this area planted the AO and it is now miles away....
Rugosa roses in some areas are illegal, as they spread and are difficult to destroy.
And just because the DNR sells it/ gives it away that does not mean it is good ... they have got some red faces about some of the stuff they have suggested/promoted!! and can not now get rid of with its out of bounds growth/spread.

I had a pond built. Next thing I know there are willows everywhere!!! Intense heat didn't stop then here! :smack

Don't know if this will grow in you region, but Siberian Pear trees are an effective barrier. It grows fast, intertwined branches if planted close with thorny spikes won't let even larger livestock to go through. It blossoms earliest with profusion of pretty white flowering followed by prolific fruit production perfect for attracting wild game bird life, but not do tasty for human consumption.

I planted 330' of Osage Orange spaced 14" apart along my Western boundary. I eventually plan to plant several thousand feet. My intention is a working living fence to keep cattle in, and Osage Orange fit the bill the best in Missouri. Once the Osage Orange is well established I plan to plant fruit bearing trees in front, as well as intermingle some other trees in the fence like Locust. Here is a list of other species I considered and may still use as minor players:

Hedge Apple
Washington Hawthorne
wild plum
hazelnut
crab apple

Siberian Pea Shrub

Yes, Running Bamboo does spread like wildfire :run:

However, Bunching Bamboo does not :thumb: In 4 years, it just got wider, never sending out a single runner. I have two varieties of this type. The only way to propagate it, is to use a saw or sawzall to split.

I have grown both varieties and there is no way I would plant Running Bamboo in the ground.

Old fashioned (single blossoms) flowering quince might work. They will have fruit that you can use for jelly--have to be boiled first. Maybe six foot high, with pink-orange blossoms in Springtime, and plenty of thorns.

geo