Anonymous wrote:Candidates are:
Privet
Poplar
Boxwood
Azalea
Pine trees

What is best and how long will each take to grow into a hedge?

You can google how long each takes. That’s what I did for mine.

Anonymous wrote:It would be best to do a staggered hedge that is a mix of species. That way you get coverage, interest, and you don’t end up with an unfillable hole if something dies.
You need someone knowledgeable to look at the site and assess the soil, light, and drainage.

+1

I’d agree with using a variety of plants for the reason above.

Not azalea. They take forever to grow and won’t be thick enough in winter. I saw a beautiful screen with magnolia and spruce the other day. They peppered it with dogwoods which are dark red in autumn and looked gorgeous among the green of the other trees.

Privet does smell bad but that might not matter if it’s far away.

If I had the room, I’d be using thuja green giant. I’m starting with hydrangea.

Skipjack laurels, which someone suggested above, are slooooow.

Skip laurels are great but I would do them as part of a mixed and staggered hedge because they can be a little fussy and if one or two die, you’ll have a hole that is hard to fill.

I really think a mixed and staggered hedge is what works best around here.

If you want just 4-6’ skip laurels will need heavy pruning every year by year 3 as they naturally want to be 8’+ tall. Steeds holly is easy to keep full and at size you want. If you don’t get deer - hicksi yews are a nice choice, with deer upright plum yews are nice but hard to find in retail nurseries in any numbers.

Arborvitae or Atlantic white cedar.

Chiming in to agree with the PP not to plant privet or burning bush - highly invasive.

No privet or burning bush. They're non-native invasives. In fact, burning bush is only supposed to be sold with a warning sign in MD.

You're best bet is to do a mixed privacy hedge, as another poster mentioned above. I don't think you mentioned sun vs. shade conditions, however. But assuming you get at least part sun:

- Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus) grows fast and should fit the bill.

-But if you still want an arborvitae, choose Thuja occidentalis , American Aborvitae. Arborvitae don't grow fast.

For the bushes consider:

- Inkberry Holly, Ilex glabra because it's evergreen.

If you want to include deciduous bushes, there are a lot of options, including Red Chokeberry and Sweet Pepperbush.

For an azalea, which would be an understory bush that is not going to get very tall, consider Early Azalea (Rhododendron prinophyllum).

You can also consider filling some spots with tall ornamental grasses, if you have enough sun. Consider:

-Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum)
-Yellow indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans)

Good luck.

Schip laurel
leland cypress - fast grower, but keep out of windy areas

Boxwood do not grow well in metro DC and often suffer early death or browning. They are great in cooler climates. Our summers really are too hot for them.

We planted some wax myrtles last fall and they’ve grown into a full privacy screen in one year.

I would use burning bush. Grows fast and looks pretty

Boxwoods aren't great for a hedge - they're prone to blight and get sort of leggy and tired (ask me how I know!)

I've been replacing mine with skip laurels which grow fast and are evergreen.

Privet is also fast growing but it's not evergreen so less useful for privacy.

I cannot provide insight on your list. I will say this, I had around 10 - three foot skip laurels planted in the very late fall 2020. The first year, most of them grew over a foot. Two - right in the middle - were stunted. I've been babying those along. At this point, the hedge is about 6' tall. However, that is to balance out height with the two stunted shrubs and to training the shrubs to grow together. I have been trimming the other shrubs at least twice a year.

Anonymous wrote:PP again - for a mixed hedge you don’t line the trees up - you stagger them to block all sight lines with the big evergreens, and then plant the smaller, prettier things in “bays” between or in front of them, particularly where you will be able to see them from the house or where you turn into driveway, etc.

Interesting idea.

PP again - for a mixed hedge you don’t line the trees up - you stagger them to block all sight lines with the big evergreens, and then plant the smaller, prettier things in “bays” between or in front of them, particularly where you will be able to see them from the house or where you turn into driveway, etc.