Screening in pots

robatwork

Hi all,
We're overlooked from a 1st floor window at the back and want to plant something at the rear to give us some cover. It would need to grow to 3-4m.

We want an evergreen hedge/tree and googling gives me various options like laurel and photinia, possibly bamboo. The thing is they would need to be in pots - can anything in a pot grow to this kind of height?

(I'm aware of the legislation about evergreen hedges over 2.5m)

many thanks!

Davesnave

Yes, but it would need to be an incredibly big pot to avoid problems with watering and the obvious danger of it falling over in high winds!

The fastest evergreen tree is probably a variety of eucalyptus, if the one I planted as a seedling is anything to go by. It went in around 2012 and it's now around 25' (and turning into firewood next winter. :rotfl:)

Farway

I'd also go for Dave''s eucalyptus suggestion, I grew from seed and they rocket upwards
Mine was always blowing over in winds, so a huge & heavy pot would be needed, especially as the tree is evergreen so winter gales would find them like sails

I even had mine secured with lanyards halfway up trunk in the end, it still went sideways

Smelt nice as it burned though:D

robatwork

Thanks both, I did find eucalyptus suggested around the internet. I think I'll look into how possible it would be to dig out some concrete

[Deleted User]

Dig out concrete ?
A plants roots, especially a large one, needs a large root space, deep aswell as wide.
If it's surrounded by a patio or stones/gravel its roots may suffer.


Doing an internet search will lead you to very large pot suppliers, there are several.
Whichever you buy, factor in the pot requires feet to lift it away from the ground, and, wheeled, flat, bases to allow it to be shifted around easily.


Last year I bought 4 pots to grow large shrubs on, the pots measure 85cm high, 70cm across the top, and the shrubs themselves are now about 100cm tall.


The pot that's in an area caught by the westerly winds sees that shrub rocking - wind-rock isn't good, it weakens the roots and the plant can suffer.


I now move this (on wheeled pot movers), to a more sheltered position, in the spring when we get the worst gales.

[Deleted User]

Eucalyptus is a very open-canopied plant, unless you buy a few and plant them together they'll not screen you because as they move about there will be open gaps to see through.




Also, their speed of growth will mean you'll have to get in tree surgeons if you don't keep its height in check each year.
It'll grow tall, very tall, and be slim and willowy.

For screening i'd go for a Laurel, buy an established/mature plant though (again, search 'large plants') or you'll be waiting 5 plus years for it to reach the height you're expecting.

Davesnave

Catsacor wrote: »

Eucalyptus is a very open-canopied plant, unless you buy a few and plant them together they'll not screen you because as they move about there will be open gaps to see through.

It'll grow tall, very tall, and be slim and willowy.
.

My 8 year old eucalyptus is up to 14' wide, but being a maturing tree, its crown is raised, so I can see under but not through it.


With a eucalyptus screen, you'd do what the florist suppliers do and pollard. Yes, you'd need more than one to do that.


I don't disagree with laurel. It might have more benign roots than eucalyptus too.

Amberuk1

robatwork wrote: »

Hi all,
We're overlooked from a 1st floor window at the back and want to plant something at the rear to give us some cover. It would need to grow to 3-4m.

We want an evergreen hedge/tree and googling gives me various options like laurel and photinia, possibly bamboo. The thing is they would need to be in pots - can anything in a pot grow to this kind of height?

(I'm aware of the legislation about evergreen hedges over 2.5m)

many thanks!

Hi,

I have an issue with a previous owner building a concrete path and then put a lawn and flower beds over the top, so had difficulty growing things, especially large plants that need alot of root place for hedging/screening.

I originally planted Laurel in "raised beds" over the concrete to give me 50cm of soil depth as it would have cost alot of time and money to dig up the concrete but the Laurel didnt take as well as I would have liked so recently purchased bamboo(there is currently a sale on in homebase on bamboo!;)....its evergreen, roots dont need to go down deep so can happily grow to 8-10ft in large containers...I planted 10L bamboo into 50L containers and shouldnt need to change the pots for a number of years...I purchased 3 to cover a 2.5m area and have immediate 7ft-8ft high screen from next door!;)


Good luck

robatwork

Amberuk1 wrote: »

I originally planted Laurel in "raised beds" over the concrete to give me 50cm of soil depth as it would have cost alot of time and money to dig up the concrete but the Laurel didnt take as well as I would have liked so recently purchased bamboo(there is currently a sale on in homebase on bamboo!;)....its evergreen, roots dont need to go down deep so can happily grow to 8-10ft in large containers...I planted 10L bamboo into 50L containers and shouldnt need to change the pots for a number of years...I purchased 3 to cover a 2.5m area and have immediate 7ft-8ft high screen from next door!;)
Good luck

Interesting comments, thanks all. I did think about Cherry Laurel or Bay, and re your suggestion of bamboo I really like the look of Phyllostachys nigra. I did plant bamboo in a previous garden once with the intention of it growing to about 3m but it grew to 2m then just went sideways. The holly bush next to it outgrew it upwards.

Guess I chose the wrong variety...

Amberuk1

robatwork wrote: »

Interesting comments, thanks all. I did think about Cherry Laurel or Bay, and re your suggestion of bamboo I really like the look of Phyllostachys nigra. I did plant bamboo in a previous garden once with the intention of it growing to about 3m but it grew to 2m then just went sideways. The holly bush next to it outgrew it upwards.

Guess I chose the wrong variety...

I purchased 10L Golden bamboo from Homebase a few weeks ago that were already close to 8ft tall,(which would be even higher if they going in large pots) and these were the smallest size...they also have 18L which would give an immediate 12ft hedge you were looking for, I couldnt fit these in the car so went for the smallest ones( the 12ft ones are currently reduced to £30 which I thought was pretty good after seeing the £60-£70 prices quoted in my local garden centre)

good luck with your search...

p.s just wanted to confirm I "dont" work for Homebase, just nice to find a bargain fr a change!;)

Davesnave

robatwork wrote: »

I really like the look of Phyllostachys nigra....

It's well-behaved but I killed most of ours and found it slow. Remainder is sulking.



Yellow one,( p. aurea, I think) is fine and still quite well-behaved.