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I would mulch a wavy bed all around the yard on the fence line. Edging, low height shrubs and perennials could be interspersed with ornamental grasses, rhododendron and/or azaleas. Roses and peonies are nice. Boxwoods and arborvitaes might be nice to group together as well.
Nearer the house in the corner you could make a small garden sitting area with a smaller shade tree.
I like crimson maple trees in the yard.
You also don’t want to create too much work for yourself in fertilizing, pruning, and raking up constantly.
Get out your check book and consider hiring a pro.
My yard is in Charlotte NC (clay soil like yours) and was beautifully planted by the first homeowner (10 years back) with one hill facing the road planted by the developer/HOA (common property). Developer put magnolia on top of hill far from house and it's lovely there.
We have no fence like your backyard but 1st homeowner put in tall trees and bushes down one side of property line. I don't know their names but 50% are green all year so are fir-type, the tall bushes bloom in spring, some pink, some white. Very nice mix of green.
Crepe myrtle: not for me, is bare all winter and most of the spring. Blooms when it's too hot to enjoy it. Too bad there are 5 crepe myrtle in my yard lol.
My biggest suggestion--like MariaR. said don't plant too close to your fence. Also don't plant too close to your house, trees grow tall and can fall on building in bad weather. You want to look at them not be close buddies.
Find a top landscaper, whoever was hired for the country club IOW, give them your budget and do some now planting and some later. Listen to them about WHERE to plant and WHAT to plant, they know your area better than we do.
Before planting much of anything I'd check with your local extension agent and get a soil test done on your yard. I'd also consider the amount of sunshine the yard gets, and where, for the plants you want to install. From your picture, it looks like you have a very sunny yard. If you want a magnolia, you have lots of smaller choices than the typical Southern Magnolia. The Teddy Bear and Little Gem Magnolias (both evergreen) are excellent for smaller yards. For more colorful and deciduous magnolias, there is the Jane and the Burgundy Star, and for yellow the Sunsation Yellow, Lois Yellow, Judy Zuk, and Yellow Bird Yellow Magnolia Trees, which are tulip magnolias. Of course, there are also the white tulip magnolias too. If you have lots of sun, most azaleas will not do well unless you plant the Encore species, and even they can be sun scorched. Your extension agent can also recommend native plants that will do well in your area, soil, and sun exposure.
I was surprised to see so many people against Magnolias, even though I mentioned getting smaller ones. Lots of comments about the mess, etc. We're still young and maintain our yard well. We had a lot of shrubs at our last house and kept them mulched and trimmed.
Lots of people recommended Crape Myrtle and Azaleas too, which I think are over-played in the South. I call them "Crap Myrtles" because they just "crap" a mess everywhere. Heaven forbid you have a pool with them around.
I liked the recommendation of mixing in some ornamental grasses. We have some in the front, and they add year-round interest.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoisite
The problem with burning bush along a fence line is that it can spread by roots under the fence to the other side of the fence onto the neighbour's property. Burning bush is indeed highly invasive and as an ornamental it must be carefully monitored and kept trimmed back year round at ground level to prevent it from spreading and displacing other vegetation.
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We had about 8 Burning Bush that were 5x5' at our last house, and they never tried to spread in our yard. I understand birds can carry seeds though. The red coloring was nice, but it didn't seem to last too long in our yard. Not sure they were worth it.
I was surprised to see so many people against Magnolias, even though I mentioned getting smaller ones. Lots of comments about the mess, etc. We're still young and maintain our yard well. We had a lot of shrubs at our last house and kept them mulched and trimmed.
We have a tulip magnolia, leaves are much smaller than the Star magnolia. We actually like it but unfortunately it has a burl that is an open wound and the tree is rotting on the inside. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnol...97_soulangeana
This year a late cold spell killed the buds. But the last two years the blooms were beautiful. And a bonus is that the flowers are edible.
Whoever made the comment about magnolias having a shallow root system is welcome to come assist me the next time I have to dig one out.
My only advice is, be sure you put it where you want it. We put one in in 1987 and I spent good money to have it removed in 1999. My experience is, you either get grass or you get a magnolia. But not both.
This is the latest plan we've come up with for privacy. The neighbors all have one-story houses, so the arborvitae (or similar) will be placed in front of their main windows, like the den and kitchen. My neighbor to the right has two bedroom windows and two bathroom windows facing our yard, so I'm doing them a favor too. I've never seen them open their blinds.
As I mentioned, our yard is a blank slate with nothing but grass. Almost none of our neighbors have trees since it's a newer neighborhood, so maybe some of them will plant some too.
We had a bad winter a year ago, and a lot of the arborvitae plants around town died off. I'm also wondering what would be a similar plant about 10-15' tall that is more cold hardy.
Have you considered multiflora rose? It makes a good privacy as well as fire barrier. It does have a few drawbacks, one being it will grab you if you get to close.
Have you considered multiflora rose? It makes a good privacy as well as fire barrier. It does have a few drawbacks, one being it will grab you if you get to close.
No, we've had roses at our last two houses. We had knockout roses at our last house, and they were taller than the 6' fence.
I have an 60' Magnolia in my front yard, way too close for my comfort, but what am I going to do. It was here when I bought it. I have it cut away from the home about 1x a year and pick up the leaves almost year round. I won't ***** (too much) about the leaves, only because I really do enjoy working in the yard. If I do it regularly, it's never a huge chore. (But fall is a different matter).
Leaf blowers and vacuums do not work with Magnolia leaves. I put my leaf blower on the curb for "free" as it was the only tree requiring regular maintenance. Rake works when in volume (fall), but my tool of choice is the trash pick, the stick with a 3 inch nail at the end of it. I can pick leaves up in record time with that.
In Virginia, we had some kind of blight that did hit the Magnolia. An extension agent did come look at it and told me it's on it's way out, but that could be 20 years, maybe more. I hope the roots have traveled the length they are going to go, but every year flush 1 pound of copper sulfate through my sewer line making certain if anything is breaching my pipes, it will be dead and stop in its tracks. I took out coverage on all lines on my property, not just under my home.
If you haven't decided, I would tell you there are other, better options. Personally, some kind of evergreen would be my choice, something with a bit less maintenance.
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