How to create a natural privacy fence or privacy wall?
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We are in the market to purchase a pool for our backyard and there will be 4 feet of space between the pool wall and our backyard fence. There is a two story house behind our back fence and would like to create privacy with some kind of palm tree. With the space available and an 8ft block fence, what palm tree would you recommend? We were considering a pineapple palm but not sure if that is feasable. thanks for your help.
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RESPONSE:
This is a very popular question; palm trees for a privacy wall. You have an excellent design approach! You should get two species for your solution.
1. The Areca Palm for dense foliage potted on a row-like custom-made pot alongside the wall.
2. Depending on the length of your poolside privacy wall target area; you should space out multiple Christmas Palm Trees.
WHY:
1. The Areca Palm Tree, grows upwards fairly fast and are also known as the bamboo, because of the same similar characteristics. I would, personally go with the Areca Palm; it fits easily in your 4 feet and under spacing scenario, low maintenance aside from trimming tops, they are more bushier than bamboo, resilient to pool treated water (very adaptable), they add color and zen to your landscape. Potting like I suggested above is for, ground coverage maintenance, easier to clean vs. planting in the ground. Creates a neater appearance. And adds instant height.
2. The Christmas Palm - bar none! It looks fantastic next to the Areca Palm in contrast with the Pineapple Palm (Canary Island Date). The Pineapple palm tree in my opinion is the best looking palm tree. The Pineapple palm in most cases serves as a masterpiece; let's say a grand entrance, a centerpiece to a landscape, or row of Pineapple palm trees with little foliage leading up to the front entrance of your home. The Pineapple palm, thus needs to be exposed more to see it's beauty from a "distance". Christmas palms grow very tall, and look great next to the Areca. They are very widely fashioned with sparing Bismarcks Palm Trees to also create an exotic look. Although, either the Pineapple or Christmas palm will work brilliantly in your design, I recommend the Christmas Palm a little more.
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Thank you for your input. I should have mentioned that we live in Arizona.
Will these trees do alright in Phoenix area? Also, I did some research on them. Areca can get to 20-30 ft in height. Is this so if they are planted in pots? I'm not sure we want them quite that high...20 feet may be alright, but I don't think we want them taller than that. There is a two story house behind us that we are trying to block. Also, both my husband and I have brown thumbs. What kind of maintenance do they require?
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RESPONSE:
I have a solution:
1. The Windmill Palm would be great; they grow up an average of 30’; have a fairly large canopy; and by spacing them accordingly you will essentially cover your neighbors 2 story.
2. An addition to the Windmill Palm, I would pot Needle Palms to add some foliage on a custom-made row-like pot along the fence to add height to the Needle Palm, because they only grow an average of 8ft.
By doing the above you will have an exotic tropical paradise, and an awe inspiring natural wall! Both palm trees can withstand extreme cold negative harsh temperatures, and so they will thrive in your Phoenix Region! Little maintenance, aside from trimming; and yes even a brown thumb can do this.
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30’ will be too high. We need a tree that will stand approx 12-15’ with lots of foliage at the top. At 30’ the foliage would be too high and thus the only thing blocking our neighbor would be it’s trunk. To give you a better idea of where coverage needs to be, I believe our block wall is 8ft high. We need coverage from the top of the fence upwards to approx 5’ above the fence. Let me know you come up with any other suggestions! If we could just add a 5’ piece of lattice across the top of our fence…that would solve the problem. The problem is, we live where there is an HOA and they would not approve. Thanks again.
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RESPONSE:
Your SCENARIO:
So let me get this right; your current wall is approx. 8 feet high, and you feel an additional 5 feet of foliage would give you the privacy you need. This will give you a total of 13 feet, ( I hope I got it right this time) if this is your case than you should get the Needle Palm; you wouldn’t need any other palm trees.
Your SOLUTION:
The Needle Palm grows a maximum average of +/- 8 feet; you would place the palm tree on a pot that is 5 feet; this would give you a total of 13 feet. The Needle Palm Tree gets bushy on the top, requires little maintenance and can endure negative 20 degrees F, so it will easily thrive in Phoenix. You would need to space them 5 to 6 feet apart and they will create a solid wall of foliage. Your next step is in calculating the length of your wall, to determine how many you will need.
What kind of trees can I use for a privacy wall or privacy fence?
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