What kind of shrub can I plant to provide a fencing barrier between my neighbors? $$$ is an issue.?

Location: St. Louis, MO|||Good old fashioned privet is probably your best option as far as cost. You can get young plants in bundles from your local nursery at a reasonable cost. They come in bundles of 25, at least they did when I worked at a nursery, and are about 2%26#039; tall. They grow rapidly. You might have to special order them.





They make a great hedge, you can trim the neatly, or not. They will get 10-12%26#039; tall with white blooms if not trimmed once or twice a year.|||There is a hedge called Wall of China it grows really fast and thick and is reasonable priced from Michigan Bulb co.I have seen this hedge once its quite nice with little upkeep.|||Forsythia, privet, bamboo.


See what your neighbors have as you drive around.|||A lot depends on how tall or dense you want them to grow.





For a fence type shrub, I%26#039;d go with boxwoods. The are dense if you keep them trimmed. For tall ones that aren%26#039;t dense at the bottom, you can go with wax leaf ligustrums or red tip photinias.|||if you like your neighbors-try forsythia. They have pretty flowers in the early spring, or clematis, which has pretty flowers in the summer. Clematis is a vine, but you can support it easily with stakes and wires.





If you DON%26#039;T like your neighbors, use holly or raspberry. They are prickly. ;-)





These are all common, and therefore not-too-expensive plants.|||How wide, how long, how tall, evergreen or deciduous? Soil type and water availability and amount of sunlight?





Those are really going to be the controlling factors for your choices if you want a hedge that you%26#039;re not going to have to replace soon or spend the rest of your life trimming back.





Some thoughts:


-- if cutting through the area isn%26#039;t an issue (people and dogs can quickly destroy new plantings), then you can buy %26quot;liners%26quot; -- small plants that will grow nicely if you provide the correct growing conditions for them. Much cheaper than onsie-twosies in 5 gallon cans at the nursery.





-- if it%26#039;s visual privacy you need, and not a barrier, a small tree or big shrub or two nicely situated can give you that without much trouble or expense. Think mockorange, amur maple, many different viburnums, shrub roses, etc.





-- formal hedges look bad when they get gappy or one plant doesn%26#039;t grow as well as others (often because of foot traffic!). Consider using a border of mixed species, planted in slight curves instead of straight lines.





-- if money is really tight, many shrubs can be easily rooted from cuttings. Lilac, forsythia, shrub roses, and many, many others.... %26quot;Liners%26quot; are often well-rooted cuttings -- figure adding an extra year to the project for DIY cuttings.





http://extension.missouri.edu/explore/ag...





For useful, fast and possibly more labor intensive, consider


trellised grapes or raspberries, or cordoned fruit trees.|||i%26#039;ve been reading a lot of books about gardening lately and most ppl recommend a simple privet hedge. Because they are easy growing, dense, disease resistant, evergreen, and low cost. You can trim them low or let them become monsters. Whatever you like. We had privet hedges when I was young and they could grow way taller than my dad(6%26#039; 1%26quot;). I liked that they stayed green all year round and we lived in South Texas where weather is Extremely hot in summers. Privets are selling here at Walmart for $5.44 for a 1gal plant...%26#039;bout 12%26quot;-15%26quot; high. Been thinking about starting a hedge myself! Good Luck with it|||if you are wanting to keep the neighbors out try osage orange|||I would suggest a hedge of rose they are real good and not too expensive.


Ahedge of Blue muffin Viburnum would also be nice and less maintanance hope this helped|||yews, evergreen fastgrowing not too $ do need a trim now and then, can be kept as a fence barrier of let grow out into a tall privacy barrier


wax myrtle, semi-evergreen fast growing, will become thicker as berries drop, will need pruning which in turn will make existing plants thicker also.


korean boxwood, light green, evergreen, faster growing then regular boxwoods, best as a low fencing barrier or corner accent plant, one of my favorites because it gets a colored cast over the foilage when the weather is cool. very inexpensive in 1 gallon. grows to nice shrub size in about 8 months if not trimmed.