The layout
- 'Nellie Stevens' Holly · ×3
- Eastern Red Cedar 'Brodie' · ×2
- Wax Myrtle · ×2
- Fortune's Osmanthus · ×2
- Sasanqua Camellia · ×3
A living fence for a sunny property line - five evergreens in a staggered double row instead of one long hedge of identical trees. Mixed screens survive what monoculture rows don't: when disease or a bad winter takes one plant, you lose a tooth, not the whole smile. Eye-level privacy by year three; a 15-foot green wall by year six.
What blooms when
The plants
-
3×'Nellie Stevens' Holly Ilex × 'Nellie R. Stevens'
The workhorse of Piedmont screens: dense to the ground, 2–3 ft a year, shrugs off clay and drought.
18 ft -
2×Eastern Red Cedar 'Brodie' Juniperus virginiana 'Brodie'
The native backbone; a tight, narrow column that laughs at heat, and the berries feed winter birds.
18 ft -
2×Wax Myrtle Morella cerifera
Native and the fastest thing here - 3 ft a year. It does the screening job while the hollies grow into theirs.
12.5 ft -
2×Fortune's Osmanthus Osmanthus × fortunei
Looks like a polite holly all year, then in October releases the best fragrance in southern gardening.
11 ft -
3×Sasanqua Camellia Camellia sasanqua
Blooms October into December, exactly when the garden needs rescuing. The reason this screen is beautiful, not just tall. Try 'Yuletide', 'Kanjiro', or 'Shishi Gashira'.
9 ft
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The Easy Pollinator Border
Seven tough native perennials that keep something blooming from June to October. Plant it once in a sunny 10×6 ft bed; by year two it needs little more than one spring cutback.
The No-Fuss Mailbox Strip
A 12×3 ft strip for the hottest, driest spot you own - the mailbox, the driveway edge, the hellstrip. Six natives that handle reflected heat and never ask for the hose after year one.
The Dry-Shade Screen
Dry shade under mature trees is the hardest assignment in southern gardening - every plant here is competing with a 60-foot oak for water. This screen is built from the evergreens that actually win that fight, tested under my own Raleigh canopy. Slower than the sunny version, but by year four it's a solid green room.