[Fleur Pavlidis]

This question has been posed by a new MGS member:
Hi. We recently became members of the MGS.

As you can see, we live in Beiras Littoral.We have a plot which was maquis in its original state - rough soil with gorse, heather, holm oaks, sobreiros, etc.  We are currently building a new house and landscaping. Big features first - e.g. a hedge to hide the rather ugly concrete block wall about 70 cm high our neighbour built which runs the length of our property - about 70m. The soil is fairly acid and quite ‘brashy’ /sandy as it is formed from broken-down sandstone and is very free draining.

Our summer temps are usually up to the mid 30’s C and occasionally up to 40 C; and the wall is in full sun most of the day, plus the wall will tend to reflect back some heat. A drive from the bottom road will run all the way along this wall to just below the house, and only about 50-60 cm remains for planting the hedge between the wall and the edge of this drive.

Please can someone/anyone advise: What can I plant in this site with these conditions that will form a good hedge reasonably soon to hide the ugly wall? There’s so little depth between the wall and the roadway. But hedge doesn’t have to be very high - 1 m would be fine. 

I have considered Laurus nobilis and rosmarinus officianalis because of the dry conditions. The former would need hard pruning to keep it small, I suppose. Other ideas?


Many thanks in advance for your help!

all the best,

Jude

[John J]

Fleur, just a few ideas off the top of my head for starters. I'm sure others will come up with more.
Atriplex halimus, tough, tolerant of heat and poor soil.
Lantana camara, fast-growing, needs little or no summer water, poisonous berries might be an issue if children involved.
Limoniastrum monopetalum, indifferent to poor soil and lack of water, takes trimming.
Myrtus communis, myrtle takes heat and can be treated much as box is.
Pittosporum tobira, takes trimming but possibly to the detriment of the 'orange blossom' scented flowers.
Rhaphiolepis umbellata or R. indica.

[JayB]

Callistemon can work well and will certainly stand up to poor soil and harsh conditions, you can even vary the planting to have differing colour flowers. It would need hard pruning to keep small but that is good for the flowers.

Lilly Pilly are good too, the Acmena and Syzygium australe work well as a smaller hedge as does the Westringia's Fruticosa or longifolia.

These are relatively easy to find here in Spain so hopefully wont be too hard to source in Portugal too.

[Janet Ibbotson]

Given there is only 50-60 cm width between the base of the wall and the road, poor soil and no suggestion of irrigation, wouldn't something like orange pyracantha trained to cover the wall be a solution.  Not the most beautiful plant in the world and, quite literally, a pain to train but efficient and birds like the berries in late winter.  Possibly some blue plumbago mixed in where its roots can be shaded or where there is more moisture.