My Own Secret Garden
My wall of oleanders
Years after my husband and I built our house and moved to our homestead, we began to tire of living next to a surprisingly busy dirt road. In addition, my husband was doing automotive work from home. Therefore, we were having a steady stream of people popping up at our home at all hours. We also could see our neighbors right across the street.
By this time I longed to become a hermit. I wanted to live where no one could see me. I desired a private refuge where I could be unmolested by onlookers and passersby. Unfortunately we could not start over and move. It just wasn’t an option even though all I could dream about was buying a 1,000 acres and planting myself smack dab in the middle of the property. I know that it is unrealistic, but I did say I was dreaming.
Oleanders make a great background for photographs also.
However, I decided to create my own refuge right where I was. My first step was to contact my friend who is in the landscaping business. Ron Wise of Wise Landscaping is a very talented man. He does beautiful work. Ron gave me some great advice on plants. My husband, Lane, and I weighed our options. We decided to plant a wall of white oleanders. We chose them even though the plant is poisonous.
Oleanders are very hearty plants in our area. They grow fast and thick. They stay green year round and do not shed their leaves which would compromise our privacy during the winter. Beautiful, white flowers bloom on them during the spring and summer. Oleanders were what we needed to build our own secret garden.
In two years time, our oleanders grew into a thick 12′ wall of green foliage. They not only are beautiful plants, but they serve their purpose well. Our neighbors across the street have disappeared behind a natural wall of green.
People ask us all the time what we did to get our plants to grow so well in such a short time. The simple answer is that we followed Ron’s advice. He knows what he is doing. Specifically, we began by tilling up a 3′ strip of land where we wanted to wall of plants to grow. We allowed time for the grass to die. Then we planted 3 gallon plants every three feet. A friend of ours is a carpenter and he is always trying to get rid of his wood shavings. We took bags and bags of them off his hands for free. Then we used them as mulch. These shavings did not do well at all on our vegetable garden, but the oleanders loved them. We also laid soaker hoses amongst the plants and really poured the water to them. In turn, the plants thrived.
I can now play with my kids in the front yard, work in my garden, and/or swing on the front porch while being surrounded by a wall of privacy. The oleanders make me feel as if I have my very own secret garden. I highly recommend creating your own place of private refuge. If you use oleanders, don’t stir your coffee with one of their twigs. They are poisonous plants.
We have bought a place in the country and are in the process of fixing it up. We LOVE everything about it–except it is right on a minor highway. We are going to have to do something like this as well, but I don’t know if oleanders will grow as well in the DFW area, do you?
Karen, my only concern with oleanders in the D/FW area is the winter. Ya’ll get much colder weather including ice storms and snow. Oleanders would not like this and would get knocked back. You would probably have to cut them off at the ground and let them grow again. They grow fast, but my guess is that they would never provide you the privacy that you desire. You can certainly try it; however, I would recommend red-tip photinias. This shrub is beautiful with red tips on its new growth. Keeping it trimmed into a hedge would give you privacy. You could also plant white crape myrtles every 10-15 feet to give you more height and color. I think that would be really pretty. Whatever you decide to do, I would love to hear what works and what didn’t. Being able to enjoy your property even on a busy road is an important part of country living.
We are in Northern Idaho and planted Caragana for a privacy shield. It is a very hardy plant and I believe would tolerate the weather in DFW. Here is a link to an on-line gardening supplier where you can review different types of plants and if you are interested in any, you can always check for them locally. This site is great for “educating” yourself on a huge variety of plants and their prices do seem reasonable if you choose to purchase from them. I typed in the word, “hedges” and got lots of responses.
http://www.directgardening.com