Front garden living fences are filling in…
I am thrilled that my living fences on both sides of the front garden are filling in. I can almost not see the road/neighbours on either side. Love my neighbours, but the privacy is nice and they give the garden a sense of enclosure and intimacy.
BEFORE: Right-side of the front gardens living fence last May.
AFTER: The plants are filling in nicely. Native Texas mountain laurel (Sophora secundiflora), Native Texas sage (Leucophyllum frutescens ‘Silverado’) and Dwarf Olive (Olea europaea ‘Little Ollie’) complete the evergreen mixed screen. In the foreground native Red Yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora) and catmint (Nepeta ‘Six Hills Giant’).
BEFORE: Left-side of front gardens living fence last summer.
AFTER: Left-side this summer. I can’t wait until I can’t see that salmon trim!
This is the left-side today, Texas sages are blooming away and buzzing with bees. That is provence lavender (Lavandula x intermedia ‘Provence’) in front. 
It is hard to beat Texas sage….don’t water it once established…and never fertilize it. It is evergreen (ever-silver), and look at the flowers! MAGICAL!
If you want a little privacy, or to define your property lines with beautiful plants and trees for wildlife and your family to enjoy, a living fence is a great choice.
- Posted in: Front Garden - year 2
Xericstyle 
Just gorgeous! Amazing growth for a year just shows what a few spring rains can do around here. I think your Silverado grow faster than mine. Mine are blooming this week too. They are hard to beat and just right for screening the neighbors without looking unfriendly.
Your living fence looked amazing when I was there! I think (I know) I have a lot more soil than you – probably helped them set more roots faster????? Although I think I planted mine before you too….winter of 2011…yours may be in for a huge growth spurt! I do like that the plants are friendlier than a fence too. It helps they have something pretty to look at, and they likely don’t want to see us anymore than we want to see them – ha! -xericstyle
I’m also surprised at how fast things grew for you. How do you water, by hand, drip or sprinkler? Whatever you’re doing it all looks fantastic!
Hi Ragna! I planted those plants the winter of 2011 and those photos were May 2012 – I hand water, and not very often at all. I just set up drip in the front to get my new grasses through the summer, and I am really enjoying that!!!!-xericstyle
Wow! Your living fence looks marvelous & I also like the gentle c curve of the pathway!
Thanks Peter!-xericstyle
The growth in the left bed is just amazing. Just shows that the right plant will do it every time. I am surprised that the nepeta is so small though.
Thanks Christina! I just planted the nepeta late this spring…so it is quite new. It is a new plant to me too, how big do you think it will get? -xericstyle
Good show, Heather X.! Huge change since I was there in May…
Thanks D! Things were so sparse when you were here! I am glad you are enjoying the show :) -xericstyle
Wow! Everything has really grown fast!
I thought the sages were slow growers. I obviously was wrong.
Need to try some of those.
I thought they were supposed to be too, Linda! The cultivar I got ‘silverado’, is also already larger than they are supposed to get too! So keep that in mind when you plant – I would give 5×5 or 6×6 at least! I watered these rarely last summer (their first summer) – and I have not watered them once since last summer! So the growth has nothing to do with me…they are monsters. We have had a nice rainy spring and winter though….-xericstyle
That Texas Sage has stolen my heart! wow! Your place is looking more and more amazing with every time you post!
Thank you Canadian friend! I am not surprised you love this desert shrub, Louis – your mind lives in the sun :) LOVE IT! I am trying to post more…I got kind of lazy with it for a while. – xericstyle
It looks gorgeous! I love the before and after pictures!
Thank you so much for stopping by from down under! -xericstyle
I just read the last three posts. Your plants are filling in nicely. I was really surprised to see how large the Texas sage are. It looks like they quadrupled in size–or more. I would not worry too much about the desert willow. Mine are growing in black clay soil and get more rain and water than yours. They also loose leaves like yours every spring. I just leave them alone and they keep growing and blooming. Desert willows are kind of messy with all of the flowers and leaves they drop. I still love ’em and so do the bees and humming birds.
Oh this is such wonderful news! Thank you for sharing, Michael :) -xericstyle
I guess I’ve got a living fence of sorts. It’s a no-mans-land between my fence and the park’s fence. I love the privacy in the summer. When the leaves fall in autumn, I get a great view of the pond (when far fewer people visit the park).
That sounds LOVELY! -xericstyle
Your Texas sage has grown SO fast. It’s absolutely gorgeous in bloom. How are you liking your ‘Little Ollie’? Any idea how big it will get?
I keep hearing that – not sure why they are growing fast….I never water it or fertilize it. I must have good soil? Maybe the ‘silverado’ cultivar is a faster grower? Hmmmmm….way back this was a cattle field I hear. Anyhow, LOVE ‘little ollie’…and I am thinking 5×5 or 6×6….it has a perfect shape despite no trimming, and as far as water, I have been treating it like my Texas sages… no supplemental watering since last summer (over a year ago). -xericstyle
After moving to Taylor, TX and discovering that the Texas sage grows twice as fast as it did in Austin or Leander, I did some research. Turns out, they grow very fast in this fertile, pure blackland prairie soil here, but they grow too fast, it seems. The stems are long, skinny and spindly. Lesson learned!