Need to mark a boundary or create a bit of privacy? Try fast-growing annuals for a quick fence. Or plant an annual hedge in front of a row of young shrubs to hold the line until the shrubs fill in. I also use annual hedges to direct traffic in new patterns around my garden when I’m changing the layout. If I’ve miscalculated, it’s a lot easier to make changes with annuals than it is to transplant shrubs.
Castor bean plant (Ricinis communis) and Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia) are annuals of statuesque proportions. Their sturdy, branched forms are strong enough to stand tall without support, so they’re ideal for tall hedges between houses or along a roadside. Castor bean, which can reach 8 feet or more, has huge, exotic leaves, usually flushed with red. It can be invasive in some areas, such as southern California, where it has spread to the wild, but in cold-winter areas, that’s not a problem. A single plant of Mexican sunflower grows 6 feet tall and 4 feet wide and is covered with orange-red flowers that hummingbirds and butterflies adore.
Instant Hedges
For a smaller hedge, try the unusual annual called burning bush (Bassia scoparia, formerly Kochia scoparia), which looks like a fine-textured green cypress. You’ll hardly notice the tiny flowers of this 2- to 3-foot-tall annual, but its dense foliage makes it stand out in the landscape as a small shrub. Pretty when green, burning bush is even better in late summer and fall, when it flames purple-red.
You can also create instant privacy with a quick trellis of plastic netting stapled to 2×2 uprights. Along the bottom of the netting, plant seeds of annual climbers for quick coverage. Beans are the sprinters of the annual vines: try purple-stemmed, lilac-flowered hyacinth bean (Lablab purpureus, or Dolichos lablab), or orange-red scarlet runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus), which hummingbirds love. Or pair ethereal ‘Heavenly Blue’ morning glories (Ipomoea tricolor ‘Heavenly Blue’) with night-blooming, saucer-sized white moonflowers (Ipomoea alba) for a privacy fence that’s a beauty at any hour.
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