Zone 5/6 Quick Growing Evergreen

[aftermidnight]

Make sure it's a clumping bamboo Alex or you will be in for one big nightmare. Running bamboos are one big pain in the a$$. If a running bamboo you'll need to dig a trench in front of it so you can clip off the roots as they appear, something you have to stay on top of. They do sell root barriers that are supposed to do the job but I wouldn't trust them.
An example... someone planted a running bamboo here as a hedge it was beautiful until it run amuck and covered the whole front yard. The house was sold and the new owners put up a sign, free bamboo, bring shovel, dig as much as you want. Within a week there wasn't a sign that bamboo ever grew there. I wonder how many people are still cursing themselves to this day. I had black bamboo also a bit of a runner but I grew it in a half barrel, finally gave it away.

When we moved here being our lot backs on a highway we planted English laurel, no pruning it's now a hedge of trees. A lot that have this here keep them trimmed as hedges but if not looked after soon become a nightmare. One good thing about them is you can cut them down to the bones and they will come back.

How about one of the conifers, examples....
https://evergreenhedging.com/which-hedge/

Annette

 

[Nyboy]

Annette I have always been scared of bamboo because of horror stories of it running wild. Would only consider a well behaved clumping one. As a kid every Sat morning I had to trim hedge in front yard with hand cutters, then along street ball shaped plants. last thing I want is something needing trimming. Your link has good information thank you for it.

 

[Smart Red]

Nyboy, bamboo isn't evergreen is it?

 

[Nyboy]

My father is still in that house, i guess he got tired of trimming hedge it is long gone.

 

[Nyboy]

Red thistle link has ones that claim ever green in my zone

 

[ninnymary]

I’ve grown the clumping type for about 20+ years. I still went ahead and put in a bamboo barrier. It was a hard plastic 2ft high that was sold by the foot. We made an oval shape and duck taped the ends. Then we buried it 2 ft. It works very well.

On occasions my husband has tried digging the bamboo out to divide it. It takes an ax and a lot of hard work. That stuff is hard as a rock.

In my climate it is evergreen. I love the color and the way it moves with the wind. It does make a mess though. It stays evergreen year round but drops leaves year round too.

Mary

 

[ducks4you]

I have grown both arbor vitae and juniper. They are both native to illinois
http://www.treesforme.com/il_thuja_arborvitae.html
are fairly quick growing and will grow very tall as an excellent wind break or privacy natural fence. They can handle zone 5.

 

[Nyboy]

Mary fallen leaves don't bother me. I don't do fall clean up. By spring they are always gone

 

[thistlebloom]

Arborvitae makes a good hedge, unfortunately deer love it and it grows sparsely to not at all from branches they eat bare.
There is a juniper that gets good reports for a moderately quick evergreen hedge, called
'Wichita Blue" and deer leave it alone.

I like Sky Pencil holly, but around here anyway it's deer fodder.

Boxwood makes a reliable (if boring) evergreen hedge, but it's not what I would call fast. The deer never touch it no matter how hungry they get, so that's one thing it has going for it.

I think if fast is what you want, you won't beat bamboo. Just make sure to keep it in the genus Fargesia.

 

[Nyboy]

DEER ARE A BIG PROBLEM. I think I might mix the plants in hedge. I read this was a good idea. If all the same planting, and a disease hits it destroys the whole hedge