What To Plant Along Fence Line? – Best Gardening Ideas

Does your fence look unattractive, and you don’t have much cash to invest in it now that you want to know what to plant along your fence line?

Perhaps you don’t like how your neighbors stare at your house.

Planting a beautiful tree or flower can give your fence and surrounding a great look. It will also give you a sense of privacy.

Most people don’t know the appropriate plant to grow, while those who know what to plant aren’t sure how to grow it along their fence line.

This article will explain in detail the type of plant you need to plant for privacy reasons and the suitable ones for shade.

It will also point you to the right flowers, trees, and shrubs to consider for your fence line.

Below are the best plants to grow along your fence line landscaping for various purposes.

What To Consider Before Choosing a Good Privacy Plant for Your Fence Line

• The density of the privacy hedge
• Maintenance of the tree, shrub, or grass
• The tallness of the privacy hedge
• The type of grass or trees that will meet your need

What To Plant Along a Fence Line for Privacy

Bamboos

These species of plants will give privacy to your home. The height of an average bamboo can help shut intruders or any undesired sound from reaching your house.

It can also serve as a shade. If planted close to a pool, their greenish color can help give a modern look to your surroundings. Sometimes it grows out of control and can be a little invasive.

However, not all species of bamboo grow out of hand.

Bamboos like Fargesia are not invasive neither do they grow out of control. They grow slower when compared to another bamboo because of their clumpy roots.

Due to some bamboo’s invasive nature, artificial bamboo has been made to combat this undesirable effect. When planting bamboo, plant them in a restricted space like a container. If you want to plant it directly into the ground, ensure you tend it with a root barrier liner.

This is to reduce or stop the bamboo from spreading out of control.

Boxwood

These hedging shrubs are also referred to as the aristocrats of other hedging plants due to their everyday use in cooperating gardens. Horticulturists shape plants into different shapes that look appealing to the eye.

The species of the hedging plant have tall hedges and crisps, making it a suitable plant for the fence line. It also brings about privacy to your home and surrounding. Boxwood grows optimally in zones 5 by 8.

Some grow as high as 20 feet; hence they can serve as a fence landscaping on their own. Their maintenance is also cheap and easy. To plant a boxwood, form a continuous hedge.

To do this, the space between those hedging plants should be one-half of their full mature width.

For instance, a boxwood growing as high as 20 feet at full maturity should be grown at 10 feet in the center.

This is because when you prune the plants, they will still be able to exert their privacy screening ability significantly, which also applies to other hedging plants.

Privet

If you want to take your privacy to the next level, this is another plant to consider. Privet has been known to be one of the fastest-growing plants in the United States. The hedging shrub can grow as high as 2.8 feet in a year and up to 11.5 feet at full maturity.

This height can serve as a privacy boundary for fence lines or even as a fence on its own. Privet has less bright green foliage that will give your landscape an appealing look.

They thrive well in zones 4 by 8.

Evergreen Trees

Examples of these trees include Longleaf pine, southern Mongolia, and the like. These trees give all year-round coverage due to their excellent privacy boundary with which they give to the fence lines. Some evergreens exhibit higher privacy than others due to their huge conifers or foliage that reach the ground.

If you want to experience the most excellent privacy boundary an evergreen tree gives, ensure you space them so that their branches touch one another. Each evergreen tree has different hardiness, so different trees can survive in various locations.

Find out the appropriate one for your area.

Arborvitae

This plant is commonly used due to its ability to bring about privacy screening; the foliage is responsible for this. It can thrive in most types of soil.

This plant comes in several varieties, like the giant or dwarf form, so you have to choose the one compatible with your fence line.

Maintaining the plant is very cheap and easy.

What To Plant Along a Fence Line Where There Is a Shade

Planting in a shady area is similar to planting in sunny areas. It only requires that you be more careful with plants’ choices and the soil on which you will plant them. Contrary to most people’s belief, some plants thrive under full shade; they don’t need direct sunlight.

Most gardeners or homeowners are bothered with planting shrubs, trees, and grass under shade along their fence line. These homeowners or gardeners must understand the light requirement of the plant in question.

While some can thrive under a full shade, some only need a partial or light shade. Provided you’ve known the soil and light requirement of that shady area, getting a plant that loves a shaded area is not hard.

Some of the shade-loving plants that you can grow along your fence line include:

Hydrangeas

There are various types of hydrangeas. Examples include Hydrangeas macrophylla, otherwise called lace caps. These plants can be grown either under partial shade or no shade (full sunlight).

Hydrangeas can be grown on any soil; however, they grow well in moisturized and rich soil. If the ground along your fence line is not rich enough, adding compost manure can help richen the soil.

Hydrangeas love constant watering; doing this will make them grow on time.

Caladiums

The foliage of the caladiums has many colors, giving the surrounding an appealing look and touch. The foliage can be green, pink, or red. Caladiums are being sold in a potted coverage.

They thrive well in partial shade and well-moisturized soil. It is best to plant caladium bulbs indoors for some weeks because of the outside soil temperature.

Growing outside can lead to the decay of the tuber. Also, a depth of 4-6.5 inches and a width of 4-6.5cm should be maintained when planting the caladiums.

While growing them indoors, ensure they are exposed to a sufficient amount of light; also, they should be stored in a warm enclosure.

Only transplant the plant outdoors when the temperature outside is warm and suitable to support its growth.

Astilbe

This flower has at least 25 species. They are tall with feathery/wooly plumes; the foliage looks like a fern. When planted with other shade-loving plants like the hellebores and hosta, they are excellent companions due to their different foliage and well-arranged blooms.

The flowers come in different colors; while some are white, others are dark purples, the pastel color is the most prevalent.

The astilbe species come in various heights and blooms; at different times, the size varies from 7.5cm to 1m.

Your knowledge about the astilbe flowers will determine if they will come out large and have a well-developed bloom.

Hence it is vital to acquire and use the correct information to grow this plant.

The plant species thrive well in the shade, but the flower will grow better if exposed to early morning sun for an average of 1.5 hours.

The flowers do well in organic soil, so if the soil around your fence line is a bit rocky, you can add compost.

The mixed soil should be given enough time, like weeks before planting begins.

Also, a depth of 8-13 inches should be used to provide the flowers’ roots enough room to expand and develop.

Coral Bells

This plant is also called alumroot. The name ‘bell” in the coral bell was given to the plant due to the bloom’s bell-like shape.

Coral bells have different colors: white, coral, red, and the like. You can pick your favorite color.

The plant grows well in the woody area; hence you need to replicate these conditions along your fence line. Placing them in full shade or receiving a filtered amount of sun is one way of raising the plant.

You can add compost if the soil along the fence line is not well-nourished. The plant can also be grown in an enclosed space like a container. The matured coral bells plant needs more watering than the younger ones.

You can propagate them through cutting or by seed. You can cut the growth off if there is any woody or desired growth during the spring.

Low-Maintenance Plants You Might Consider for Your Fence Line

Climbing roses, such as ‘The Fairy’ and Clematis plants, are among the most popular choices for covering fences and walls, thanks to their easy training and remarkable ability to reach heights up to 10 feet.

Not only are they aesthetically pleasing, with their vibrant, colorful flowers, but they are also extremely well-suited for gardens.

These plants prefer full sunlight and can flourish in these environments, making them the perfect choice to add beauty and color to your outdoor space.

Perennials such as Japanese anemones, Verbena bonariensis, Stipa tenuissima, and Libertia chilensis are also great low-maintenance options for fence line plants.

They can provide an elegant curve or stylish structure to landscapes, bringing beauty and texture to any garden.

These plants are incredibly enduring and have the potential to last for many years with proper care and maintenance.

They come in various colors, heights, and textures, allowing you to create a stunning array of colors and shapes.

Since they are low-maintenance, they require minimal effort to keep them looking their best, making them a great choice if you want to spruce up your yard without investing too much time or money.

Final Words

Other Plants that can be grown along the fence line in shady areas include Tobacco, Ferns, Fuchsia, etc.

If you want to improve your landscape, planning adequately and investing time and effort in your fence line is essential.

Planting the right plant along your fence line will give you a sense of privacy in your surroundings and home and beautify and enhance your landscape!