Florida-Friendly Fence Plants

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Looking for Florida-Friendly fence plants to create a screen?  Above is an excerpt from our Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ Pattern Book.  The link shows a sample plan that offers variety creating a great screen and diversity in your yard.  The back of this book lists plant material that will thrive in Manatee County.  Attention needs to be paid to the light conditions, soil types and watering needs of each plant to match it to your site conditions.

Avoid the monoculture.  Planting a screen that consists of only one variety can cost you in the end.   Using one plant variety to create a hedge has been popular because it can provide even growth and a straight line
to guide pruning.  A monoculture hedge does have a few problems. What if an insect or disease strikes your hedge? All of your shrubs could be lost or you could end up with random large dead holes


A better alternative is to plant a hedge using a variety of large and small shrubs and trees. Generally, something that requires screening will need it the year round, so evergreens naturally predominate in any list of screening plants. But don’t be afraid to add a deciduous plant. A few deciduous plants can provide wonderful color. When choosing plants for screening, check the available space carefully and know the mature height and width of the plant. Be sure that the plants you choose will fit in the allotted space without an undue amount of maintenance. If you have to frequently prune your plants to keep them in check, it’s more than likely you used the wrong plant for that location. Also, when mixing several different types of plants, be sure to choose ones with similar growth and water requirements.