kolling@decwrl.UUCP (Karen Kolling) (07/30/85)
> I am buying a house and one side of the property is open to > the neighbor's yard and faces towards a busy street about a 1/4 mile > away. The noise from the street is audible but not loud. I'd like > to plant a hedge or row of trees there that would give the backyard > some more privacy and cut out the rest of the noise. Pittosporum tenuifolium (maybe not the exact spelling, but close) is a good choice if it will take your climate. I planted one-foot tall plants of it a few years ago and had a six foot hedge in perhaps 3 years. It's a small leaved (3/4 inch or so) dense hedge, no interesting flowers or fruit. I have to prune mine several times a summer to keep it at six feet, but they seem to be self-limiting at 15 feet or so, judging from others I've seen around here. I haven't bothered to water or fertilize it since the second year and it looks fine. Good storm windows are wonderful for cutting out noise (hurry if you want the federal energy credit -- it expires this year.)