Q.
What can I use for a privacy hedge that will be less than 10 feet tall?
Probably the most mispruned plant in the Las Vegas Valley. I looked through about 20 pictures of Texas Ranger I had but they were all pruned! But these are its flowers. |
A.
‘Green Cloud’ or ‘Gray Cloud’ varieties of Texas ranger, a.k.a. Texas sage,
will grow to that height with irrigation, keep their leaves (if it’s a warm
winter) and become denser as they are hedge pruned. Plant them 3 to 4 feet
apart when growing them for a privacy hedge, mix compost into their backfill
when planting, and water the heck out of them the first couple of days. They can handle the heat and drought when not surrounded by other plants.
Texas rangers are native to the Chihuahuan
desert of the US and Mexico. After they are established, they will not require
frequent irrigations unless you want them to grow rapidly. But they will
require deep irrigations if you want their roots to grow deeply, become more
tolerant of hot weather and drought.
These medium sized shrubs handle either
rock or woodchip mulch. Lightly fertilize them in the spring with a second application
of high nitrogen fertilizer (think ammonium sulfate, 21-0-0) in mid to late
November and watering through the winter helps keep them evergreen through the coldest
winter.
This is what happens to Texas ranger when it is attacked by a hedge shears over and over in about five to eight years. DONT PRUNE THEM WITH A HEDGE SHEARS IF NOT IN A HEDGE!!!!! |