Explore Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
Can't find the answer in our existing FAQs, submit a question to Mr. Smarty Plants.
Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.
rate this answer
Sunday - April 08, 2012
From: Lubbock, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Privacy Screening, Shrubs
Title: Screening Shrub for Lubbock TX
Answered by: Brigid & Larry Larson
QUESTION:
I am a landscape architecture student at Texas Tech University and am looking for a drought tolerant shrub to be used for screening a water well area. The location is the northwest corner of a yard with a wood picket fence around it. The shrub will be in full sun, and needs to be able to tolerate the north winter wind due to undeveloped property directly north of the lot. My initial thought was texas sage but the client informed me that they have not had very good success with the sage in the past.ANSWER:
Mr Smarty Plants thinks the LBJ Wildflower Center has a great design resource that you should add to your tools. In the "Expore Plants" topic of the webpage is a link named Recommended Species. If you follow that, there is a link for Native Plants for the Texas High Plains, and also, farther down the page, all of Texas by Ecoregion.
You didn't say exactly where your clients area was [because we have slightly different lists for "High Plains" and "Rolling Plains"] but I expect it is in or near Lubbock, so I used the High Plains Ecoregion list; we can further limit the search by sorting for "Full Sun" and "Shrub".
That returned a list of 5 candidates, ones that are very resilient to your weather and which gives you a bit of choice as to configuration. Why don't you consider these? [pictures below]:
Verbena halei (Slender verbena) 1-3 Ft.
Acacia angustissima (Prairie acacia) 1-4 Ft.
Amorpha fruticosa (Indigo bush) 6-10 Ft.
Rhus aromatica (Fragrant sumac) 6-12 Ft.
Cercocarpus montanus (Alderleaf mountain mahogany) 8-20 Ft.
I looked a little bit into the Salvia texana (Texas sage) that your client said did not do well. In its plant record it states that Salvia texana is a denizen of limestone soils from north-central Texas south to northern Mexico. This means that it is likely not well adapted to the weather and soil near Lubbock, so it would need extra care to thrive. If you have a plant that you would like to recommend for an area, perhaps you should look at the USDA distribution maps. A link to that is in the Plant Record on the line that says:
USDA Symbol: SATE3
From the Image Gallery
More Shrubs Questions
Non-native and/or hybridized shrubs in Pittsburg PA
May 17, 2011 - I planted 2 boulevard cypress pom pom trees last year in my front yard in the clay conditioned soil. We dug the tree holds according to the planting instruction and filled some sand in the bottom for ...
view the full question and answer
Request for seeds or cuttings for Malvaceae from French Botanical Garden
September 03, 2011 - hello
We create a botanical garden devoted to the Malvaceae, can you help us by sending us seeds or cuttings?
friendly
the director
jean-marie Jolicard
botanical garden
beaulieu
23170 Lépaud
F...
view the full question and answer
Hardy, inexpensive perennials for Mansfield, TX
March 12, 2008 - I am trying to fill two flowerbeds that are in full sun mostly and right next to the house. I want something that can live in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area and is pretty hardy. I also don't want to spe...
view the full question and answer
Further information on soil pH for growing blueberries
December 31, 2008 - Thank you for your reponse to my question / comment. You were exactly right about soil pH. Here is what Clemson University Extension has to say about growing blueberries in North and South Carolina....
view the full question and answer
Why is Rhus aromatica more deer resistant from Seattle
December 07, 2009 - I have a large area that I would like to cover with Rhus aromatica. My landscaper says that in his experience, Rhus typhina and glabra in this area are heavily browsed by deer. I noticed in your dat...
view the full question and answer
 |
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. Mr. Smarty Plants wants you to be his Facebook friend. Click the Facebook icon to add yourself to Mr. Smarty Plants list of friends. |
