Dallas plants/Bushes or flowers.

March 20, 2015 12:43 PM

I just bought a new home in Dallas Tx. In our kitchen right where the kitchen table is we have a big window that looks out to our neighbors house where there is a air conditioner unit. Im looking for a relatively inexpensive bush/plant/flower to put there that will grow and live all year round that will add a more pleasant view than an AC unit. Suggestions? House faces North/ South. Also looking for the option that requires the least maintenance.
posted by flipmiester99 to Home & Garden (7 answers total)

Clumping bamboo might be an option. Here's a Texas source.

Ornamental grass would work, too, but you have to cut back ornamental grass once a year.
posted by Ostara at 1:02 PM on March 20, 2015

If you're looking for low maintenance, you'll likely want something native, since adapted plants rarely need any supplemental watering. If you want year-round coverage, you probably are also looking for something evergreen, which rules out most of your perennials. Do you need access to the unit ever? Because something fast-growing might cause more trouble down the road.

If it were me, I'd be looking at Texas mountain laurel. They're often trimmed to look like trees, but they're actually a shrub. Leaves year round, blooms for about a week out of the year (right now!).

You can also take a look at the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center's native plant database that allows you to search by various criteria, including height, spread, water/sunlight, and a bunch of other features.
posted by Gilbert at 1:02 PM on March 20, 2015

While Oleander is not native, it grows fast and steady and does reasonably well as a privacy plant. As the link says, it is used as windbreak in medians in Texas, and is drought tolerant. Cut back every year or so.

Note: poisonous.

It should be okay that far north.
posted by tilde at 1:40 PM on March 20, 2015

I'd recommend Leyland Cypress.
posted by humboldt32 at 2:05 PM on March 20, 2015

I'd recommend Leyland Cypress.

Please don't. I came into this thread specifically to recommend AGAINST leyland cypress. You can expect it to grow FAST - so fast that within a half dozen years you could be looking at a 20' tall tree (just imagine how you'll trim it, because Leyland Cypress are also raggedy trees that grow all over and look unkempt). They top out at 70', and their lifespan is 20-25 years. This means that depending on how long you keep this house it is within the realm of possibility that you may be on the Green in 20 years asking about how to remove a dead 70' carcass that is threatening your and your neighbor's houses. It is also prone to insect damage and disease and blight.

An acquaintance failed to listen to our words of warning and now trims his "hedge" of leyland cypress (which is raggedy and incomplete) 3x annually with a chainsaw on a long pole at great hazard to his health. He is unwilling to pay an arborist to trim his 8 year old 22' tall trees because it would be too expensive.

My Mom is a master gardener and she seconds the comment here that the Leyland Cypress is the source of 50% of the calls that they field at the free master gardener helpline.
posted by arnicae at 3:05 PM on March 20, 2015 [1 favorite]

Texas mountain Laurel will work but it grows slow. My Denton, TX landscape guy (my boyfriend) says try, dwarf wax myrtle, Chinese fringe flower, or abelia.
Texas A&M and Dirt Doctor are really good resources for north Texas.
If you have any more questions you can memail me.
posted by shmurley at 5:28 PM on March 20, 2015

I live in Dallas. We have Dwarf Burford Holly bushes in front of our house. It took a few years for them to grow, but once they did, they are evergreen and impenetrable. Don't let the name fool you - they are not dwarf. Ours are over 12 feet tall. I know a lot of folks who have Indian Hawthorne - those are the bushes with the red-tipped leaves.

Here is a list of recommended North TX landscape plants from TX A&M. It breaks them down by height and by sun/shade needs. You might do better once you know the names of things you are interested in, then you can google around to see how people like it and what they look like. (The list that I attached is for North TX, the list that shmurley attached a minute ago is for East TX).

Here is a list of xeriscape plants that need less water. It's more directed toward Austin and south TX, but you might find something on there.
posted by CathyG at 6:28 AM on March 21, 2015