Drought conditions: podocarpus or viburnum?

[Sandy Loam]

I still have not planted my "new" screening hedge, but I think that I have narrowed it down to either potocarpus or sweet viburnum. Which one would you choose in sandy soil that does not retain moisture, and where there is actually no irrigation currently (irrigation pump is broken and I am not planning on replacing it) . The property is located in Central Florida half way between Orlando and Tampa, USA zone 10a.

 

I just don't know which one performs better in drought conditions.  Don't you Arizona gardeners plant podocarpus out there in extremely dry conditions?

Thank you! 

[Silas_Sancona]

54 minutes ago, Sandy Loam said:

Don't you Arizona gardeners plant podocarpus out there in extremely dry conditions?

Podocarpus,  in the desert ..here at least? =  Not a chance.   Wayy too hot / too dry, esp. w/ out any irrigation.   

Don't even ask about anything  Viburnum..  More likely to encounter a Crocodile filled Swamp.. 😂🤣





 

[Sandy Loam]

38 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Podocarpus,  in the desert ..here at least? =  Not a chance.   Wayy too hot / too dry, esp. w/ out any irrigation.   

Don't even ask about anything  Viburnum..  More likely to encounter a Crocodile filled Swamp.. 😂🤣





 

OK. I had heard of people growing podocarpus in southern California, so I assumed that the climate was similar to southwest Arizona. 

 

[Silas_Sancona]

Just now, Sandy Loam said:

OK. I had heard of people growing podocarpus in southern California, so I assumed that the climate was similar to southwest Arizona. 

 

 Not by a long shot. ..Would be nice if we were similar to say Pasadena though..  

Neither area has a climate similar to Central FL either.  ..Though that might be alright too. 

[Paradise Found]

Here’s a thought how about a jatropha hedge. Nice blooming flowering shrub that’s easy to maintain 5’ to 8’ tall with pruning for privacy.  Attractive to the eye and great pollinators. 
maybe someone who grows it can chime in to see if that a idea 💡. 

Edited March 4, 2024 by Paradise Found

[Brian M]

When we moved into our house there were sweet viburnum the entire fence line some over 30' tall. There was no irrigation or care of any kind and they grew like weeds. We may get a little bit more rain here in coastal NE Florida but would consider the conditions fairly similar otherwise. 

[Sandy Loam]

At my former house in Gainesville Florida, I was growing both podocarpus and sweet viburnum. When a dry spell happened, the viburnum leaves all wilted and some turned brown and fell off. I don't recall that happening to the podocarpus, but sometimes random patches of podocarous suddenly turned brown and had to be cut off. It was puzzling. Perhaps it was because my soil up there was heavy clay.

 

In that type of soil with heavy sun and lots of irrigation, my viburnum grew like wildfire, whereas the potocarpus grew very slowly. On the other hand, any of my potocarpus or viburnum growing in shade were both extremely slow. 

 

Is that info helpful in deciding what to grow in my forthcoming Central Florida privacy hedge? I have no idea. I guess I am still leaning towards viburnum, but then again, some of my viburnum in Gainesville suddenly died and it might have been due to Botrysphora fungus.  I'm guessing that such fungus is less likely to thrive in sandy soil conditions than in wet clay conditions, but I'm clueless about this stuff and really appreciate your comments, everyone.

[Sandy Loam]

What about clusia vs. Sweet viburnum in drought conditions? 

[Chester B]

A bit of advice, whatever you decide I would incorporate at least 3 species.  One disease or one pest and you could lose the whole thing.  It's always best to diversify, plus its pretty boring having a long line of the same plant.

[Than]

Viburnum is omnipresent here. We get only 350mm of rain per year and lots of summer heat. Many people mix it with other plants like eleagnus. I am planning to create a fence of 2/3 viburnum and 1/3 pyracantha (for the thorns).

[Merlyn]

I have a LOT of Viburnum, basically ringing at least 1/2 of my property.  I'd echo the concerns about random deaths.  I seem to lose 2-4 clumps per year, leaving huge holes in my no-longer-a-privacy-hedge.  I am about to rip out 50 or so feet of it and replace it with Bambusa Textilis "Gracilis," "RG Dwarf," and "Ladyfinger," with Contracta, Subtruncata, and Doli "Blue" mixed in for diversity.  There's a bunch of other shrubberies that could work too:

If you keep Viburnum cut to 10' max it might still work as a privacy hedge, but I found that you could easily see through it.  If your primary (or secondary) concern is noise reduction, I did a whole bunch of SPL measurements through a variety of plants:

• Podocarpus = 2-4dB dense screen, can't see through it
• Viburnum sparse = 3-4dB - stuff you can see through
• Lattice wall = 4dB with roughly 50% open area
• Zamia Furfuracea "Cardboard Palm" = 4dB very dense
• Areca palm (Chrysalidocarpus Lutescens) = 4-5dB very dense
• Arenga Engleri = 4-5dB with medium density
• Rhapis Excelsa = 5dB dense cluster
• Bambusa Tuldoides "Swollen Internode" = 5dB with denser culms but few leaves
• Bambusa "New Guinea Black" = 5dB with similar dense leaves and open culm spacing
• Bambusa Textilis "Gracilis" = 5dB with semi-dense culms and no leaves
• Viburnum dense = 5-6dB - stuff you can't see through
• Philodendron Selloum = 6-7dB semi-dense
• "Jesse Durko" Bamboo = 7dB with dense leaves and moderately open culm spacing
• Bordelon banana = 8-9dB dense cluster
• Caryota Mitis = 9-10dB dense cluster 15' tall with heavy trunks
• Bambusa Textilis "Gracilis" = 10-11dB with very dense culms and no leaves
• Plywood 2' wide 6' tall = 11dB

In terms of noise reduction Podocarpus is the worst choice out of anything I tried.  Maybe it's just because the leaves are very small cylinders, so noise just "flows" right around them.  A "sparse" section of Viburnum was only a little bit better.  Caryota Mitis, Bordelon bananas, and dense bamboo culms were getting close to as good as a solid sheet of plywood.  I need to try an actual fence sometime...    To interpret the data, just remember that every 3dB reduction is a halving of sound power.  So if a bare lattice wall is worth 4dB reduction, going to a dense clump of Durko bamboo at 7dB is 1/2 as loud...and a dense Mitis clump at 10dB is 1/4 as loud.

 

[Sandy Loam]

Clusia will be better for sandy soil with no irrigation, correct? I'm just Imagining the leaves falling off sweet vibrinum in those conditions, but I have no clue. You guys would know better than me, so I defer to you.