Plants to create Privacy Hedges in Oregon

If you are a homeowner looking to create a visual barrier between your home and your neighbors' home or the street, you may be researching the "best privacy plants in Oregon."

As a Realtor in Portland, I often see homes that could be so much more attractive without the chain link fence or without the view of the neighbors' autobody shop in plain sight out the side window. These scenarios are ideal for hedge plants to create a privacy hedge in Oregon... or atleast the Pacific Northwest.

🪴 As yourself a few questions:

1. Do I want it to be evergreen so I cannot see through it year-round? Seriously consider what your yard will look like all year, not just in the Spring, Summer and Fall.

2. How many feet do I need to cover? This measurement will help decide how many plants you need to buy and also how tall you want them. Let's discuss SPACING: Avoid planting your new plants so close that you will have a solid hedge in one season. Why? Because as the plants mature, they will be too close together and can suffer as a result. Leave a minimum of two feet between plants. A good rule of thumb is, if the plant grows 1 foot per year, plant them four feet apart. However, before you make your final decision on which plants to choose, keep in mind that the faster something grows, the more you'll have to tend to it with pruning, watering and fertilizing. If you pick something that grows a bit slower, it can be a better long-term choice because the maintenance is far less. Your future self will thank you.

✨ If you love inspiration for your backyard and home, you might like the Home Space and Reason Podcast. ⬅️ This link is to the blog post with the episodes listed. ✨ Episode 26 is "Creating great Outdoor Spaces" followed by Episode 27 "Attracting Hummingbirds, Butterflies & Birds" followed by Episode 28 "Fencing, Hedges & Privacy Screens." Binge listen to the series and feel inspired.

An Arborvitae Hedge

3. Seven Plants to consider... (and one bonus idea if you scroll down)

• Arborvitae is one of the most common hedges you see around Oregon because of its low-maintenance quality. It is pictured above. It's also very tolerant of clay soil.

• Wax Leaf Privet is one of my favorites because it has a moderate growth rate only requiring pruning once a year and it attracts butterflies with it's large, 8-inch-long clusters of pure-white flowers in spring.

• 

  The Mexican Orange is a fast grower and can grow up to six feet or more.

• The Mexican Orange has light green evergreen leaves that seem tropical to me

  with white scented flowers. They grow to six feet tall and can be a nice choice for a shady area. They are planted along the entry of the Oregon City library and are so fragrant and stunning in late April!

• The Taxus: Yew is a lovely specimen that I recently purchased myself with chunky and soft green needles that form a dense screen. Because some grow upright and others low and wide, head to one of our many local nurseries to choose one that is growing in the manner you desire for your property. They take to pruning very well and can handle both sun or shade. With moderate growth, you'll only have to prune it once per year if at all.

• English Laurel is actually on the cities' list of nuisance plants because of the high maintenance required to keep this fast-growing shrub in control. You'll need to prune it two to three times a year. It is tolerant of alkaline soils, dry and poor soils, pollution, and heavy pruning. It has a rapid growth rate with competitive roots. This plant in hedge form is pictured below.

• The Wild Lilac has blue flowers and small evergreen leaves. When we first moved in, the landscapers put a tiny one next to the road along our back alley. Five years later, it's over 8 feet tall! I can attest that it is drought-tolerant and fast-growing. Its flowers attract bees so keeping it at a distance from tiny children can be a good plan. We put a bee house close to ours to encourage all the goodness!

• The Caucasian Boxwood can be sculpted into elegant and formal landscapes, but it smells like cat urine. A photo of the boxwood is at the bottom of this post. Boxwood varieties come in a range of shapes including rounded, upright, pyramidal or spreading, with sizes ranging from 1-20 feet tall and 2-8 feet wide, depending on the variety.

Cherry Laurel also known as English Laurel or Prunus laurocerasus

What I would encourage you against is Golden euonymus. It is a popular evergreen shrub valued for its vibrant, golden-edged leaves however they are messy as hell.

I wrote a whole post about this beast complete with photos.

What’s truly delightful (and slightly ironic) about writing this article is that I actually have every single one of these plants in my own yard—except the Arborvitae and the English Laurel. I live in one of those neighborhoods where the houses are so close you could borrow a cup of sugar without opening your front door. I didn't want to build a bigger/taller fence because who wants to live in a box? Not me. So planting some greenery around the house was a must—because while I love my neighbors, I don't need to see them brushing their teeth. And when you're torn between plant options, native Oregon varieties are like the low-maintenance best friend of the landscaping world—they show up, thrive with minimal drama, and won’t demand fancy watering schedules.

I created a hedge a bit differently at my own home. I grew jasmine up the fence by weaving it through a screen that I attached. Once it was at the top, I attached an extender (originally created to keep cats and dogs in a yard, but it served my purposes great for this other use!) You will see the edge of the extender in the bottom photo. It extended my six-foot fence upward another three feet and gave the jasmine something more to grab onto. I also planted a vine maple in front of it to add interest and more height.

Where I started and the structure we added to support the jasmine.

This is what it looks like, approximately 7 years later, along with a hammock cabana before Spring cleanup.

The jasmine fenceline on the left has more than ten feet of privacy and a wall of blooms in late June.

Next, let's talk about WHEN to PLANT: The best time to plant is in the spring for evergreens but wait for fall to plant deciduous plants. A good long term hedge will take 2 - 3 years to become solid before you get a fence-like feel that you may be wanting to achieve but that's ok! Always think long term. Quick gratification always bites you in the behind. Bamboo will be the same if they are planted every five feet. Plant in the coolest part of the day -typically early morning or early evening.

Soil: It's a good idea to make sure you have 1/3 compost to 2/3 soil and (per the directions you always see on the tag) dig your holes twice as wide as the container and a little deeper.

Caucasian Boxwood or Buxus sempervirens pictured in winter.

Maintenance: Now that you have decided what to buy and you've gotten it planted, it would be a shame for all that to go to waste, so make sure you water it slowly for an hour once a week. This is most important during the first couple of years while the plants establish their roots. Fertilizing in the Spring and Fall can help your hedge become solid more quickly.

🪴You may want to refer to The Portland Plant List comprised of two lists and supporting information: the Native Plants List and the Nuisance Plants List. Both plant lists are integral to the City of Portland’s natural resource protection program and invasive species management strategy. You can find the Tree and Landscaping manual for Portland here.

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🪴 If you enjoyed this, you might also like my weekly (intentionally short) newsletter called "Little Bits of Home Functionality." You’ll see a video with a tip, or a trick and as always, I pose questions for you to think through about your space and your reasons. {Subscribe HERE.}

⚫️ 🎧 I also have a podcast called Home Space and Reason. 👉🏻  Explore an intellectual, uplifting podcast about home functionality, design and automation with a bit of history & psychology; it's kid-friendly and all-positive. I recommend staring at Ep. 1 / available anywhere you listen and for a whole list of episodes, visit this blog post to read more!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Kristina Browning is a five-star rated real estate agent in Oregon City, also serving Portland and West Linn. If you are online searching for a realtor, reference my reviews on Google and then Call, Text or email her to share your timeline and goals.