Living wall in the mediterranean

Hello! I come seeking advice for a living wall in the mediterranean.

The local government is expanding a road in my property. This was an agreement that my grandma made years ago, they expanded the road and gave us a pice of property in other part of town.

Anyway, the thing is that due to a regional law, the new fence can be only 40cm of cement and 1.6 m of barbwire.

So, for privacy, as they are getting closer, We would like to plant some green wall, taller than the fence (this, we can do it). I will cover the barbwire with whatever hurdle I can find. And want to plant something else

Common thing here is planting thuja or cypress (leylandii) , but being so close to the road I dont like it cause it is very flammable and summer here is very heavy metal and prone to fire.

I was thinking maybe in some clumping bamboo, investigate the most adapted to my climate. If it expands, I dont really care , cause I have nothing important there and if it invades the road, well f*** them .

I’d love something that could reach 4-5m without a high effort and give an image of “fortress” from the outside. Also I like it to be impressive because inside the property I have my project so having something visually impressive from the road can be an interesting introduction card.

What do you think? What do you recommend?

Can Cypress, or poplar trees grow there?

I like to use bamboo for a screen or privacy wall because it doesn’t need the same pruning and maintenance that thuja or leylands would require. But if you are looking to create a fortress, I am not sure bamboo is your best option. It tends to create a loose and more informal screen.
Pyracantha is a great privacy hedge though it looks best with yearly pruning. It can be sculpted easily and if you are trying to impress from the road side it should do that. Dark evergreen foliage with yearly clipping will give you the impressive fortress look you are after. Plus it grows quickly and feeds birds.
If bamboo is still floating in your mind, Fargesia rufa is a good clumping bamboo that should work well and grows to about 4 meters

I don't really have recommendations for species, but I would encourage you to think about planting several species there. Edible Acres has a lot of videos about growing their living wall and rather than stick with a single species, they have several planted all together to form a thick green wall. This has the benefit of staying healthy if one of the species gets wiped out, and allows different yields from the wall. Since it's so close to the road, you probably wouldn't want to eat anything from there though.

Poplar, but their shade is light.
Celtis australis (almez), Ceratonia siliqua (carob) but it grows more slowly,
Throw a few oaks, in between, so they will replace other fast growers in years to come.

Abraham Palma wrote:Poplar, but their shade is light.
Celtis australis (almez), Ceratonia siliqua (carob) but it grows more slowly,
Throw a few oaks, in between, so they will replace other fast growers in years to come.

Yes, I was thinking in throwing things in between, but dont know what to plant for the first stage. Poplar can be an option

Carolie Pick wrote:Can Cypress, or poplar trees grow there?

Yes, both can. I am afraid of cypress because they are not also flammable but also kind of fire attractors and summer here is heavy in fires, so being close to the road I am not sure

Jack Oostenbrink wrote:I like to use bamboo for a screen or privacy wall because it doesn’t need the same pruning and maintenance that thuja or leylands would require. But if you are looking to create a fortress, I am not sure bamboo is your best option. It tends to create a loose and more informal screen.
Pyracantha is a great privacy hedge though it looks best with yearly pruning. It can be sculpted easily and if you are trying to impress from the road side it should do that. Dark evergreen foliage with yearly clipping will give you the impressive fortress look you are after. Plus it grows quickly and feeds birds.
If bamboo is still floating in your mind, Fargesia rufa is a good clumping bamboo that should work well and grows to about 4 meters

Hola! Yes, now I am doubting, but something like the attached picture could be great. Pyracantha works great here, it can be an option!

What I didnt know is that bamboo is more flammable than I thought!

Malek Beitinjan wrote:I don't really have recommendations for species, but I would encourage you to think about planting several species there. Edible Acres has a lot of videos about growing their living wall and rather than stick with a single species, they have several planted all together to form a thick green wall. This has the benefit of staying healthy if one of the species gets wiped out, and allows different yields from the wall. Since it's so close to the road, you probably wouldn't want to eat anything from there though.

Hola Malek! Great, now I can’t think in other thing! I am going to learn more about Sean’s way

Two suggestions that may work:

Feijoa: evergreen, edible
Eleagnus x ebbingei: evergreen, edible, incredibly drought resistant, nitrogen fixing.

I have both planted on my land here in Barcelona, but they are only 1 year old, so I cannot say about growth speed. However, I have seen an Eleagnus x ebbingei in the area. They get massive and very lush.