What do I plant to get a tall edible hedge?

2 years ago, we got new neighbors who removed all plants on their side of our small fence. We understand why, since they were damaging their septic tank. Now we have a problem though.
We live in grow zone 10b in Southern California and have a desert climate. That side of the house, is where our rabbits live (livestock), and they can’t handle the heat during the hot season. We used to depend on the shade from the plants what was removed. Since then, we have tried hibiscus, but they can’t handle the sun either. During the hot season we frequently get 120F in the sun.
So, we need a thick tall hedge, that ideally grow fast, and can be eaten. So far the only thing I can think of is edible bamboo of the type that doesn’t spread. I know they exist but don’t know the names.
Does anyone have any suggestions for other plants/bushes/trees we can plant?
I have added some pictures of the area. As you can see, the hibiscus isn’t doing very well. They hate the cold season and they hate the hot season. I have other hibiscus types planted underneath shade cloth with cold weather protection, that grow really well, but it won’t work here, since it’s where we need plants to create shade.
Right now we have the rabbits in a tent, but it’s not ideal.

Until you can get a plant or plants established you may want to look into shade cloth.   Yes you would need some sort of structure to hold it up but it could work well for this situation.  There are different levels of shading so so some research before buying.

Dorothy Pohorelow wrote:Until you can get a plant or plants established you may want to look into shade cloth.   Yes you would need some sort of structure to hold it up but it could work well for this situation.  There are different levels of shading so so some research before buying.

That’s what we are doing now, with the tent you can see in the pictures. We also give them bottles with frozen water, that they lay on or cuddle with to cool down.
Right now we are considering planting Bambusa textilis ‘Gracilis’. It’s a clumping fast growing bamboo with edible sprouts.
We have decided to do 60’, so that the two bedrooms, on that side of the house, hopefully can get cooler too. This bamboo can also be used for basket weaving, so it has multiple uses.

Might be worth trying mulberry - grows quickly from cuttings, planted closely together.  Will need supervision to ensure it takes hedge form, but it will fruit, for which there may be competition from the birds.
Ours survives as a tree - no water once established, except from the sky, and summer temps regularly over 100°F

Ulla Bisgaard wrote:2 years ago, we got new neighbors who removed all plants on their side of our small fence. We understand why, since they were damaging their septic tank. Now we have a problem though.
We live in grow zone 10b in Southern California and have a desert climate. That side of the house, is where our rabbits live (livestock), and they can’t handle the heat during the hot season. We used to depend on the shade from the plants what was removed. Since then, we have tried hibiscus, but they can’t handle the sun either. During the hot season we frequently get 120F in the sun.
So, we need a thick tall hedge, that ideally grow fast, and can be eaten. So far the only thing I can think of is edible bamboo of the type that doesn’t spread. I know they exist but don’t know the names.
Does anyone have any suggestions for other plants/bushes/trees we can plant?
I have added some pictures of the area. As you can see, the hibiscus isn’t doing very well. They hate the cold season and they hate the hot season. I have other hibiscus types planted underneath shade cloth with cold weather protection, that grow really well, but it won’t work here, since it’s where we need plants to create shade.
Right now we have the rabbits in a tent, but it’s not ideal.

You could try planting Moringa or a drought-tolerant bamboo like Bambusa oldhamii—both grow fast, are heat-tolerant, provide effective shade, and the Moringa leaves can even be fed to rabbits!

Paul Jacob wrote:
You could try planting Moringa or a drought-tolerant bamboo like Bambusa oldhamii—both grow fast, are heat-tolerant, provide effective shade, and the Moringa leaves can even be fed to rabbits!

I tried moringa a few years ago, and it doesn’t survive the cold season, so that won’t work. I am looking into bamboo though, the type that doesn’t spread, and provide edible sprouts. I am specifically looking into Bambusa textilis ‘Gracilis’. So far the plants are very expensive at 89$ each, since they only sell 5 and 15 gallon pots. It would cost us around 1500$, which is a lot.
I will keep looking to see if I can find it cheaper somewhere.

Ulla,

I always have a similar dilemma of producing quick and edible shading plant. My two choices are:
Sambucus Cerulea. It's native to California, it's riparian so it needs watering, but it grows extremely fast. I planted few cuttings in irrigated area in February 2024 and before I started irrigating in late May it launched from 40 cm to over 2 meters. Now it's above 3 m tall.
The second recommendation would be a fig, but not all will grow tall or fast. From all 40 figs I have Atreano grows the best. It likes hot dry summer, it's even successful in southern Arizona. It can grow 50 cm per year or so and quickly spreads. It produces a lot of delicious figs that are green/yellow when ripe, so birds leave them alone.

Yes, non spreading bamboos do tend to be a bit expensive...On my wish list too!

I had a look on the pfaf data base and it came up with the following:
Atriplex nummularia (Giant Saltbush, Bluegreen saltbush)
Bixa orellana Annatto (Lipstick Plant, Urucum, Colorau, Achiote )
Drimys lanceolata (Mountain Pepper)
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (Chinese Hibiscus, Shoeblackplant, Hawaiian Hibiscus, Tropical Hibiscus, China Rose, Rose-of-China, ) - they say that can't grow in the shade !
Leptospermum scoparium (Tea Tree, Broom teatree, Manuka, New Zealand Tea Tree)
Muehlenbeckia complexa (Maidenhair Vine)
Murraya koenigii (Curry tree, Curry leaf tree)
Myrtus communis (Myrtle, Foxtail Myrtle)
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary)
Smilax aspera (Sarsaparilla, Rough bindweed)

I didn't filter by quick growing...some are more condiment/herb than bulk edible. A couple of these seem to be climbers, I did ask for hedging plants. Had you considered an arbour with a vigorous climber? - that might give more options.

I think mulberry is a great option. The rabbits love it, you can prune the heck out of it quite low to make it bush out, it tolerates cold and heat quite well, and it attracts bird life (to help eat your bugs). I agree with you about moringa, I haven't had a lot of success with it.
I think fig also sounds like a great idea, although maybe fig plus some sort of vine that crawls along a trellis or something to provide shade. In your zone you could do passionfruit.
Another great rabbit forage plant that is slow to start but makes a nice big tree is pigeon pea. It will drop leaves at frost, but the plant stays on. You can prune the heck out of it and my rabbits love it, plus the green pods are a great pea/edamame equivalent. The dry beans are also edible (if strong tasting, like a black-eyed pea).