The county road runs along one side of my parcel. We have fenced right up to the property line. There is a sloped weedy waste zone a couple feet wide that rises up to the gravel road bed. Even though I have asked, I despair of the worker bees from the county actually remembering not to put down the weed spray when they do the right of way spraying. I'd rather plant something tough there as a sacrifice plant, and maybe to buffer noise and dust. Something green might help spark their memory. It will be an extreme challenge to get water along that fence for establishing the plants. There won't be much road runoff either. So arid zone 5-6, herbicide tolerant, low maintenance, shrub height or so (there are power lines right above). Food for winter birds and ornamental would be super huge bonuses.
Does any miracle plant spring to mind that can survive in these conditions?
Around here we put nice little signs marking each side with please do not mow/spray. Some even have like flowers or butterflies painted on them with have a nice day
How about some Caragana? Not sure how they hold up to herbicides though. That will be the toughest part. My local sprayers kill every tree and shrub that comes up through their precious grass!
I know of 2 great ones for our similar climates. One is thorny Utah Seviceberry and slower growing and one is not thorny and very fast growing Utah Honeysuckle. Both produce berries prolifically that are great feed for the birds; for humans, Serviceberry is useful for jams, etc., but I have destroyed syrup and jam mixes with the addition of Honeysuckle, it's that bad!
My own "hedge against humanity" on our rural downtown street is a mix of Honeysuckle, Choke Cherry, Sumacs, Oregon Grape, wild and domestic Roses and Honey Locust.
Oh Bill, those two sound perfect. Especially anything I can give the birds to distract them from apples. Thorns wouldn't be bad on the fence I am most worried about people climbing either!
Post by:autobot
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