Replacing oleander

[Anonymous]

We would like to replace 160 feet of oleander planted on the outside of a 6 foot block wall at the top of a bank with native plants that will grow quickly to 6 feet but preferably not to more than 10 feet. The area is exposed to oleander blight, which killed the shrubs. Is there anything that fits these requirements.. and if so where can we get it?</p>

[Anonymous]

We also replaced some oleander here in Sherman Oaks, though only a small hedge of it. We put in a variety of shrubs that are all about 4-5 feet after just 3 years: Coffeeberry I believe the 'Eve Case' is more compact, about 6 ft, Mahonia pinnata, Holly-leaf Cherry, and Malachothamnus 'Edgewood' is a little less spreading than the species. This is sort of our 'bird' hedge, as most of these have flowers in spring and berries in the fall.

You might also try Salvias - the Cleveland's Sage get to about 5 ft in a couple of years, though you might need to prune it to keep it tidy. Lovely blue flowers that hummers like.

All of these - and more - should be available from the Theodore Payne Foundation in Sun Valley: http://www.theodorepayne.org/

You might also want to take a trip to Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Claremont to see the average sizes of some of these plants. The cultivar garden has some lovely Ceanothus and Salvias though I guess everything could be pruned to keep it to 6 ft or so.

Trish