eMail coming in with hedge questions would amaze you with the volume

The main questions are about ficus hedges and "WHAT NOW COACH" pleadings as the ficus hedge gets out of control, or loses leaves down low or starts breaking up walkways and driveways

Folks who have not yet planted ficus are interested in alternative plants

What everyone seems to neglect is maintenance.  No matter what hedge plant you select, you must prune for shape and prune for height.  This pruning will never stop, especially in warmer zone 9 and zone 10 climates where hedges start looking unkempt after just 6 weeks or so (after the last pruning)

Most folks in Florida hire hedge cutters (usually their lawn maintenance crew) to handle the pruning

Here's the point >>> it would not be unusual for a homeowner to spend $1,000, $2,000, even $3,500 a year to prune that hedge (and feed it, and water it)

10 years = $10,000 or $20,000 or $35,000

With those kinds of maintenance dollar numbers on the table, a fence makes more and more sense

A "best of both worlds" idea would be a sturdy and tall chain link fence where you plant vines to grow on the fence

The advantages are many…

1.  No pruning or just once-a-year pruning (saves a bundle of cash)

2.  You select a vine whose blooms you enjoy so you get color

3.  You can have low plants at the bottom of your fence and have the vines covering the rest so you get excellent privacy, foliage and color

4.  You could have more than one kind of vine, so if you have a long fence, you could have sections of different colors

5.  You are a good neighbor (whereas hedges encroach on your neighbors' property)

6.  When you sell your home, buyers like fences

7.  Hedges keep getting wider and wider over time.  This way, you have a thin line and no branches crowding you out of walking beside your home or by your pool

8.  If you change your mind with a hedge, it's expensive and semi-destructive to remove

9.  Hedges really don't produce blooms/flowers/color because with every pruning you are cutting off branch tips from which flowers would form, hence, plants like hibiscus sound great (for flowers) but in practice, you get almost no flowering

10.  Fences are real barriers, e.g. kids, dogs, iguanas are kept where you want them to be

11.  Vines are planted typically at 6-10 foot intervals so you pay way less for plant material and vines grow WAY WAY faster than hedge plants so you get privacy coverage the first year

12.  Replacing the vines is cheap too if you decide to redecorate outdoors

Cya