Another screening question

[HoosierHunter07]

I need to screen this trail that runs the bank along my lake. It's one of my main access trails. I was originally thinking of sticking silky willow stakes in as close to the water as I could. My only concern is when they get bigger, I'll probably have to cut them back to prevent overgrowing the trail. My only other thought would be miscanthus, but there isn't room for 2 rows. Would just one row eventually grow into a screen? Open to any suggestions.

Thanks

 

[BenA]

Black Willow grows just about everywhere and is extremely easy to propagate. They grow everywhere and are easy to find. You can cut some limbs off a tree and stab them into the bank. Put a bunch in. Coppice them later to keep them in a shrubby form.

 

[jsasker007]

Can you put in a nice thick screen and move your trail slightly? Gonna be hard to find something that will be thick enough for a good screen if it's only a single row other than some spruce in my opinion.

 

[Brian662]

I don’t think youll be happy with miscanthus in that shaded area. Some form of hybrid willow would be my most likely option.

 

[HoosierHunter07]

I don’t think youll be happy with miscanthus in that shaded area. Some form of hybrid willow would be my most likely option.

I kinda thought about that. But the house in the picture is directly south, so I thought it would still get decent sun. I'm probably leaning towards silky willows. I'll probably try to work the trail back a little bit and just keep the willows trimmed before season opens.

 

[HoosierHunter07]

Black Willow grows just about everywhere and is extremely easy to propagate. They grow everywhere and are easy to find. You can cut some limbs off a tree and stab them into the bank. Put a bunch in. Coppice them later to keep them in a shrubby form.

Why do you recommend black willow over silky? Just curious. Is it because you can find them? From what I read online it sounds like more of a tree and the silky is more of a shrub?

 

[Brian662]

I kinda thought about that. But the house in the picture is directly south, so I thought it would still get decent sun. I'm probably leaning towards silky willows. I'll probably try to work the trail back a little bit and just keep the willows trimmed before season opens.

Thats fine but the growth in the surrounding area doesn't scream "full sun" so you'll have to do some work if you want it to be thick, no matter what you do.

 

[BenA]

Why do you recommend black willow over silky? Just curious. Is it because you can find them? From what I read online it sounds like more of a tree and the silky is more of a shrub?

Yes, it's because they're free and native. They are very beneficial to a ton of wildlife. They're a host plant to almost 300 species of native butterfly and moth larvae. They're also good for erosion control. If you cut them back, they stay shrubby.

 

[HoosierHunter07]

Yes, it's because they're free and native. They are very beneficial to a ton of wildlife. They're a host plant to almost 300 species of native butterfly and moth larvae. They're also good for erosion control. If you cut them back, they stay shrubby.

Gotcha. Thank you for the info. Ill try to find some. I'm just pretty terrible at identifying plants and trees. But I've got a couple places in mind to look.