Homestead mailing list

["Gloria Morris" <gloriamorris59 AT gmail.com>]

I cannot give you info on Texas natives. But Alabama Crimson honeysuckle is
a beautiful vine, native to ... Alabama! :) I have grown Alabama Crimson in
Illinois (it has a wide range of adaptability). It hangs onto its leaves all
winter most winters, even this far north. It has beautiful red flowers, and
blooms all summer, attracting hummingbirds. It is not invasive.

I'm sure there are other plants you could grow, unless you are determined to
have nothing but natives to your 100 mile radius.

Good luck!

Gloria



On 9/12/07, eureka AT hctc.net <eureka AT hctc.net> wrote:
>
> I am putting out a call for ideas for an affordable,
> good-looking (maybe even artful), and relatively quick
> solution to creating 800 linear feet of privacy. Here's
> the parameters: Existing 8' exotic game fence (welded wire
> shaped like V's) attached to substanial vertical pipe on
> the property line (I think that means it is co-owned in
> Texas), soil that is 70% rocks, access to some river rocks
> the size of a fist, native trees here are slow-growing,
> and native vines are not evergreen, very little project
> funds. Our original goal was to keep this part of our
> property very natural, we mow a trail, have a small fire
> pit, watch stars.
>
> Recently the 5,000 acre ranch that surrounds two sides of
> our land was sold to a developer who is chopping it up
> into small parcels. We were not aware of this until our
> only neighbors announced they had bought one that
> surrounded us.
>
> At first I was depressed, mostly from the loss of
> possibilty to ever expand our small homestead. Even if we
> had known, we don't have the money to purchase it
> ourselves right now. We have a great relationship with our
> neighbors (a builder who thinks outside the box) so I
> focused on being happy for them and their dream. I told
> myself it could be worse, it could be someone we wouldn't
> like. I told myself our dreams could coexist--until the
> trees started coming down and all the shrubs were ripped
> out right up to our back fenceline.
>
> I held my lip. This is a man that once told me he didn't
> think one should cut a tree down unless it was absolutely
> necessary. We started thinking about putting in a small
> orchard to restore some privacy, in effect, we'd make
> lemonade if life gave us lemons. Tonight on our walk we
> were devastated by the sight of all the shrubs and trees
> ripped out on our one remaining virgin side, a small
> sliver of land no wider than 10-12 feet between us and a
> deep wash.
>
> So I called and asked why. Why had he ruined 800 feet of
> our privacy? He was just trying to "clean it up" so he
> could see through it, there were certain tree species he
> didn't consider trees (ie. anything that wasn't an oak),
> and he was just trying to help out the majestic oaks by
> pruning them up (stack of huge limbs now larger than our
> house). It had not occured to him that in his effort to
> make nature conform to his ideal he had ruined ours. He
> appologized. But it's done.
>
> Our first rash thought was to put our place up for sale,
> but of course even with the surrounding desecration it's a
> beautiful place in which we've invested six years of
> homesteading infrastructure. My husband and I realized
> tonight how much our feeling about this place was rooted
> in the privacy we had. Now we are *really* depressed.
>
> Some ideas I've had include:
>
> Strawbale wall (could give it a feeling of being inside
> the Alamo) but would require a setback from the wire fence
> in order to work, thus diminishing our property space.
> Cristo! Buy old/cheap sheets, dye them in earthtones, and
> sew them into one humongus running quilt, patch as needed
> (at this point, we really don't care what the neighbors
> think). Could possibly enlist some other local quilters,
> downside is at best it could only be temporary.
> Wire sticks and driftwood, rusted tools, etc. all over the
> fence. Maybe the fence could not support this.
>
> Give me your ideas!!!
>
> --Sage
> Way out in Texas
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Homestead list and subscription:
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/homestead
> Change your homestead list member options:
>
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/options/homestead/gloriamorris59%40gmail.com
> View the archives at:
> https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/homestead
>
>
>