Native plants for hedges and screens
A row of one non-native shrub is the standard privacy screen and a dead zone. These native shrubs and small trees do the same job — block a view, break wind, mark a boundary — while feeding birds and insects. A mixed hedge of several species screens just as well, looks better through the seasons, and won't be wiped out all at once by a single pest.
Bedfellow lists 374 of these.
The 30 most-observed are listed here — see all 374 in search.
- Creosote Bush (Larrea tridentata)
- Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis)
- Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)
- Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia)
- American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana)
- Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)
- Northern Spicebush (Lindera benzoin)
- American Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis)
- Pawpaw (Asimina triloba)
- American Holly (Ilex opaca)
- Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia)
- Coyote Brush (Baccharis pilularis)
- Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens)
- Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina)
- Winged Sumac (Rhus copallinum)
- Brittlebush (Encelia farinosa)
- Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus)
- American Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana)
- Mapleleaf Viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium)
- Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana)
- Red Elderberry (Sambucus racemosa)
- California Sagebrush (Artemisia californica)
- California Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus cylindraceus)
- Yaupon Holly (Ilex vomitoria)
- Honey Mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa)
- Smooth Sumac (Rhus glabra)
- California Buckeye (Aesculus californica)
- Blue Elderberry (Sambucus cerulea)
- Fishhook Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus wislizeni)
- Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis)