What fast growing tree or shrub could I plant here? Photo attached....

[NigellasGuest]

I will be removing the snowdrops that have finished there and want to replace with something for screening as we are overlooked!

It's a sort of permanent container, troughshaped, and gets plenty of afternoon sun.
I would like something to grow to around 10 foot high. Can anyone advise what plant would be able to do this whilst obviously having its roots restrained a bit ?

Thank you for any ideas!

The trouble with growing something big in a small container is nutrients and water - you're going to need to feed and water a lot in the summer!

What about bamboo? You'll need to choose your variety carefully, particularly if the bottom of that container is not enclosed as the roots can punch through and then grow all over the place, giving you a right headache pulling them all out. Some of them have beautiful coloured canes that really shine in the sun: check out phyllostachys nigra and aurea for instance.

Yes, I second the black bamboo!

But buying a large one will be expensive, and a small one will take a few years to grow to any size.

Do you mainly want to screen the fence? Ornamental grasses might grow quicker, and there are many sorts to choose from. Look on a dedicated Grasses enthusiasts site for ideas. We have miscanthus zebrinius Zebra grass:

www.tropicalbritain.co.uk/miscanthus-sinensis-zebrinus.html

I'm tempted by bamboo although we had some at our old house at it seemed to attract the wasps - that does put me off a bit.

Ferguson no I don't particularly want to screen the fence - I need something to grow to about 8 foot or higher, to block out the neighbours' view of our back garden!

Is there any way you could just cut a hole in the paving or remove one slab, for a tree?

Tall plants and containers are very limited co-criteria.

oh looks like there is a drain there too - so not possible really as roots will interfere.

How about getting a sun shade thing, like a sail, across the top of the fence? Or some other man made device - an arbour with stuff growing on it, a tall trellis thing etc.

Ok here's another pic to hopefully show the problem. The container in talking about (in the OP photo) is visible at the bottom left of this photo. Ideally I would love something to the left of the ribes and high enough to screen out those windows! I don't think a sunshade or trellis would be stable enough at that height......
Leylandiai perhaps? If the roots are contained that would stop it going totally mad possibly? Or would the roots just push through the container ?
NB The container is very very sturdy concrete and must have been put in ages ago.

Honey suckle or winter jasmin? An ornamental grass or something like forsythia. Dwarf magnolia they grow in pots. Or a climber with some support making it a feature.
My neighbours have a sort of miniature tree in a large pot that's pretty they use as a screen I think it's a tamerisk? Might be wrong.
I have similar issue my kitchen higher than neighbours so I look straight in. I've grown a vine along side access I get grapes but it sticks in winter.

would potted honeysuckle/winter jasmine/ornamental grasses grow to 10 foot high? I will google...

Please don't put in a leylandii! It's too close to your house, and they are incredibly high maintenance if you don't want them to grow ridiculously high. Also, a dense conifer will block out so much of your light and that of your neighbours, making your house interior seem so dark. Plus, they are terrible for creating unnecessary rows.

What about building a larger, simple structure - a kind of pergola thing - and growing climbers up and across it? It won't screen everything, but it would give you more of a subjective sense of enclosure and privacy.

A rampant climber will also grow high enough in time - maybe not a winter jasmine or a honeysuckle, though, but something more vigorous and bushy. Beware of the real thugs, though!

Looking at it from the angle you must have been at taking the photo, would there be any point in putting a tree closer to where you are standing - that would mean you couldn't see the windows from there, but they would still be able to see the area where the container is iyswim.

Depends how large the garden is and how much privacy a tree just in front of the camera would afford you.

I mean, roughly in front of the hutch (if it is a hutch!) something like a small cherry tree or pear or something would do it.

An ornamental cherry could work well - you can get some varieties that are quite vertical, giving a screen without spread - check out prunus amanogawa. I've seen them planted in groups of three, which look stunning.

Hmm. Would buddleia work? Not sure about the roots thing. Bamboo - we have it and - argh! Will never be rid of it.

I was almost decided on an ornamental cherry but today i was wandering around the garden centre and happened upon some bamboos which are already like 15 foot high. I'm going back in the week and will see if I can fit one in my small car.

But I am really taken with the prunus amanogawa for elsewhere in the garden so thank you for the suggestion.

NoPsips - that was a really good point and I hastened outside to see whether something could be planted in front of the camera - but actually there is a pond there! BTW that's not a hutch it's a "garden chest"