Ultimate Guide to Drought-Tolerant Hedging

Creating a comforting level of privacy is always one of the first priorities as a landscape designer. A yard should feel welcoming without being overly exposed. And living forms like hedges can create interesting visual breaks that treat the eye and draw you in. Hedges do important jobs. Like partially enclosing porches, framing scenery and creating safety for those living within.  

There's a lot of other options out there beside Boxwood, Cherry Laurel and Podocarpus! Great plants that take to pruning, have lower water needs to get established and fill-in better over time. But getting great and fast hedging without water guzzling isn't always easy. Sometimes low-water and California native hedge options take a littler more patience or flexibility than the average plant. But the pay-offs are worth it. 

Read on to check out some of the best drought-tolerant California hedging alternatives. From low to mid-height species to native and functional ones. We've included notes on where they grow best and what makes them desirable. 

Medium & Low Height Hedging

If you're going for that boxwood look but don't want to bust your buns trimming every 2 months there's more and more low-water plant options out there. With a little bit of planning you can create classic looks, without classic watering and maintenance schedules. 

	'Boxwood Beauty' Natal Plum	best in hot inland & temperate coastal climates. Thorns.
	Westringia 'Grey Box' & 'Morning Light'	easy fragrant Australian plant that takes sun or shade & shapes well.
	Dwarf Olive 'montra' or 'little ollie'	train as mound or hedge with 4-5' spacing. Easy, slow-growing
	Santolina	fragrant, low-water & flexible, up to 2-3' in size, small button-like yellow flowers in spring
	Barberry	requires extra water in hot inland climes, best for cool temperate or shade. Thorns. Edible berries.
	Rosemary + Lantana	rosemary quickly grows to 3-5' in most climes with good drainage. Lantana easily grows to 4' high in SoCal. 2' in NorCal

Grass Type Hedge Looks

Tall growing grass-like plants can make awesome breaks and privacy screens in the landscape. A lot of these plants are flexible to sun or shade so you can keep a consistent look throughout your row. 

True ornamental grasses like Miscanthus, Deer Grass and Switchgrass offer swaying foliage that adds movement and soft rustlings that soothe the senses. True grasses do have some drawbacks though, with significant seasonal growth fluctuations and full scalping cutbacks required in winter. There's a few exceptions to the hard prune rule, like 'Canyon Prince' Blue Rye Grass but it's stiffer year-round blade also means it doesn't have the same soft feel.  

Grass-like plants include certain large succulents with blades similar to Grass. These include plants like Lomandra, New Zealand Flax, Hesperaloe and Desert Spoon cactus. These drought-friendly plants offer much of the looks of ornamental grass without the seasonal maintenance. And because they're succulents, they also come with even lower water needs. But they don't have the same movement. 

Grass-look hedging, whether it's a row of stately light-catching Lomandra (shown above), Desert Spoon, or Phormium has a lot of modern appeal. Lomandra even has edible properties. Instead of the tight or rounded ball form of classic hedge rows, this option gives a look that feels more explosive and captures more movement within the landscape. These plants are also often more adapted to growing in close quarters to one another. Naturally growing in dense semi-monoculture clumps in the wild.  

Colorful Full-Height Hedging

Here's some of the best California plants for privacy-height hedging that packs a color punch. Certain soils and climates will favor better coloration than others. With sandy or fast-draining soils being especially preferred by all of these drought tolerant beauties. If you've got compacted soil or a lot of shade you can also look at something like the thirstier purple solanum. 

	Leucodendron	Does best in coastal temperate & NorCal climes
	Purple Hopseed	Does best in coastal temperate & NorCal climes. A bit lackluster inland.
	Grevillea 'Long John' or 'Moonlight'	does best in hot inland & SoCal climes. Very fast-growing. Needs good drainage & chelated iron 3x year.
	Tea Tree 'Ruby Glow'	incredible in coastal climes with decent performance in other regions. Part shade tolerant in SoCal.

If you're a lazy gardener, hedge plants are a great place to start if you space them right. Instead of pruning all the time you can space them extra and let them get fat and round. Many full-size low-water hedge plants blob out beautifully if they have the room. You'll still want to give them occasional manicures so they have some form. But by alternating colors and textures in a few generously spaced rows of hedge-friendly plants your fill-up a whole yard quickly.

Like this Los Angeles yard in the image below which uses some full-size Westringia hedging at the back, Fiesta lantana in the middle and beautifully ball forming Rosemary 'boule' in the foreground. Their super low-maintenance Firestick euphorbia in pots at the back help to draw the eye in with brilliant color. And are matched with small succulents in pots in the fore. 4 rows of 5-10 of each of these plants and you've got yourself one beautiful shapely garden. 

California Native Hedge Plants - Full Height

California native hedge plants come with A LOT of benefits...and an occasional drawback. Like the fact that the full height species are typically slower growing to start. Plus many of them can be hard to find in those 4' high starting sizes that help give you a hedge feel instantly. But they are MUCH longer lasting in the landscape than conventional hedge plants if taken care of right. And they have way healthier growth. They offer the added feel-good benefits of repairing native habitats along the way.

Here's a few full height California native hedge plants for you to consider: 

	Manzanita	select species hedge outstanding in coastal and Northern climes; especially in SF area. slow growing.
	Toyon - Heteromeles arbutifolia	slow-to-start evergreen to 15'+ high, easy pruner, festive winter berries are good for birds, part-shade friendly, suitable for hot inland / coastal, etc.
	Coffee Berry - Rhamnus californica	slow-growing evergreen bush to 6-8' tall. Soil-improving. Shade happy. Dark lustrous leaves and winter berries.
	Pacific Wax Myrtle	soil-improving, glossy coastal native, good for temperate climes. Generally struggles in hot inland.
	Ceanothus	wider than traditional hedging and not always prune-able but pretty, fast-growing (in fast-draining soil only), nearly xeric and always evergreen.
	Catalina Cherry	Preforms better in Norcal despite the name. Leathery holly-type leaf.
	Jojoba or Quail Bush	great desert plants. soil-improving silver leaves and edible qualities
	Sugar Bush or Lemonade Berry	Best for hot inland and SoCal climes. Takes off np roadside but can struggle in cultivation. Ensure drainage is exceptional & soil fertility low.

Plus there's one more deserving native mid-height hedge plant that's a FABULOUS option for a fast and classic look: Artemisia californica. In hot inland and coastal climates it takes off so fast it'll be 4' tall and wide in less than a year. Sure - just like ornamental grasses - it needs a hard scalping cutback in it's off season but its soft foliage is SO elegant and smells so good and is such a cornerstone of wild native habitats it deserves a big ol' place in your gardening heart.  Sheer a bit off the top in early summer to clean up the look and enjoy the way this soft-focused beauty captures the light. 

Quick California Native Front Yard Lawn Replacement Hack - Easy Hedge

If you've got a big old patch of dead dirt out there and want it covered fast, plant a row of California sagebrush (Artemisia californica) spaced halfway back from the road and 3-4' apart. Then add a row of Santa Barbara daisies in front of the sagebrush spaced 2' apart. Those buggers will take off faster and look softer and smoother than anything you'll be picking up at the nursery this weekend.

Over time can add more small wildflowers in front like poppies or silver carpet lessengia. Or use some ceanothus or rosemary groundcover - just be sure to put a bunch of gravel in the bottom of your planting holes if your soils at all hard and compacted.  

Yes, you will need to cutback California sagebrush hard in fall or winter to renew it's growth but than you can show off whatever slower growing plants you decide to showcase behind it. Like a Bentgrass seeded a native lawn (agrostis pallens seed) or a mix of wildflowers or a few accent trees. 

Hedges with Benefits

Functional Tall Hedge Plants for Southern California & Northern California

If you're planting a hundred of the same plant you might as well choose something usable. Or a plant that at least has a function or significant benefit for the environment! These full-height plants are great for screening walls, enhancing privacy or just breaking up the yard for a more interesting architectural layout.  

	Slim Bottlebrush -Callistemon vim. slim	medicinal properties, pollinator supporting, extremely adaptable and low-water. Ideal for hot inland climes & coastal
	Fairy Duster - Calliandra	soil-improving, needs regular pruning (great mulch for the garden!). Ideal for hot or tropical leaning climes. Native varieties available.
	Pineapple Guava / Feijoa	beautiful olive tones on  leaf underside, edible fruits and flowers. Slow-growing to start, gets to 10'+ plus in height. Loves a prune.
	Italian Buckthorn	Soil-improving, super fast growing, takes sun or shade. Best for hot climes. Thorny. Red berries in winter.
	Knifeleaf or Willow Acacia	soil-improving, interesting architectural leaf shapes (knifeleaf not very sharp despite name) hot inland climes
	Bay Laurel - Laurus nobilis	classic, culinary, slow-growing, adaptable (shade, drought-tolerant, etc.). Loves trims.

For my deep forest gardener's and those in cooler parts of Northern California Rhododendron is a cure all. You can't call this plant drought-tolerant outside of this temperature range but it is a go-to easy hedge plant for shade, around cedars and big trees. Evergreen (even in snow!) it is slow-growing to start but can get to massive proportions over time. And has the added benefit of a big burst of spring color. 

Many Southern California functional hedge plants can be adaptable to NorCal dependent on your specific region. Just keep in mind that some - like heat loving native Calliandra - will struggle with heavy fog and wetter springs. 

Other Options 

If you're in a tight spot, vines can be be a fast and friendly privacy enhancing solution. Our SoCal favorites include star Jasmine and fiddle leaf fig - which make fast work of chainlink fences and cinderblock walls. These easy low-water vines can provide full-coverage in as a little as year with only a few plants.  Passionfruit and bougainvillea are other great options delivering gorgeous pollinator satisfying blossoms along the way. Native grape is another striking vine option, even well-suited to part-shade.