Anyone good at identifying bushes/shrubs?

[MoochNNoodles]

DH and I are getting ready to fence our backyard so I'm trying to figure out what this is:



These line the back of our property and there is currently a bit of fencing going through them. They are probably a little unkempt from the previous owners of this land. I don't have any good pictures from a distance and since we don't have leaves yet I can't go take any more pics. Unless someone says that will help.

They are nice and tall and provide lots of privacy when they have leaves.

I'm trying to find out what it is so I can find out more information about pruning them up. They have grown over our property line and the neighbors behind us did trim them some last year because they were interfering with their driveway. We will need to trim them a good bit more in order to put the fence in. I really don't want to have to fence in front of them and I don't want to cut them down. I like the privacy and we already lost like 17 pine trees that were here. We were so attracted to the woody, country feeling and we've lost a lot of it in less than 2 years!

Any help is appreciated!

 

[mimosa]

Looks like privet.

 

[sk_pacer]

Looks like Prunus padus commutata, Mayday Tree by the leaves and buds and the smooth dark grey bark. Is there a scent to the blooms - kinda sweet but not cloying? Does it also produce blackish berries later in the season? If it is a Mayday (or any other prunus sp), I'm gonna have to do some looking on the pruning not that you care about fruit set in this case but blossoms early in the season.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I did see a few dark berries on it now. It's still without buds. I took that picture last May.

I'm going to look up what you all have suggested and see if I can find more pictures.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I don't recall the blossoms ever opening much or having a scent. I'll ask my husband tomorrow; he was out there a lot more than me last year. And the berry things I've seen are there now. I'll have to go out again tomorrow and see what I can see here without the leaves and what not.

 

[natalie_ca]

Originally Posted by Mimosa

Looks like privet.

Yes. Largely used as hedges.

You can google the name and look under the images and see some pictures of that very plant.

 

[gailc]

Regardless of the shrub. from the picture they need to be renewal pruned. You cut off 1/3 of the oldest stems. This will let in more light so new growth can occur. Just haircutting the top isn't going to help the plants long term.

 

[stephanietx]

It's a privet. We have one in our yard. They get to be HUGE! Mine only blooms every other year.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Thanks!! My Aunt got a look at the pic and said Privet too. I looked through some images online last night and wasn't sure; but I just found one that looks just like my mess back there.

My house was built new in 2008 and the builder left most of the trees and shrubs in place. It was one thing we really liked about it here. But none of the trees were well taken care of. I believe the previous owners of this land were elderly and had passed on when the land was sold to my builder. We lost so much of that in loosing the pines. We had the 2 mature silver maples' pruned and the tree people did such a severe pruning of them I literally bawled when I saw it. (I was pregnant at the time...plus I found a bird's nest knocked on the ground.) I've got to make sure we can do what we need to there and keep these!!

 

[chiapet]

my vote is a laurel of some sort. privet will have a very small leaf compared to the laurel. both are good hedges.

 

[naps with cats]

Wow, an entire row of these, they look beautiful, and I bet look great lining whatever side of the house they're on!

 

[rockcat]

You might be right about it being a Privet. http://ip30.eti.uva.nl/BIS/flora.php...oorten&id=3568