Native California hedge plants are quite versatile. Minimally pruned, they’ll create a dense, informal hedge, or you can shear them if you prefer a formal look. Additionally, you can train them to grow flat against a wall or fence in narrow spaces.
Here are some tips and techniques on pruning California natives:
https://www.cnps.org/gardening/digging-deeper/pruning-tips-techniques
If you like the idea of a thinner hedge, fruit trees can be trained to lie flat against a wall. This technique is referred to as an espalier:
Another option is to try a mounding succulent such as Torch Aloe (Aloe arborescens) with its brilliant red blooms. It will create not only an attractive privacy screen but also a security barrier:
Vines can be a source of appealing living fences, too, but they’ll need some underpinnings. Secure vines to a wall with wire supports, wire mesh or a trellis:
Plant a fast growing vigorous vine such as Anacapa Pink Morning Glory (Calystegia microstegia ‘Anacapa Pink’) to quickly cover a fence or an arbor:
If you’re interested in attracting a variety of birds to your garden, privacy hedges and vines provide shade, habitat, and food for both local and migrating birds. Here is a guide of the plants to select and the birds they attract:
Theodore Payne Foundation Native Plants for Birds
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