One thing that people are frequently clamoring for in Texas are evergreen bushes. The problem is there really aren’t any natives that match what people expect. So they plant Privet and Photinias. Which are an eco-nightmare.

But I’ve been thinking for a while. I have two Mountain Laurels that are underneath trees that I see all the time. They’re living they’re best lives and seem to be in no way interested in competing as a tree. They’re just spreading as bushes.

Got me thinking - why don’t we use mountain laurels as bushes? I mean sure they grow glacially, but nurseries tend to sell them at exactly bush height.

I started playing with one in my yard that I planted too close to the house. This is what it looked like. It clearly can’t grow up or it’ll hit the eaves. It’s in the path. But it’s also a pretty dang happy looking plant.

So I decided to experiment shaping it a bit with a hedge trimmer, and it looks pretty ok:

I think you could definitely create a hedgerow of these. Have you seen anyone do it?