8 Fast-Growing Plants to Quickly Fill Out Your New Orlando Landscape

Maybe you just moved into your great new house, but the landscape is bare.

A couple ideas to fill it with new life:

How about some groundcover to fill in that bare soil? Maybe a nice shade tree — it’s hot out there. And now that you realize your neighbor hangs out on his patio in the morning with his robe unbelted, you’re definitely in the market for a privacy screen.

Of course, you want all this fast.

What fast-growing plants grow well in Florida? What are the best plants for new landscapes, when you want to fill in your landscaping fast?

Ground Source landscape designer Eric Frisch shares his favorites. Keep reading to find out more about:

• Fast-Growing Plants for Privacy
• Large Trees for Shade
• Fast-Growing Shrubs for Florida
• Fast-Growing Tropical Plants
• Fast-Growing Ground Covers

There are many great choices, from speedy bamboo to create a quick and elegant privacy screen to viburnum for a fast hedge to ‘Blue Pacific’ juniper that fills in bare ground lickety-split.

A landscape designer can help you choose the best plants for your property.

1. Fast-Growing Plants for Privacy

Neighbors are cool, but you don’t want to see them all the time, and you definitely don’t want them to always see you.

What is the best plant to block neighbors' views?

Bamboo ‘Graceful’

Bamboo wins the prize for fast-growing plants for privacy.

But first, let’s clarify the difference between the two types of bamboo: invasive and non-invasive.

Invasive bamboo is also known as “running bamboo” and spreads like crazy. It’s really hard to contain and it’s best to avoid this renegade.

Non-invasive bamboo, also called “clumping bamboo,” grows in tightly formed clumps up to 5 feet in diameter. This type is most commonly used for privacy fences and screens, as it’s easily maintained.

‘Graceful’ bamboo is a great fast-growing tropical plant, creating a dense privacy screen in just one season.

But be prepared — it can reach heights up to 25 feet tall within 2 to 3 years. And you have to keep your eye on it.

“Bamboo like ‘Graceful’ is very popular here, but it comes with constant maintenance issues,” Frisch says. “All bamboos are invasive, just at various rates. The clumps get bigger year after year and they’re hard to contain unless a barrier is installed the day they’re planted.”

Areca Palm

The soft, fine-textured fronds of this palm are full and dense, creating a spectacular privacy screen when planted as a hedge row. They have a maximum height of around 20 feet tall and form dense clumps.

Be aware these palms are hungry. They need frequent fertilization — at least three times a year — to keep from developing a yellowish hue.

Though these palms are considered self-cleaning, you'll probably want to trim off yellowed or browned fronds occasionally.

“Areca Palm is a great privacy plant for overall height, but they can have the same maintenance issues as bamboo,” Frisch says. Also worth noting here in Orlando: they can be sensitive to cold.

Orlando dipped into the 20's one night last winter, and gets multiple days each year below 35 degrees.

2. Large Trees for Shade

Everybody loves a good shade tree. But, man, they take a long time to grow.

Patience isn’t your virtue? Frisch suggests a few faster-growing options:

Live Oak

When they’re young, live oaks can grow 2–2.5 feet per year, making them among the best plants for new landscapes if you want to see quick impact. Heck, if you sit out there long enough, you might actually watch it happen.

But as they age, their growth rate slows down, and they typically increase in height by 13–24 inches each year. Still not bad.

Live oak is the most common Florida shade tree for reasons beyond its fast growth. It’s native, very hardy, and offers a wide shady canopy.

This massive evergreen tree often grows to a height of 50 feet. The trunk divides near the ground into several limbs that can extend horizontally as much as two to three times the height of the tree.

Be wary of planting these monsters near your sidewalk or driveway, Frisch says. The sprawling roots can damage them, like any large deciduous tree.

“Live oaks will give the fastest and widest canopies,” he says, “plus they’re strong.”

D.D. Blanchard Southern Magnolia

This beauty will grow one to two feet a year, reaching up to 50 to 60 feet tall at maturity.

It’s a prize, with wide, open branches, glossy green leaves with coppery undersides, and impressive cup-shaped flowers.

Bonus: those huge white showy flowers smell amazing.

It’s a great shade tree, but there’s a catch, Frisch says.

“Low canopies can make them more like a large bush when they’re younger,” he says. So to enjoy the shade at first, you’ll have to sit down. Not the worst thing.

3. Fast-Growing Shrubs for Florida

Sometimes, you just really want a hedge. Hedges are classic, elegant, and great for leaping over when you want to feel young and crazy.

But hedges take forever, right? Not always.

“Viburnum are the most hearty and fast-growing hedge we use around here,” Frisch says. They’re among the best plants for new landscapes if you want a hedge in a hurry. He has a couple favorites:

Sweet Viburnum

A sturdy hedge with sweet-scented white blossoms, this is also a popular shrub for privacy.

If you like the clipped, tidy look, keep it manicured, or only occasionally trimmed for a more rounded, natural look. Spaced 3-4 feet apart, they’ll create a dense wall of green.

Walter’s Viburnum

Another fast-growing Florida shrub, this pretty viburnum is a native Florida plant, which means it comes with a few bonuses beyond its masses of small white flowers that appear in the spring and its glossy, vanilla-scented leaves.

Birds and butterflies love it, so you’ll get a free air show.

4. Fast-Growing Tropical Plants

Tropical plants are iconic in Florida landscapes. Many are Florida-natives, but naturalized plants can be just as good - especially those that grow quickly.

Clusia

Foliage is the star here — the leaves are thick and leathery, shaped like plump teardrops.

Low-maintenance, these plants branch out close to the ground and can get very wide.

These shrubs are sometimes called “autograph plant” because you can scratch a name or initials onto a leaf and it will stay there.

“Clusia is gaining in popularity because it grows pretty fast,” Frisch says, “but only recently has it been warm enough for them to succeed in Central Florida.” Thank climate change for that.

5. Fast-Growing Ground Covers

Groundcovers are among the best plants for new landscapes because they fill in and cover bare ground fast.

Bare ground is bad news. Weeds love it. It gets dusty in dry weather and muddy in the rain.

Get it covered up with these two Frisch favorites:

‘Blue Pacific’ Juniper

A ground-hugging evergreen with dense green foliage, this juniper stays low to ground at about 1 foot, but spreads quickly and can reach a width of 5-6 feet.

Feathery, with sharp-tipped soft needles, it spreads about 6-12 inches per year.

Frisch likes it because it covers a large space with few plants.

Asiatic Jasmine

“This fills in pretty fast, but you need a lot more plants to get the carpet look,” Frisch says.

It’s worth the investment, though, because Asiatic jasmine is a real stunner. Look for the variegated variety, with new leaves that emerge pink then turn variegated white and emerald green. Bonus: very fragrant, tubular yellow flowers bloom prolifically in the Florida heat.

Fast Growing Plants Mean More Maintenance

Eat fast food and you might pay for it later. Plant fast-growing plants? Same.

“With anything fast growing, they’ll also come with more maintenance,” Frisch says.

Plan to trim these speedy specimens to control their shape and train them to look better in the long-term, he says.

“Without that, fast-growing plants will get more leggy and open, so you’ll have less privacy,” he says.

Anxious for Fast-Growing Plants? Trust Ground Source

Frisch will tell you plants take time to grow, and you really just need to be patient.

But some grow faster than others, and if you need planting and landscape installation in Central Florida that gives your new landscaping a jump, he can help.

We’re landscaping experts, but our skills don’t stop there. We’re with you every step of the way as you plan your perfect outdoor space.

Sod, irrigation, landscape design: let us transform your landscape into a place you want to spend every spare minute.

Are you ready to enjoy the vibrant, impressive landscape you've always wanted? Request a quote today! We’ll help you review your options and then transform your property.

Image Sources | Asiatic Jasmine, Live Oak, Clusia, Walter's Viburnum, Magnolia, Areca Palm, Clump Bamboo