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tall thin tree for wet soil

13 years ago

I have an area that i would like to put a screening row of trees or tall shrubs. It is between our yard and the neighbors garden.It doesn't need to be fast growing, it's part of a future plan I have to make a large area private and I need to wait on my trees to grow more before I can start on it.The area is at the bottom of the propery where the water sits. It can go from moist to saturated, until the rain is less plentiful. I want something like Thuja ( the tall skinny) Emerald green or whatever it's called, but my searches tell me it needs good drainage.I don't want something I have to shear, evergreen too. Yew needs good drainage, that's usually what I plant (yew) so to simplify, Something 1. evergreen 2.swampy soil tolerant 3.doesn't need shearing 4. not weak wooded 5. will get at least 6ft tall. Hope someone has some suggestions. And zone 6 hardy zone 5 heat tol.

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Comments (6)

Iris GW
13 years ago
Ilex glabra?
famartin
13 years ago
Atlantic White Cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) sounds like a good option, though I don't know how fast it grows in cultivation.
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
13 years ago
my Chamaecyparis thyoides tend to be rather loose and sparse ... gorgeous in and of themselves... but not a screen as OP wants ...

your description of your water situation is lacking... many plants can withstand a spring deluge .. or once in a while rainstorm accumulation ... its more a matter of how long the water stands there ...

i would need to know soil type ... drainage ... time of year ... soil saturation other than the periodic spasm of too much water ... etc ...

planting 'high' ... even just a foot can sometimes overcome the issue ...

my favorite fall back for tall and thin is Thuja occidentalis 'Degroot's Spire' .. once established.. they do about a foot per year ... i have one that is about 10 feet tall and 2 feet wide ... you must insure a single leader plant from youth ... and they should be rather cheap .. if you go small ... i even got some to root one time ....

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
13 years ago
look what i found on the hard drive

ken

{{gwi:345052}}
poaky1
Original Author
13 years ago
I will check out the Ilex and cypress info after I post this. The Thuja green giant or emerald was listed as well drained on a web search. But my Burpee ornamental trees book says it can stand some standing water. The standing water is as discribed by Ken, the result of 5 days in a row of rain, lots of it. It is not like that in summer usually, but has been saturated for about 6 days. It is visible standing water. It's actually not as bad as another low area, but I thought 5 or 6 days of saturation and puddles over their roots would kill a plant that says " well drained soil".As for soil type this low area where they'll be going is usually moist and usually drains okay, is pretty rich from the soil test taken last fall. I kinda had my heart set on the thuja but may love the other suggestions, too. Thanks for your input.
poaky1
Original Author
13 years ago
The Ilex glabra is said to form suckering colonies, if I didn't mind things going outside a neat line it would work but I want to control the shape of the planting. The Atlantic white cedar Ch. Thy. looks the same to me in photos as the Thuja. But if they get thin as Ken stated I don't want to try it.So if Ken is correct and I will guess he is, I can go for the Thuja, weather it's the Degroots spire or the other Green giant. The water doesn't stand more than 4 or 5 days after a good rain unless it keeps raining on and on.So thuja it is !

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