I forgot to add
- we have lots of deer so need deer resistant so arbovite is out
- the soil is sort of "clayish"
- we were looking at Nellie Steven's holy - is that a good possibility?
- don't really like "manicured" look, wants more informal, natural

Sometimes on forums like this, people seem not to post if they have nothing nice to say. If you search the archives you will see that almost no one here has a high opinion of Leylands. Please, spare future generations the same problems you're having now by not planting any more that will just blow over in the next Sandy 30 years later, or decline from disease sooner. It's particularly funny to see attempts at creating an "estate" feeling by surrounding the house w/hideous walls of leylandii, which look particularly comical when a few of them topple over.

At the very least, plant Thuja 'Green Giant' instead, it is more disease resistant. And because it grows slower, less likely to outgrow its roots. Among other things - put some spruces and pines in there if you must stick to cheap conifers. A screen planting should have a variety of plants so that if one becomes prone to a disease you don't lose the entire effect.

I think hollies are undervalued as screening plants. Nurseries don't push them because they are more expensive to produce as salable plants than most [screening] conifers. You do have to wait longer though, they are definitely slower than leylands. They don't get as much love here because they aren't conifers. Nellie Stevens is ok but the very large growing hybrid I X koehneana would be even more useful for your lot size. Sadly it's almost unavailable in the trade. McLean Nursery in Balto., MD, has small plants for a reasonable price but they don't ship. The grow about 1' a year for the first 5 years, but then speed up to about 2' a year.

As people have posted here previously, the real solution to quick screening is to think about what you are really trying to achieve. Are you trying to entirely block the view from anywhere in your yard to anywhere beyond it? Or do you have an area where you sit that you'd like privacy. In that case build a small screened area with some trellis lathes and grow some annual vines on it.

I missed you are in zn 6. If it's 6a in NJ, it might be a little to cold for Koehne hollies. There are a few large ones at Rutgers, though, which I believe is zn 6b.

As for the deer, I find the various reports of their preferences somewhat baffling so I can't speak to what resists them. 'Green Giant' may or may not be susceptible. Luckily my local deer do browse things sometimes but generally seem benign. Knock on wood. I have various common and rare hollies all over the place and the deer never eat them, except once tasting 'Sceptre' which they spit out on the ground!

btw - I know what blew over probably wasn't leyland. But by replacing it w/leyland, you've planted something that's even more likely to blow over.

This post was edited by davidrt28 on Wed, Feb 20, 13 at 21:17

what he said...

diversity of planting rules ...

your base problem.. is that your deck is the height of the neighbors second floor ... there will be nothing 'quick' about re-screening at that level ...... no matter how big you buy things ...

if you wish to add a pic from ground level.. it will obviously .. change our perspective of the issue ... and might add some options ...

ken

I wasn't looking for feel-good nice opinion but an honest opinion. I am a big girl, I can take it! :-)

I am aware of the opinions about Lelyands on this forum and that's why I am trying to figure out what my other options are. We planted the Leylands BEFORE I read about them here. What we had before was I think blue spruce and some kind of fir. We actually hired someone few years back to help us figure out what to do with our front and back yard and she recommended Leylands - it was money wasted as now we are trying to reconfigure all planting front and back.

We spend 90% of the time on the deck that runs almost full length of the house; hardly ever do we go out onto the grassy area and the back now that the kids are bigger (highly under-utilized back yard). We really liked having a view of all trees and not seeing neighbors (we get along but like seeing nature and trees more than fence and neighbors).
Davidrt28 - we live just a short distance from Rutgers, so I think we are zone 6b then? Where are the hollies you are talking about? Maybe I can take a ride to take a look at them.
Ken_adrian - original picture was from the second floor window, my bad. I am posting now pictures from the deck sitting position where we usually sit and from ground level below deck. Sitting on the deck once the trees get to 10-12 feet gives us just enough privacy. Obviously I know the trees will not stop growing there but I donâÂÂt need them to be 50 feet either.

Thank you so much for your input. We are having stumps removed soon to be ready for planting in early spring. I assume the neighbor will fix the fence as well once it gets warm.
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I've never been to the Rutgers campus so I don't know where the hollies are found.
http://rutgersgardens.rutgers.edu/hollies.html
No matter how serious or non-serious of a gardener you are, a trip to a local arboretum is always a good idea before starting a major planting project.

I tend to have a bit of an anti-natives bias in my own collection because I figure I will be outnumbered 20-to-1 by people who will favor them for political reasons, but don't forget selected native American Ilex opacas either. They won't grow as fast as the Koehne hollies but they are nice, and might be easier to find for purchase. I wouldn't buy an unnamed seedling, though, for screening purposes. Some of them will stay straggly and If you can find a Koehne holly I think they will be fine unless you are in the extreme NW part of NJ that gets quite cold.

You see on this page that Koehne hollies are highly rated by a # of arboreta:
http://www.hollysocam.org/PDF/reports/HSAJournal2012v30ArboretaReports.pdf
Tripleoaks (highly worth a visit) says about 'Hohman'
http://www.tripleoaks.com/wpgdisplay.php?id=455
"holly with incredibly fast growth rate"
again, not as fast as cypress, but probably one of the fastest hollies.
rarefind seems to think this is a fast opaca:
http://www.rarefindnursery.com/index.cfm/action/productdetail/product_id/1622.htm
but it will -not- be 30' after 10 years!

Here is a link that might be useful: http://rutgersgardens.rutgers.edu/hollies.html

This post was edited by davidrt28 on Thu, Feb 21, 13 at 11:44

davidrt28 - thank you for the information. I looked at the Rutgers website and I never realized that there are so many areas to explore there. I've been to Rutgers gardens but only to buy some plants in the spring for my vegetable garden. Definitely will make a trip soon to look at different trees.

Obviously I am keeping the big leylands I already have but will get rid of the little ones. I'll check out and get some hollies based on your recommendations. I was looking at Green Giant but I have to check on deer resistance in my area - seems like the deer around me did not get the memo of what they are not supposed to eat - they ate many deer "resistant" plants. What other specific evergreens would you suggest to give me a little more variety that have relatively faster growth.

i would put something like a redbud.. right in the middle of the lawn.. between your deck.. and that bank of windows of the neighbors ...

do NOT limit your solution.. to the property line ...

unless of course.. that will ruin your bocci court ... lol ...

you are in a box .... at the property line.. look outside of it ...

in fact.. consider both solutions ....

ken

It's not a bocci court - it was a soccer field for my daughter and occasional volleyball court.
They came to pull up the stumps today and cut another tree that was seriously leaning, now I can see more of my neighbors on the left. Also since most of the trees left have live branches on one side and they are leaning somewhat I think it's just a matter of time before they all have to come down. My husband does not want to cut them down, he says that at least there is something there, might need to convince him otherwise. That would be 8 more trees to cut down - ouch.
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