Conifer choice for deciduous / evergreen screen.

11 years ago

Last fall I started planting a screen near my property line to block out the view of my neighbors deck & windows. I've included a picture. The tree is a Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry (which is 13.5' from my shed (I'm also planning on connecting the tree and shed bed)). I'm unsure if I can fit a conifer between the Serviceberry & the shed, I would love to have something evergreen to put there though. Last fall my plan was plant a Columnar Blue Spruce but after reading a bunch of post in this forum of "evergreens never stop growing" I feel maybe even this tree might be too large (width wise). Will something fit? I have a nursery close to me that sells:

Columnar Norway Spruce 'Cupressina'
Picea abies 'Cupressina'

Columnar Blue Spruce
Picea pungens 'Fastigiata'

Weeping White Spruce
Picea glauca Ã¢ÂÂPendulaÃ¢ÂÂ

I was also thinking of maybe going with Hetz Wintergreen Arborvitae but I can't seem to find a local supplier.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

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Comments (4)

gardener365
11 years ago
About the only thing that I can think of (and it's aestetic not for screening) would be a Yew such as:
Taxus x media 'Beanpole' or Taxus x media 'Flushing'. I think 'Flushing' will give you the most "screening" but you'll need to plant it fairly close to your shed: It basically should be planted 1 meter away.

You 'know' you planted a tree that given time will fit that spot perfectly, in relation to the shed. What you're looking to do now is plant something that ultimately is going to crowd walking space between your shed and eventually your Serviceberry. That includes mowing. The positive aspect of a Yew is you can prune them any which way you want to, including down to bare-inner-wood and they will form new foliage. If it ever came to be that the cultivar 'Flushing' was 5 meters tall and one meter wide and you wanted to cut it down to 1 meter tall, you wouldn't do any damage to it.

For me, your plan should've included an evergreen screen behind the serviceberry and the serviceberry being brought forward to give it room away from the screen. If you were to move the servicebery (now or anytime the ground is workable) that seems to be the common sense route and gives you the opportunity to do the job, correctly.

Then you could plant, i.e., going from the shed to the left in the photo: (3) Thuja occidentalis 'Hetz Wintergreen' in a straight line and then begin to make an arc with a Picea glauca 'Pendula' then a Picea pungens 'Iseli Fastigiata' aka 'Fastigiata'.

That's my opinion, anyways...
Hetz Wintergreen first one 1 meter from your shed then on center every 1.5 meter.
Picea glauca 'Pendula' 2.5 meters from 'Hetz Wintergreen'
Picea pungens 'Iseli Fastigiata' 3.5-4.0 meters from P.g. 'Pendula'
This for a screen. You can make adjustments with the two spruces if you want to give them room not to touch.

Dax
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
11 years ago
why limit yourself to the property line???

you have already lost the battle at that point ...

if you have no plan for gardening.. in the next 30 years.. plant a maple.. half way between the property line.. and your house.. and be done with it ....

at the angle of your pic.. you sight screen will have to be 2 to 3 times the height of your shed... to barely get to window height ..... and to get that height.. AND REQUIRE JUST ABOUT NO WIDTH.. is not really going to happen..

you need a 50 foot tree.. in the middle of your yard ... dont you think ...

ken
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Ok, so first, I wouldn't worry about her pruning anything that overhangs her side. That is her right, and your plant can still do its job if it is pruned. In fact, if I were you I'd keep it pruned so that you control its pruning, not her, and since it would be your plant. You can prune the branches short to encourage bushiness rather than cutting them at the trunk. Second, one reason I was interested in a photo was that I couldn't picture this wall, whether it went up or down or retained something or what. This still hasn't quite told me what I would like to know, namely whether trees planted could damage the wall. Is it her driveway on the other side, and if so, is it at the same level as your ground? I'm wondering whether tree roots could blow out the wall on her side. You said it was her wall, and that could be your liability. I would get rid of the euonymous, and the ivy, which will kill any tree you try to plant there. The wall is attractive, so there is no worry about limbing things up, but you don't actually need to limb up all around a plant; just the branches that grow out to your sidewalk. Think of the plant as growing in a fan shape, two dimensionally. In front of the wall you just take out branches growing forward and backward, but above the wall you can cut short as I described above. You can use a number of strategies here, remembering that plants are living things that need to transition into and out of the ideal size you need. You can interplant both fast and slow-growing things, taking out the faster growing ones as they outgrow the space and the slower-growing ones get to size. For example there is a wonderful Ilex cultivar called Mariesii that would take time to grow in, but would serve once it gets there for many years. Grow it to size in the company of a fast-growing Physocarpus that you grow in a fan shape. Another strategy is to use maybe two fast-growing shrubs, planting and culling on a staggered schedule so you always have some coverage. You can also plant a broader canopy tree right where that big weed is (borage?) to use the airspace you have to block the view - you don't have to do it right at the property line. This is just to say that fastigiate is not your only option. But if you want to go fastigiate, I think I would look into some specimen conifers that are attractive in and of themselves - say a gold and a green or blue variety of weeping norway spruce or something, maybe with the shooting-upright type of junipers, maybe a juniper gold cone - because putting something you like to look at in that spot will enhance your experience of your space. The weeping conifers can even keep their skirts if you just trim them to the walk. KarinL
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jandrus82
Original Author
11 years ago
Dax,

What kind of spacing do you suggest between the Thuja's & my serviceberry?
sc77 (6b MA)
11 years ago
I agree with the suggestion Dax made...here is what it might look like...As Ken said, you would need a very tall screen to completely block the view of the neighbors, due to the angle... But, I think this would be a nice improvement.

Bring the serviceberry up quiet a bit, no reason to stuff everything right up against the property line.

Conifer choice for deciduous / evergreen screen.

Comments (4)

gardener365

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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Conifer choice for deciduous / evergreen screen.

Comments (4)

gardener365

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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sc77 (6b MA)

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