What about Russian Olive?

Here is a link that might be useful: Propagating Perennials

Deebs

I'm assuming Bullthistles' Russian olive suggestion was in jest. Even though you're across Lake Michigan from where I live, that's still too close for someone to be planting that invasive crap;^)

Actually, I like the ideas you already have. And while I'm not yelling at you, I AM yelling-please, no more crappy multi-stemmed cultivars of a plant (Thuja) that in its' natural form handles snow loads with ease! The GGs are single trunkers and should work well for you. Picea pungens likes a bit of moisture as well and the color contrast is great. Leave room for the N. spruce to develope. They too would help serve your purpose here. And red-stemmed dogwood, besides adding winter color that in my opinion, is hard to beat, is a moisture loving plant.

One minor point-I'd not call what you're endeavoring to create a hedge. More of a screen. To me at least, the word hedge connotes a single-species planting typically kept sheared. Nothing wrong with that but it's a bit different than what you are creating.

+oM

I don't know, +om, some of those Thujas that toppled looked to be single stemmed. deebs43, was/is this area particularly wet this year? You may also want to do an autopsy on the roots to see if they spread out at all over the years.

tj

Tsuga, I admit they may have been...it's difficult to say for certain, for me at least, when viewing the pics. I stand by my statement though that single stemmers will do better with load than some of those multis that end up looking like a peeled banana. I'm sure we've all seen that effect! ;^)

Now, it does happen that northern white cedar (Thuja o.) IS often toppled over, roots and all, when the right combination of wind and saturated soil, along with perhaps some logging in the area , to increase the wind locally, comes along. The native plant is one of my favorites, especially in its natural groves, and these groves are, beyond argument, typically found in areas having regular snowfall. It's just personal preference, but for the life of me, I can't see what the developers of some of these cultivars were going for, way back when.

I think too, that following this years heavy snowfall in much of the N. U.S., many folks are getting too bent out of shape-pun intended-by a little crook in the stem of their baby spruce, fir, arb, what have you. In the full lifespan of these trees, such curvature will become completely obsured by subsequent years growth and development. Not talking about the OP here, of course ;^)

+oM

the piles of soil are moles ... spear traps ...

the surface tunnels are voles ... they will go underground for summer... ID an active tunnel ... excavate.. peanut butter or a nut wired to a rat trap .. covered with a nursery pot ... will work ...

the prior hedge is fully mature.. and look like it was some kind of fence row.. perhaps before the houses went in ... it looks like other vegetation has been removed ... changing the landscape ... and the mature trees ability to adapt ...

bottom line.. they are old.. and you need a plant to replace them ... and that is why you came here ...

i cant tell how much property you have in the picture.. do NOT make it a simple line of plants... start working in toward where the picture was taken ...

lilacs can get big.. cover ground and site lines.. plus 2 weeks of fragrance ...

you have so many options.. to restore the property line ...

good luck ..
ken

Thanks everyone!

Yes, I think it is a mature hedge. We've been in the house for a little over a year; the house itself is 50 years old. So...it's time. (And -- whew! -- for once it's not my fault that the trees are root-bound!)

A couple of the cedars were cabled to nearly-dead crabapples that we had to take down last summer. The first two to fall were the ones where we cut the steel cable.

When each of these fall (or even start to fall) the root ball pops up. It looks like the roots hardly spread at all, which -- to me, anyway -- is surprising for such old trees. Either that, or the roots rotted. Possible...?

I agree, Ken: this is a wonderful opportunity to redo, so we're taking our time to plan and research options. So many options...it's overwhelming, really.

In my head I picture something varied, undulating. A lot of green, some color, some flowers...but very deep.

Here's the back yard. House is north; back lot line is south. Lots of room to work with, but more toward the west.

{{gwi:671912}}

P.S. The mole trap went in this morning. Right by four new mounds. Maybe they dug up my trees...? ;-)

A bit more about the steel cables:

Several mature trees on the property were propped up with cables and anchors. I'm thinking the previous owner realized that the trees were coming to the end of their natural lives (or were poor choices for that site to begin with) but didn't want to replace anything.

I'm much more of a Darwinist: if a mature tree can no longer stand by itself, it's time to go. So, we cut the web of cables, and now we're paying the piper. Or, rather, the arborist. ;-)

Deebs, I'm glad you provided that bit of information about cables and such. Not glad you had trees tipping over, mind you, but glad that at least this makes sense! Those arbs should not have been toppling like that. Most unusual. But all tethered up, they never had to, and never did, anchor themselves into the ground properly.

Current rule of thumb re: tree supports-don't stake unless you have to. Of course, one doesn't always know they are going to "have to". But the point is, the trees will develop stronger stems and anchor roots if they are regularly pushed around by the wind. Your Darwinism at work ;^)

+oM