The "silly" 'Smaragd' arborvitae is just the kind of thing that would fit the situation as you describe it. So you need to reconcile this discrepancy to proceed. What is the problem with the arborvitae? It would seem a cigar-shaped tree of about the size and vigor of 'Smaragd' would be what you were asking for, until you seemed to say you did not like such.

Well there's definitely no discrepancy needing reconciliation. I'll quote myself and and say that it's "silly looking"...in the sense that it's planted a foot away from the fence and the back of it near the bottom has started to die off. I personally love these trees as I'll have 7 or so of them as a screen at the side of my house. I initially thought it would be a candidate for a screen in my backyard but I'm concerned about the lower and the back parts of the trees dying off. Should I be concerned? Can you recommend a distance from center of the trunk to the fence for this tree?

Just get something faster. one is all you need. Thuja occidentalis 'Hetz Wintergreen' aka 'Wintergreen' and plant it 3 feet from the fence in all directions. or... get three and plant the middle one 3' from the center and the other two at it's side also, 3 feet from the fence and from that middle tree. then you'll have a quick full screen of that entire corner.

Dax... however these grow much taller than 10-15' but I see no wires to get in the way. (3) of them is your best option.

Thuja occidentalis 'Degroot's Spire' ...

though no conifer will stop at some magical height..

i have one that is about 10 feet tall.. and only 2 feet wide ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Thank you gardener365! I think Hetz Wintergreen might provide me with better and quicker results compared to Emerald Green. No, there are no power lines or anything of the sort above so height isn't an issue. I read some sites that describe Wintergreen as having a 6' spread and then another site saying 10' spread. Have you seen any of these in person? If so, what have you observed? 6'spread would be the maximum I'd want to put in this location for the fear of being out of scale with the rest of my backyard. I guess if necessary, prunning would be an option to keep them in check. I'm going to call around locally and see if Wintergreen is available. I think 3 of them as you suggested would look better than one specimen plunked in the corner. I'd also like to buy them already at least 6-7' tall.

I have seen them in person and 6 foot wide when 30 feet tall is the #. Buying them locally start calling nurseries... best I can say.

Dax

link to conifer intro ... use the database for more specific info

note that all plants have an annual growth rate .. and being trees.. will most likely grow at the rate for the rest of your life ...

MOST size estimate are at 10 years ...

so if it grows 1 foot per year.. it will be estimated to be 10 feet tall in 10 years .. and in 20 years ... 20 feet ... etc ...

it seems you are focusing at 10 years.. please do understand that the potential is much greater ...

width is usually not the same as height ... in re: growth rate ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

If something narrower than those suggested is wanted, you might look at some of the narrow taxus - Beanpole, Sentinalis, Flushing, Maureen to name a few. These generally do not exceed 18-20 inched wide and will eventually obtain the height desired, but will continue to grow as noted previously. On the negative side - these may not be available from your local nursery industry and would be acquired through mail-order - which usually means small plants at a somewhat elevated price plus shipping costs. Give me an idea as to your general location and I might be able to provide a nearby source.

Stay away from Hicksi though as it gets sort of wide and would need annual trimming after a number of years.

Marshall

I want to thank everyone for their input. I did some thinking and came to the conclusion that the Wintergreens will eventually get too big for this space. I mean there's nothing overhead but anything over 15 feet high would be just excessive for this location. I will only be living here for about another 6 or so years so the Wintergreens wouldn't be a problem for me but i don't think i'd be right to leave the next (more than likely ignorant) home owners with such excessively big trees. I think I'm going to go with emerald greens and plant a bunch staggered 2.5-3 feet from the fence so that when they're 4 feet in diameter,they'll have airflow and some light on their backsides. This should be reasonable? I'm also keeping in mind that because EGs are so common,they're relatively inexpensive compared to more exotic trees. I'm already spending quite a bit this year on goodies for my front yard ;)

you might want to also look into Juniperus communis 'Gold Cone' .. check out the link

plants that are dark green could be offset by a nice yellowish one .. every second or third one ....

should be pretty cheap .. small ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link