Justine: I can see that you are really having a hard time making a decision regarding your tree--and your grass. I see the reasons for your difficulty. You love the grass and you love the tree. But the tree has had some severe damage, and perhaps its survival is in doubt. So, you are reluctant to remove the grass, and then have the tree die, or at least not recover to be the beautiful tree you want it to be. You could end up losing both the tree and the grass. Not good! But here is the bottom line--or lines--sorry. If you want to do everything you can to help the tree recover, you have to get rid of all the grass and almost all the extra soil for a distance of something like 15 or 20 feet in all directions. Then you sould mulch and make sure the tree is watered during any real dry spells. And, as for the top of the tree--if it looks really ugly up there, have the arborist come and see if there is some split or something that will make it difficult for any new growth the tree makes to replace the top to have a firm foundation on sound wood. Maybe a clean cut at the top is better than some really ugly split top. If you decide to do that, later I could give some instructions for how to at least retard any rot that may want to get started in the broken/cut top. But as for the grass--if you leave the tree the grass will begin to look worse and worse over time--it will not get enough sun, and the roots of the tree may rob it of the moisture it needs unless you are comitted to watering it very regularly from now on, etc. etc. I find it hard to see how you can have both the grass and the tree. So I think you have to make a decision about what you want. Of course if you keep the tree and do what you can to help it grow the best, including removing the grass you love, it may die anyway as a result of the injury and from having the extra soil around it for too long. If you leave the tree and the grass, the grass, and the tree may both die on their own. So what to do? If the tree were the only real important thing, you should get rid of all the grass and soil from around the tree ASAP, mulch, and have the arborist look at the top and see what's there. Maybe after the tree recovers from the extra soil for a year or two, some careful fertilizing and maybe some regular watering. The tree can be really "babied" and it may respond. Or it may not. The other option is to cut the tree down and if you really love NS have another one or more planted. If you decide on that course of action, let me know and maybe and I can offer some useful advice about how to select a new tree and how to plant and care fot it, etc. If you are young, and plan to stay in that house for a long time, you may enjoy watching your new Norway spruce tree(s) grow. Following your present course could leave you with no tree and no grass after five years or so. Or the tree could do OK in spite of the extra soil and the broken top--NS are tough, resilient critters. And maybe you can nurse the grass to keep it looking OK in spite of the shade, etc. There are a lot of decisions in life that are murky--this one is plenty "murky," but fortunately the stakes are not as high as many decisions we need to make in other kinds of situations. I know I am not helping you make any decisions here, but at least I can help you see what your choices are and what the uncertainties are. If you have any questions I will be happy to offer any additional information/advice I can. --Spruce

Wow - you dug up a seriously old post! So I did end up planting a very long screen -- basically the entire length of the property line -- and I'm actually really happy with how it turned out. We used Thuja Green Giant arborvitae in the center where the tallest part of the house we are trying to block out is -- we planted them a decent distance apart, not all jammed up like I see people do for a property line screen. They have grown fast, widened out, and are basically almost up to the roof of the house we are trying to hide. I think they should cap out right about 35 feet or so, which won't block the view. We planted a few during our initial planting then filled in with a few more a couple years later -- those later plantings are a bit stunted - not sure if it's because we squeezed them into less space or they were just inferior to begin with (originals came from a nursery and were planted by a landscaper, later ones from Home Depot and we DIYed them). But they are all growing well and healthy, and seem impervious to deer, wind, cold, snow, etc. To the sides of the arborvitate, we used Nellie Stevens hollies. They too have grown fast. They don't much care for the wind -- they ended up looking pretty bad by the end of the last two winters (which were brutally cold and windy) but they filled in with new leaves in the spring. The deer don't seem to eat them either. And again, I think they cap out at 20 feet or so. To the sides of that (which is getting away from blocking the house and now just screening their yard from ours) we used forsythias planted very close together that we let grow wild into a thick hedge -- mainly because I love forsythia. It's not evergreeen but the hedge is so thick and branches are so close together that it does a decent job of screening even in winter. And in spring when it is in bloom, it is an absolutely stunning wall of yellow. Again the deer don't bother them and they seem to grow well without much care. And finally at the very end of the property lines, we used sea green junipers -- again, we were looking for something evergreen but it didn't need to be tall - we were only trying to hide the neighbor's "junk pile" which was unfortunately located so that it was the first thing you saw when you pulled into our driveway. Those are the plants that look the sickliest -- there's always big brown patches in them and the snow breaks the branches. But they are farthest from the house and from far away they look ok, so I don't mind them. I think if I had to do it over again, I'd have used all forsythia instead of also using juniper -- the forsythia are just so amazingly gorgeous when they are in bloom. I would take a picture for you but we are in the middle of a storm right now -- if I remember, I will get one tomorrow. Here's a link to a pic of what it looked like when we first planted itin 2009: Newly planted And here's a shot from the summer of 2012 (sorry for lousy pic -- best I could find): Three years old I would say that this year it really started to look good since the green giants are basically touching now.

I planted an 'Acrocona' this fall in full all day sun (I have 0 shade at the house) and have it mulched a couple inches thick in a very large ring. Abciximab helped me with the selection (bnb) and I had the opportunity to see one growing along with 'Pusch' in his garden. They were doing very well but his gardens have primo soil and aftercare to put it mildly. Mine will be in full sun on an elevated location. I am heavily considering shade cloth for the first two seasons.I really enjoyed my tour and my eyes were opened as to what can grow in our region. I am trying my best to deter the conifer bug because I fear I will have massive casualties. But darn it, he has SO MANY doing so well it is hard keep the wallet closed! John ps - I know this is an old topic, but I will update with pics of mine as this growing season commences and progresses if anyone is interested

Do as ye wish, but fertilizing at time of planting is not a recommended part of tree installation. If very moderate, probably no harm done, but tree roots actually grow faster in low-nitrogen soil environment. I'm not a fan of "terrasorb"-like products for this usage either. More than I want to go into here right now, but very funky stuff can happen with those items. Don't unplant just because I said that, but I sure wouldn't use in the future. As a root dip-to keep moist on the back of a truck or something-fine, but that's the very fine grade, not the larger particles suggested to be added to soil. I tried terrasorb heavily in a bedding plant and container situation in 1990/1991! Never went back, as it did not materially affect the frequency of need for watering. If it didn't work (and was expensive and may harbor pathogens) why use? +oM