small - medium natives for mixed border/screen

16 years ago

i've got about 150 feet along my suburban CT backyard that i would like to plant with native US conifers for screening. The soil is acidic, silty clay, but because part of the border is on a slope, it drains decently. Most of the border would be in full sun, but some spots are partial shade because of other trees nearby. i'm trying to put together a border of mixed conifers with green, blue and yellow foliage to serve as a backdrop to shrubs and perennials. i would prefer small to medium sized trees, not growing taller than 50 feet perhaps. i'm hoping you folks can help recommend varieties that would work well. Here's a short list of what i'm interested in so far:

Chamaecyparis thyoides

Picea pungens Hoopsii, Thomsenii, Iseli Fastigiata

Picea mariana

Pinus flexilis Vanderwolf's Pyramid

Pinus resinosa

Pinus rigida

Pinus strobus UConn, Fastigiata

Pinus virginiana Wate's Golden

Thuja occidentalis Lutea, Nigra

Anyone have experience with any of these? Thanks for your help.

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Comments (3)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
16 years ago
i have experience with all but uconn and rigida .... all do just peachy in full sun.. pure sand.. zone 5 ...

what confuses me is why you call them NATIVES ... no cultivar is a native of anything ...

find some of the blue thyoides .... the yellow tipped mariana ... resinosa aurea ...and you can do a lot more with t occidentalis than the plain old green .. research yellow ribbons ... sunkist .. etc ...

but listen ... buy stuff that will make your toes curl .. and if in 20 years they are too big.. get rid of them ....

height estimates are at 10 years .. and they grow almost the same amount every year ... the link is the Amer conifer soc ... read the intro to conifers.. about growth rates .. and then use the database for specific cultivars ....

keep in mind.. if momma is 350 feet tall .. a dwarf of her can be a smallish 250 .... its all in the yearly growth rate.. and how big it is when you get it ... NOTHING STOPS GROWING AT SOME MAGIC HEIGHT .... so if it grows one foot.. and you buy it at one foot.. after getting established.. it will be about 5 feet in 5 years.. 10 in 10 .. etc .... 50 in 50 ...

good luck

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: ACS
macarius
Original Author
16 years ago
Ken,

Thanks for the helpful advice. i used the term "natives" because i wanted to narrow the list to cultivars of native species, sorry for the confusion. My concern about the height of these trees is that i was hoping i wouldn't have to take them down in 20 years (assuming i'm still living there). i was hoping to find cultivars that grow quickly to a certain height, and then begin to slow down a lot so that they'll remain under or around 50 feet for a long time. i guess that's not how nature works. So how do you deal with a border/screen when you have to take a big chunk of it down? Just patiently wait for its replacement to grow in and hope it won't be crowded out by older trees around it? Should i install the border over a number of years so that there's always something ready to fill in when it's time to take something out? Thanks again for all your help.
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
16 years ago
well ... back to the growth rates .... plant some trees the will grow fast for the screen .. and start a collection of slower growing stuff that in 50 years... will still be under your height demands ... and then just hire some punk with a chainsaw to take out the bigger ones ...

no garden is planted today ... perfect today ... and neither will it be in 50 years ...

lets be realistic about your age [i wont ask] ,... what you want to accomplish .. and how pretty you want to make it.. before we worry about what you are going to do about it all when your teeth fall out ... lol ...

DO WHAT PLEASES YOU NOW .... wonder about what it will be like in 10 or 20 years .. but really now... are you really going to be that fixated on it all in 50 years ... i mean really .. even if you are only 20 ... are you going to go cut down trees at 70 .. just becasue they got too big.. i bet not ...

you cant worry about EVERYTHING in life ... so clarify what you want to do now...

here is 3 pictures of beds to hide the neighbors houses ... i dont really care what it will look like in 50 years ... nor 10 .. if somethink irks me .. i will cut it down .. hopefully while i can still do it with my chainsaw.. and dont have to hire out the job ...

maybe you shouldnt be thinking of a straight line either ...... each of the below beds hides one house ...

good luck

ken
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small - medium natives for mixed border/screen

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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

macarius
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small - medium natives for mixed border/screen

Comments (3)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

macariusOriginal Author

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macarius
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