Hey Spruce, No problem! I love to share places that I know and love, especially with people who would very much appreciate such places, and may not know they are there. I was just up in WV this past weekend (again) and did not get a chance to visit Gaudineer this time. This time I went to Blackwater Falls, and then on to Dolly Sods. Blackwater Falls is nice and all, but a bit too touristy for me. I can almost never go into that area and NOT go up to DS. I just simply love it up there. I did pay extra attention on this trip to what people have planted around their properties, and sure enough, there are a TON of Norway Spruce. I even saw some areas where it looked like they have naturalized a bit. That said, I also did see quite a lot of properties that had Red Spruce planted as well. Granted, they were probably more elevated than you, and also much closer (and some were on) the Allegheny Front, so they probably were not as affected by the rain/ snow shadow. None the less I was still surprised at the number of places I saw that had Red Spruce planted, even at lower elevations. I would LOVE to visit your Timberland. I did see and read your other threads in the trees forum, and it looks FANTASTIC! It also looks like you are a wonderful steward of the forests on your land as well. I would definitely love to see it, and am really not that far away. How far up into Western MD is it? I have 2 brothers and sister in laws up in Martinsburg, WV, and could always combine a trip to see them with a day trip or stop on the way up/ back. I would almost kill to own even just a half acre of land that looked like some of yours in your photos. Not to build on, hunt, or anything like that, but just to go to and get away. Pitch a tent, and stay for a couple days. I love the open meadows surrounded by forests and the high altitude wetlands / bogs / beaver dams...etc. Not sure I will ever be able to afford even a small parcel of undeveloped land in this life tho, but if I could it would remain untouched as long as I had it and I would do my best to make sure it stayed untouched long after I was gone. Having a place like that to go to would make living where I do more more bearable. I don't dislike it where I am, but Ive been here for 40 years (my whole life) and well, its just gotten kind of old. I'm always up for a trip to Gaudineer or anywhere else around the MNF for that matter. =o) Also, glad to see (at least from what you posted in your other threads) that your Hemlocks seem to not be suffering from the woolly adelgid. Just this weekend at Blackwater Falls State park I saw many many hemlocks which were infested, and way too many snags that once were beautiful hemlocks. Just sad. Anyway, Thanks for sharing that with me! Hope to get to see it some day! KJ

It has taken 15 years for them to go from 5' to 25' and give the 4-season privacy that I have - I would be sad to start over! This is a view from the patio - I don't know if you can see it, but there is a little more space between the bushier, darker, more narrow spruce on the far left and the lighter colored, more loose looking one on the left side of the arbor. If you look on the right side of the arbor, the final group of three spruce are even closer together. Of these three, the one in the middle seems to be more narrow, smaller, and bushier than the ones on either side. These five may not all be the exact same kind of conifer or maybe it is just normal differences between trees. The needles on the two more narrow, bushy ones are slightly shorter and darker in color than the other three. The spruces that are to the right of the arbor are the only ones potentially in danger of reaching the sunroom windows. The two to the left of the arbor have a little more freedom. The least attractive one is the lighter colored one on the left side of the arbor and I would feel less badly if that one had to go looks-wise but it sure would leave a big gap in the line of trees. If I trimmed the interior, intermingling branches away from any tree I was planning to remove, and allowed the branches of the keepers to have more breathing room, do you think that would let me wait until the keepers were a little bigger so I wouldn't lose the current look/privacy? I just hate trying to decide what to do here! I have trouble culling little bitty baby plants, much less a beautiful mature tree! At my age (3+ years to retirement!), maybe I should just let the next owners decide what to do for their own plans for the yard. I WILL be still gardening for the next 15 years (hopefully in this house) if I have anything to say about it though! BettyLu

In many cases the trees will eventually develop new terminal leader(s). If you remove all but one you will sometimes get a reasonably normal tree that has lost a few years in growing taller. Other times you will get a tree with a strange crooked trunk. It may or may not help the bottom grow denser, no guarantee it will always direct extra growth there. If multiple leaders develop and are left to grow, you will have a weak multi-trunked tree prone to storm damage. Bundles of small seedlings are usually available in bundles of 10 or so for $10-$20 a bundle through many nurseries and soil conservation districts in early spring. They are very small but establish well. Maybe planting more each year at a low cost per tree would give you the option of removing those that do not have good form after a few years of growth. ...I would not want to buy nursery stock that has the terminal bud removed. Not a good way to grow an attractive, healthy tree.

Convince the neighbor that the Norway Spruce trees will not survive in the shade of the Maple tree. I really don't think the spruce trees will hurt the maple, but Norway Spruces grow pretty fast and will be over the property line and into the foilage of the Maple in no time. The trick is telling somebody they're stupid without letting them know what you are telling them.