who big is your lot.. how much space for the plantings.. soil type.. where are you ...

i would consider a pergola.. with vines .. basically a roof ... under which you could sit in peace ...

how about a pic of the yard itself ...

ken

Yes, we need to know your location. And yes more photos of your yard.

Dax

I am at zone 8 Northern California. The width of my yard is about 30 feet wide from the fence. This fence line is about 80 feet long. So, it is long and narrow. I am considering planting Arborvitae "Green Giant" along the fence line to cover the entire building. However, I don't know the spacing if I do use "Green Giant." The soil condition is clay like, but I can till it and condition it along the fence line.

thanks for the help,

Any suggestion is welcome!

my green giants.. from 6 inches.. are now about 15 feet tall.. and 10 feet wide..

very frankly .. by the time GG block the view ... you will have no yard ...

pergola .. vines...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Yes, on a lot that size a row of tall conifers will just become another looming feature adding to the feeling generated by the proximity of the building.

And closer to you.

Inside your fence.

Better to go in the direction Ken is pointing, which I see as leading to an immediate architectural solution in conjunction with mixed plantings of different kinds of trees and shrubs (including the climbers on the structure(s)). If you install and develop your own colorful and diverse plantings and other garden features - including a few broad-leaved trees forming a canopy overhead, in particular key spots - in time the building will no longer dominate. Attention will then be directed into your lot, instead of out at the building.

What part of northern California? If you say where I might suggest some existing, publicly accessible collections to visit for ideas and inspiration.

The tree in your pic is a good indicator of the height you will need, but it also shows that a more open form can still break up the view into your lot whilst also having a bare trunk which makes a less formidable 'wall of green' Upright Birches would be good but not year round. In terms of conifer I would look at larger pinus sylvestris or similar open form pines. Did you say which direction the sun is?

I'd move.

I'd move too.
That was my first thought.
Mike

Hi,
You could plant Glauca Pencil Pines :) They're great for narrow/confined spaces.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:273946}}

...or Ken's pergola flanked with a few Italian Cypress (screams California to me) on each side.

Limbed up metasequoia and or taxodium? What city are you in? I question the building regulations.

In zone8 I'd plant Sequoia sempervirens.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Thanks for all the suggestions. This building was build at least 50 years ago. I live in Palo Alto. City of Palo Alto no longer allowed building to build like this anymore, but they can not do anything about the buildings build before the ordinance.. I have heard that "Green Giant" can be trimmed. I would like to have a formal garden, maybe planning a row of green giant and trim them into a formal tall wall to block the building. Anyone seen this been done before? thanks again.

Skinny trees with pointed tops will draw attention to and emphasize the building, unless and until you get a solid wall that will block it from inside the yard.

While looming over you and boxing you in. Does your house have a geometrically symmetric design on the outside? Many do not, and therefore will not match up with formal planting.

Even the big, boring building does not have exactly the same pattern carried all the way across, despite the windows being all the same.

Looks like you are in Sunset 15, way milder than USDA 8. Up here USDA 8 corresponds to Sunset 5. There should be all kinds of broad-leaved evergreen trees and shrubs you could make use of there. Interesting displays of locally suitable garden plants can be seen at the San Francisco Botanic Garden, in Golden Gate Park, the botanic garden at UC Berkeley, the arboretum at UC Davis and so on.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sunset climate zones: San Francisco Bay Area and inland - Sunset.com

Just for the sake of honing in a bit more directly at OP's question, I see no reason why Green Giant wouldn't work in the manner described. I assume OP understands that shearing such plants would eventually take on all the characteristics of work!

Doesn't mean it can't be done though. I hear tell that England is full of large sheared hedges.

+oM

Resulting in the institution of regulations governing the installation of yet more Leyland hedging.

I hear tell that England is full of large sheared hedges.

Not many domestic ones the height of what would be needed here, and the shearing would be a mammoth task I agree.

Somehow, at least one of you has interpreted my comments to indicate
i am advocating for such. A more careful reading will reveal that I simply state that installing a row of GGs and subsequently keeping them sheared would be possible. Fortunecookies, FWIW, why not consider the more realistic use of unsheared GGs? They are plenty dense enough just as they grow normally.

+oM

What will be the spacing for unsheared GGs to cover the entire building? 6 feet or 8 feet. I have seen some website said the height of GGs ranges from 20 to 40 feet, some said to 60 feet to 75 feet, and 10 to 20 feet wide. Really confusing. That is a big difference. Does steeplechase do a better job than GG? Have not seen one in my neighborhood. I love England style of formal garden. I wish GG can achieve the same result. In term of shearing job, what is where the professional step in.

This post immediately reminded me of an old post that was similar in the fact that the side yard was very narrow. Too narrow for Green Giants. I think your best bet is fastigiate hornbeam because you can get them right up against the fence and have then sheared up so that the foliage only starts above the fenceline.

I also think you need more of an umbrella effect to block that view. a strait column would have to be damm high to block that out, and maintaining that size formal hedge would be a nightmare

Here is a link that might be useful: Old thread

Any Fastigiate tree would work. There may be other faster growing types. You could also plant them in the yard, not right along the fence and then shear them up so that they didn't take way from your yard space, but effectively create an overhead screen like in the example link below

Here is a link that might be useful: Fastigiate For Tight Spaces

I did consider fastigiate hornbeams, but isn't it deciduous? Do I have to look at the building in the winter? I only wish fastigiate hornbeam can be evergreen, they are beautiful trees.

True, but how long is winter in zone 8? The other option would be to line the fence with very narrow but tall conifers such as skyrocket juniper or degroot's spire arborvitae for some added winter privacy then put the fastigate trees farther in the yard for the overhead privacy you need.

You could also look at other broad canopy trees that could be limbed up. I think the magnolia might be evergreen in zone 8

My first thought was Cupressus sempervirens as well.

I wonder if a tall bamboo would work?

Another option is to drive around town and see what other people are using for screens.

Here is a large trimmed conifer hedge (taxodium, I believe). It seems like a lot of work though!

I have seen some website said the height of GGs ranges from 20 to 40 feet, some said to 60 feet to 75 feet, and 10 to 20 feet wide. Really confusing.

==>>> nothing really confusing at all about it all

most size estimates are are 10 years ...

but being trees.. they have an annual growth rate.. and can grow at that annual rate for decades.. if not centuries ...

take for example.. the post at the link ... discussing size at purchase.. establishment.. and growth rate ... [BTW.. the GW search function should get you a couple hundred posts on GG's ]

as far as i am concerned .. in z5 MI ... they grow from the minute the ground thaws in spring.. until it freezes again in fall . in your zone.. yours should be growing year around ...

i find it kind of entertaining.. when some talk about sheared trees on estates.. oh for lack of a gardening staff.. what we could all have.. lol ... one thing that i always wonder about.. is how you shear them.. once they are taller than you plus the ladder you own ... SAFELY!!!!

finally ... again ... with the narrowness of your garden.. i dont understand how one contemplates 50 or 100 foot tall trees ... are you the owner??? ... surely a renter should not be making these decisions ...

below are pix of mine.. 6 inches tall in 2000 .. IN MI!!! .. and what i want you to key in on.. is not the height.. but the footprint ... ... are you really willing to give up 10 to 20 feet of your yard??? .. over time???

ken

{{gwi:326682}}

{{gwi:326683}}

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Hi ken,
Your GGs are beautiful. What is the spacing betweem these GGs? Do you think steeplechase better fit then? In term of shearing, I only need to top out around 35 feet(roughly the hight of the building. My gardeners think it is achievable. By looking at the picture, maintain a smaller footprint by shearing the bottom part should not be a problem.

How about this picture? Some website said if GGs are being plant between 6 to 8 feet than their mature size are limited to 35 feet to 40 feet. Anyone here has the experience?

Fortune,

Space them every 6 feet and go for it. Not 8. 3-4' from your fence, or remove your fence soon (the fence will have to come down eventually).

Start off with some 5'+ GG's. Anything more than 5-6' tall and you're not going to gain much if any advantage. You'd be throwing your money to the wind.

Regards,

Dax

Has anyone heard of a tree called "carolina carpuntas?"

Can I plan a rows of cherry laurals? they suppose to beevergreen and 40 feet in hight?

I would go with some cypress, given your climate - I live nearby. I have a bunch of Rare Santa Cruz cypress, very fast growing. Monterey Cypress is also very fast growing, you can expect upwards of 12 feet in two or three years if there is ample light.