Conifers for Privacy and Oak Tree Proximity
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
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9 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
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Privacy Screen - What tree size to buy?
Comments (14)Deer would have to jump my 6 foot fence. I know that they are capable of doing that but I've never seen any in my backyard though they are definitely right around the corner from my subdivision. Thanks for mentioning the bagworms. After I read your post, I did do as you suggested and I see that these little critters cause major damage. Wow. So many sites mention arborvitae as good plants for screening but very few really focus on the pests that can destroy them in very short time. Also, I've decided not to do a full scale screening. I'm going to be more strategic in the way that I plant the mixed border and actually create a few smaller mixed border(s) and use more creative methods for achieving more privacy. Part of this is due to making sure some of my newly planted fruit trees will not be sitting in the shade. I could plant a row that consists largely of GG and I do have the space to accommodate them but ultimately I will be unhappy with the amount of space lost still once the size passes a certain point as ken_adrian eluded to earlier. I still have some Arborvitae usage in my plans for screening but I'm considering more columnar varieties that may grow a little more slowly - Hetz Wintergreen is one I'm specifically looking for. Now I have to find a nursery that actually has them and at a decent size (preferably in the neighborhood of 3 or 4 feet). Thanks everyone for your suggestions and considerations. They were very helpful and possibly helped me avoid making some big mistakes. This post was edited by thapranksta on Mon, Mar 11, 13 at 11:36...See MoreFastest, Best Tree for Privacy .....
Comments (14)I'm not familiar with your area. About how tall would you like this tree or trees to be? To frame what I'm talking about, consider these 2 options. 1.) Row of Emerald Green Arborvitae - not all that fast growing, rather narrow columnar form, can reach around 12 - 14' tall, if you started out with 5 footers planted at, oh, maybe 3' mid-trunk to mid-trunk distances, then within a few years you might have a good hedge to block the view. 2.) Green Giant Arborvitae grow much faster and get far taller. Deer like arborvitae. Some questions that might help us. 1.) How large a property lot do you have? 2.) How near your house would the trees be? 3.) How near the property line? 4.) Will there be powerlines overhead? 5.) Do you have a septic tank & leach field, and if so how far will it be from the trees? 6.) Are you determined to plant other things under it (can impact choice of a maple, for instance)? 7.) How tall do you want this to be? If your neighbor has a 2 story house with a window view overlooking your yard, that's different from 2 ranch-style single-story houses on level ground. 8.) Is this just sort of a visual barrier, or do you need a dense 'I can't see them at all' hedge? 9.) Do you need evergreens so it remains 'solid' in winter? 10.) Do you plan to do a lot of pruning, shaping, hedging or what-have-you, or are you a 'plant it & forget it once established' person? 11.) Is this a fenced in area, or well into the city, or do deer have access to the area? Deer can do a lot of damage to some plants. Richard....See MorePrivacy trees in Central Texas
Comments (7)Eastern Red Cedar should grow well there. If you pay attention to watering, they can grow as fast as 28"/yr in good soil but 18" is more normal. Waco has several nice examples of large older Eastern Red Cedar. These trees are drought resistant but can handle wetter years. Arizona Cypress is another conifer that should grow well if you have good drainage. They look similar to ERC but have thicker foliage and are gray-greenish in color. Both Killeen and Waco have several large specimens of these trees. Mine have only grown 12-16"/yr. but reports indicate they can grow faster. These trees are drought resistant. Loblolly pine only does well in a few selected spots where the soil is locally neutral to acidic. If you have a spot like that they will thrive, if not, they will turn yellow and die. Afghan Pine will grow here, but they often die after about 10 yrs or so as the climate here is too wet for them. They do much better planted in west Tx. There are no examples of large Afghan Pines that I know of here....See MoreBest Fast-Growing Trees for Privacy Zone 5b
Comments (6)....and I will now, as I always do when Ken makes that claim, lay it to rest: True enough, there are some tree types which are both fast-growing and short-lived. True enough, there are some trees considered slow-growing which are also long-lived. But that simply does not indicate that this maxim is always-or even usually-true. Take one tree mentioned above-white pine. It is always and everywhere considered a fast grower. So how short is the lifespan of white pine? In good conditions, right around 500 years! Is that a short lifespan? No, I didn't think so. Let's look at a couple more examples: Out in northern California and parts of neighboring Oregon, they've got this little tree called coast redwood. Extremely fast-growing, these things only last for a couple thousand years. Red pine-a tree which is planted by the millions in my state, is a fast grower and only good for about 400 years. See where this is going? You may have noted my examples are all conifers. There's a lesson in there for those who will learn. For those who won't, well, you've got Ken's pronouncement! I would also like to disabuse any reader of the notion that white pine's range is limited to only far-northern regions of the Great Lakes states. A trip to Wisconsin Dells, the famous vacation land in my states south-central section would reveal white pines of extremely high quality and size that would rival those from nearly any other area. Likewise, in the Twin Lakes area which actually straddles the Wisconsin/Illinois border, white pine is numerous and healthy. All I'm saying is, regional differences matter, and in many cases matter far more than generalities....See More- 9 years ago
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