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

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.

You mention doing extensive interior remodeling. I'd urge you to take a long, hard look at what you will have after the extensive remodeling and compare it with what you would have if you tore down or gutted and started over. Ask a realtor what you could get for the house as it is; the remodeled house; a new one. Our 1950's ranch had no insulation in the walls, tiny baths and closets, an 8-foot ceiling, old 'innards' (plumbing, HVAC, etc.), old windows. It was a plain brick rectangle. Our new house is tight, has large baths and closets, a 9-foot ceiling, all new mechanicals and windows that are virtually soundproof. It has style. It cost little more to build new, but the new house has marketable value. Had we just 'rearranged the deck chairs' the cost would have been much greater than any increase in market value. If you only want to hang some shutters and tack on a covering over the front door -- maybe plant some shrubs to cover the foundation -- that's fine. But you said something about extensive interior work... Best regards from the Teardown Queen LOL

Just checking in....I got my 5 red spruce seedlings from NH Nursery back in the spring and I planted them immediately. I liked that they left a lot of dirt on the roots and just threw them in the shipping bag, rather than wash everything off the roots and tie them up etc like other places. This seems to have helped them settle in because every single one survived, grew and handled all the stresses of season change without me watering them at all. Here in northern NJ, we had two heat wave/semi-droughts and they went through them with no problem. I attribute this to both the fact that they are native to my neighborhood and that they were all planted in part sun or almost full shade, depending. They each put on 2-3 inches of growth so they're still very tiny. I expect something similar next year. And honestly, I've read about 100 year old red spruce that are only a few feet high. They have high shade tolerance but will grow super slow in that deep shade, so it seems their growth is super dependent on sun intensity. So I look forward to seeing how each of my 5 grow differently depending on the different conditions I've placed them in. Very happy I skipped the norway spruce in favor of this beautiful native tree!