Looking for a little info on NS spacing

8 years ago

Hi,

I'm looking for a little bit of info on planting some Norway spruce trees on my property. I'm basically looking for a privacy screening from my rear neighbor and from the road since I am on a corner lot. I like the norway spruce trees due to (from what I have heard) grow at a decent rate and maintain their bottom branches over the years. My property line start about 10 feet off my rear neighbors house so I was thinking I would plant the row of trees 10 foot from the line. From looking around on different sights I was seeing that I should be planting them about 8 foot apart. Although I want them to fill in quick I would think for a tree that can get so big and wide, I feel like I can space them 10 foot apart and still be fine. I guess my question is....How far do I plant a NS apart from each other and what is the diameter of these trees when they are at about 10' tall since that's what I plan on buying them at? Am I planting them too close to my property line or do I need to come further off so they wont interfere with my neighbors house some day? Or am i using the wrong tree? Im in zone 5 in western NY. Any help or info I could get would be greatly appreciated

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Comments (3)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
8 years ago
some quick thoughts ...

no monoculture .... with that number ... besides.. it would be boring.. lol

dont discount trees in the lawn .... instead of standing in the box your already in ... at the property line

way to close to the neighbors ... these are telephone pole trees .. see link ... 20 to 30 feet from the property line.. if you dont want to infringe ... [you said from the house]

3 to 4 footers.. will settle in.. and get growing to specs.. long before HUGE 10 foot transplants ... there is little instant gratification with trees .... but if you insist on huge.. hire the job out.. and get a warranty .. two years would even be better ....

if you have a patio... a few strategically placed plants can get you privacy there.. long before the plants at the property line can or will ... they could be removed later ... if you wanted ...

i would also site out of every window of the house.. to aid in determining where such things might be placed ....

what you are doing is called soil conservation ... thats the prime function of a line of trees ... you have a county soil conservation dist office ... google that up.. they will offer local suggestions on proper trees for such .... see second link as e.g. ...

ken

https://www.google.com/search?q=Picea+abies+forest&biw=994&bih=745&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiNzoGTvvrLAhVKvIMKHZoXCwIQ_AUIBigB&dpr=0.9

soil conservation

https://www.google.com/search?q=buffalo+ny+soil+conservation&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
8 years ago
all that.. and i forgot the main question .. spacing is an issue of your goal ...

if its a sight block ... plant them to block the view ...

much different if your goal was a prime stand alone specimen ...

and if your goal were lumber or telephone poles.. them use forest planting ...

make sense??

ken

ps: you prime goal .. with huge transplants.. will be proper watering for three years .. see link for that topic .. it wont be a lawn sprinkler thing ... and with your lot.. that's a lot of hose ...

https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub
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wisconsitom
8 years ago
And now, the complete opposite response from the one you've just been given: Norway spruce are the ideal plant for what you're trying to accomplish. Some here-Ken's one of them-believe that every single planting must consist of a minimum of ten species (Exaggerated for effect)! But in my view-and BTW, mine is the correct view, lol-diversity in plantings is a community-wide issue, not one for one single row of trees somewhere. What's more, there has never been one single widespread disease outbreak or insect attack of any consequence on NS. In the town I grew up in was a huge row of huge old NS, planted decades earlier when the land was farm. The farmer, like you, had planted a windbreak, and then much later, this turned into housing area. We used to climb those trees right to the tippy-top.

Anyway, this concern for diversity will be the ruination yet of yours and other's plantings at this rate. In repetition comes unity and strength of effect. Not always, not everywhere, but in a good many cases, it is exactly the monoculture you want. Besides, no other plant in your zone will do what NS can in this regard.

Oh, and about that row of NS in the town I grew up in? They're still there, they look better than ever, and there is nothing-zero, nadda, wrong with them. Because my grandmother used to live where those trees are, I have a pretty good sense of how long they've been there, which has got to be over one hundred years now. They're still growing.

As to spacing, for what you're trying to do, I actually think you could go as far as 15 to 20 ft. between trees. I plant the same tree-but for forestry purposes-at that 8 to 10. But where you actually want them to retain all lower branches, give them a bit more space. In my forestry example, we will actually be removing lower limbs as the trees grow, to improve lumber potential, even though that's not exactly why
I'm growing them. But for you, like i said, I'd go 15 to 20.

Looking for a little info on NS spacing

Comments (3)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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