What are your space requirements or how wide and tall would the ideal tree be when full grown? Would the planting area be full sun, 1/2 day sun or mostly shade and how much wind will they be subjected to in your yard?

Thuja, or arborvitae prefer some shade here, There are many cultivars ranging from 6 - 30 feet tall and a width from just a few feet on up to 10 - 15 feet wide. Cold should not be a problem here, most will take 30 below 0.

Leylands can get to 40 - 50 feet tall and up to 20 feet wide. I think Leyland might not be cold hardy here. Most of what I'm reading says they're only good to 0 degrees F, zone 6. We get to 20 below here on occasion.

I have a friend that planted 6 Emerald Green arborvitaes last fall. They were 6 footers. They've done pretty well so far, but she said there has been some browning on the west side of the trees.

I'd like to know a little more about your yard, your soil type and the size of the planting area (how many feet deep and wide) before suggesting something.

Barb

We have a space that is about 100 ft. wide. It gets sun from 9:30 til 3 each day. There is a large tree from the neighbor that once it comes in this summer, it may shade a tad. The soil is good. To say if we are protected from wind.....that's hard. Because our yard is big. But, we back to an alley, so the house behind us blocks the north wind. Wind from the south we will feel.

I agree, Leylands are probably not the best idea. I wish there was something else that was just as big. I read that Leylands are good for the pollution and air quality too.

Thujas....are pretty. I wish they were taller though. I believe I need to have planted five feet apart if wanting a dense privacy.

I worry about them breaking in wind. Will they survive if we are not always as sunny as we are now?

I'm still trying to get the dimensions of the space in my head. 100 feet wide by how deep and are there any power lines overhead through the planting area? If you could post a pic or two of the yard, it'd help tremendously. I feel like I'm interrogating you and that's not my intention!

Are you wanting a row of all the same tree near a fence to block the neighbor's view into your yard? Are you open to a mixed planting? I'm wondering if you have room to put something like Rocky Mountain Juniper to the south side and then stagger another row of something softer and prettier, like thuja in the interior portion. Let the rugged native shelter the more finicky tree. That would take some planning for watering, the junipers don't want to be watered much but the thuja will want quite a bit of water.

Welllllll. I went by City Floral today. They said Thuja gets very brown at the bottom and isn't lush and full. They said I should be looking at Spearmint juniper. Only thing it doesn't get as big! Spartan juniper. I'm so disappointed. I really just wanted Thuja. But, I get the point of it. I'm still not giving up on Thuja. Because I think they would be pretty! And big! Since I want big. The struggle is real!!!! It's such an investment too. I don't want to make a mistake. She said that all the trees should be watered by hand. You are so right! Colorado is such a hard place to garden I feel like sometimes.

Thuja will be inconsistent in its long-term beauty and health here on the High Plains. The western sun after midday will scald it, particularly in the winter. If you add dry winds to that, then even more is scalded, causing foliage to die and the plant to look atrocious.

Instead, you should investigate planting either the Woodward Rocky Mountain Juniper (narrow, fastigiated evergreen) or the Taylor eastern red cedar (also tall and narrow). Both do well in our soils and climate on the Front Range.