insert finger to 2nd knuckle.. AND FIND OUT WHAT THE WATER situation is.. even a small hand shovel.. and find out.. at least halfway down the root ball you planted last spring ... we can go nowhere without some actual facts ... and that is the basis of your frustration.. yes??? if bone dry.. water the thing... if saturated.. get it off the sprinkler .... most conifers need a drink and good drainage.. and do NOT need the amounts of water the lawn might need .... all that said... if it was a large tree.. [how big was it?] .... and a poorly dug root mass ... it just might be a form of transplant shock exacerbated by a miserable summer ... a pic will get you a couple thousand more words of speculation good luck ken

I've always found larix to be much more cold tolerant than many of what most would consider 'normal deciduous trees, as the needles usually start go colour after many trees have already started dropping their leaves. In my observation, this year has simply been out of the ordinary, and many plants responses to this odd weather has been out of the ordinary as well. While all leaves have finally turned brown, they are still hanging on to some cornus, a few acer species, parrotia and a few other things. Kind of odd seeing this considering we've had so much winds, it has been down as low as 11F overnight, and now 16+" of snow since mid week.

Most def not a Larix, and definitely a white pine. Larix needles are always single, whether alternating on long shoots or rosettes on spurs. I have a big Prince-rupprecht larch at my parents’ property in NE Ohio that has done well. At one time I had all three varieties of gmelinii there and the hybrid x czekanowskii (russica x gmelinii). I lost gmelinii var. japonica...but one still exists, I think, at Holden.

IMO conifers pruned in such a manner would not only be unsightly up close, they'd likely be damaged by the first heavy snow. Conifers grow the way they do for a reason- the lowest branches support the next highest in heavy snow load, and each layer rests on the one under it. If you remove those lower layers the remaining ones break easily the first time a wet snow hits. And you wouldn't be buying trees tall enough to clear the fence tomorrow, you'll have to grow them out right against the fence for many years before they'd get tall enough to provide privacy from second story windows next door. By the time the conifers get tall enough to do you any good you'll have gotten used to the lack of privacy. Last- a "row" of only one species/variety plant is prone to disappointment because if you lose one five years down the line it is impossible to match a replacement up with the rest. For that reason alone I'd vary what I used. I'd use smaller mostly deciduous trees in a mixed bed planting- I'd use Cercis, Cornus kousa and alternifolia, ornamental fruit trees like plum or cherry, small Magnolia, carefully chosen Japanese Maples, and a smattering of broadleaved evergreens and conifers and hollies. OR I'd bite the bullet and have a very nice trellis added to the top of your fencing, something permanent. OR I'd design my seating/relaxation area with its own screening and not try to screen my whole back yard. Your first step is to go out back, sit down in a chair, and chose a point of reference to determine exactly how tall a screen you need. As 3onthetree mentioned, you could be wanting something 12 feet or it could actually be closer to 20 and that matters a great deal when choosing trees and growth rates. And then ask yourself how many years you are willing to wait for screening to grow. If it is only a "4-5 ft wide" area as you mentioned one decent sized tree would be all you'd need. I've purchased full sized trees and had them installed and it wasn't nearly as expensive as I'd assumed. You could have a tree put in next week and have views blocked by the time it's warm enough to sit out. Beats waiting ten years for something to grow.