Screening trees for backyard privacy
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Anonymous
| How about Cherry Laurel? Green all year and grow quickly. I don't think they are native, but ours have done well. |
Anonymous
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Not native, but look at European hornbeams - they grow quickly and have dense branching structures. They look like a high hedge, and when grown together, can provide screening even in the winter when their leaves are off.
I also have cryptomeria and love them, but they are too close to the root zone of a black walnut and are dying off. |
Anonymous
| No no no to River Birch!! We just moved into a house with three clumps of them (three trees in each) and they are the messiest trees. They are constantly dropping small stick branches- like 50 in a week. Google them- while they are pretty- they are know for being SO messy |
Anonymous
| Easy answer: skip laurels. They grow quickly and are very Hardy and can grow up over a story high and you can hard prune them every couple years such that the only grow 4 to 5 ft wide. Total privacy. |
Anonymous
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WILLOW HYBRIDS, you want fast growing trees. I got them for screening in 3 years all three of my trees are 25ft-30ft tall.
I know they are not native but I dont like looking at my neighbors house. |
Anonymous
are there evergreens. I would want the privacy screen to be year round |
Anonymous
I looked into willow hybrids and it looks like they would be too large and wide for your narrow planting area. I’m looking for something similar so have been following this thread. Leaning toward skip laurels. |
Anonymous
pp is insane. Arborvitae are beautiful and a great plant for a lot of locations. |
Anonymous
Insane, really? NP but I think they are ugly and cheap looking. When I see them screening the side of an ugly McMansion, I think “Yup, typical.” |
Anonymous
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Skip laurel were the best screen choice ever, nothing else compared. I planted the biggest ones I could find, several feet apart, down whole narrow side of house, and now a solid green year round hedge taller then my house. Added to my other side as well. About 3-5 years later and total privacy. They grow in sun and even shade of bigger tree canopy. When I forget to trim them say after 3 years, I take the power hedge trimmer and cut off several feet of width back to just wood and branches, and by the end of next summer, it is all new green leaves. I don't think there is a more perfect choice. We own probably 40 of them!
If anyone can name something that beats a laurel for all these factors, I'd love to know. Most of the other evergreens need too much sun, grow too slow, or get way too wide. |
Anonymous
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You know what provides for some nice privacy.
A nice 6’ wooden fence. Get your survey. Get your fence. Then you can do some planting if you wish. Best investment ever. Protect your property. Peace. |
Anonymous
| We just went tree shopping for privacy trees and skip laurels were recommended. They grow fast, not wise, and get full. We ultimately bought Japanese holly, bc we liked the look better and needed to fill about 40 feet of space. But for a smaller gap, go with skip laurel as PP suggests. |
Anonymous
| Wide, not wise. Dumb phone! |
Anonymous
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I’d first talk to the back door neighbors to see what their plans are and maybe you can build on their choices
There are some lovely hollies that are tall/not wide. Liberty and other similar. I also like the foster hollies. If you have deer-stay away from arborvitae. River Birches are weed trees. In addition to dropping sticks all the time they get covered with aphids and there’s ‘honeydew ‘-sticky droppings. They also drop their leaves super early.. |
Anonymous
TOO SHORT. need privacy trees / hedge from upper floor. skip laurels sound good, |