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I am doing some research on privacy trees. I am looking to replace a set of overgrown evergreens on the property line for neater, better, fuller coverage. My neighbor's house is set further back in the lot, and his house is situated lengthwise. So the long side of his house aligns with the entire side of my backyard, not the side of my house. i.e. on the side of my backyard, there is a wall of house 2.5 stories, 8 feet behind my fence, with about 6 rooms peering over my yard.
Ideally, I am looking to cover 50' of property line with replacement trees, with spacing maybe 5 ft apart in front of my fence.
-15'-20' feet high (not to exceed 30' fully grown).
-Around 4-7' wide, so it doesnt brush up against neighbors house
-Good thickness / privacy all year round; i.e. doesnt drop its leaves in the winter
-Something that could be purchased relatively mature, so I dont have to wait a few years to regain privacy after i take down the existing evergreen trees
-Could cut the bottom 4' feet of the tree to expose my fence, and could have some uplights underneath.
The look I am going for is a set of hornbeam trees, however, the winter coverage is very weak, as the leaves turn brown and/or drop.
Another option i am seeing is a giant thula, which probably has the best coverage all year round, however, i dont think i could cleanly "remove" the bottom 4' feet of them, since it is more like a hedge than a tree.
I am also concerned that if i cut the bottom 4 feet of the new trees, then as they grow, the line of coverage will rise above my fence, allowing a line of site into my backyard from my neighbors 1st floor windows. (I think that is what is happening now with the overgrown evergreens)
Anything help would be appreciated.
Here's a photo (the garage is being removed/relocated, so the length of coverage will be double)
Last edited by ThermonMermon; Nov 7, 2017 at 08:26 AM.
Im about to do bamboo in troughs for some privacy from my neighbors. They arent on top of us as bad, but since the bamboo grows 3-5ft a year we should be able to lose sight of them in the next 2 years. We are also interested in the bamboo to block noise as we tend to stay up late drinking and bbq'ing on the patio
Two landscapers agreed - giant thuja. The largest you could buy is 10-12 ft, and they grow a few feet a year up to 20-30 feet.
One came in at 4500 and the other at 5500. 400/ea, at 7 hedges, plus removal costs of 5 small trees between 20-40 feet. Price is largely driven due to buying the most mature ones possible. Covers about 40 feet of property line.
Last edited by ThermonMermon; Feb 16, 2018 at 09:54 AM.
We ordered giant thujas but then cancelled it. The max size was 9 ft. We decided to go with European hornbeams. We were able to find them up to 16 feet tall for immediate coverage. Also, they allowed us to keep our flower beds underneath. The downside is the leaves turn brown and likely drop during the winter. But you get fantastic yellows when they come into bloom.
We ordered six to line up against our neighbors house. I wouldn’t really recommend these in most cases as the more mature ones were 1k each with delivery and installation. But justified it to block neighbors house.
They come in many variations. I’ll post pics when they get here in a week or two.
First pic pic is what we ordered. The second pic is what I think they will look like, trimmed. Other pics are different variations.
