just happened to be on the roof .. lol ... with the camera???? ..

IMHO.. its overly mature.. and incredibly large for that small yard..

personally.. i would get rid of it.. before i landscaped the rest of the yard ...

do power lines run thru it.. or is that a camera trick???

and if thats a burning bush next to it.. that would go also ..

there is no inherent value in this old monster.. dont get confused.. and think it has any value to your wonderful new home... start fresh .. plant your own mistakes.. lol ..

ken

ps: can you tell the difference between a hemlock and a juniper???.. does that trunk remind me of Jun. viginiana??? ... you might want to fully ID this thing ...

Haha the pic is taken from our 2nd floor master bedroom looking out to the backyard - didn't feel like going out on the roof...

Actually our yard is a decent size - not huge at all but still decent size at least for a newbie like is. Area pictured is probably about 1/8-1/6 of our entire backyard. This is only the northwest corner of the yard. This tree is very close to the power pole, and nicely blocks the ugly of it. Also, we removed a large oak tree that was awfully close to our house in the front yard recently, and don't want to spend so much cutting it down. I would like to work around it if I can.

I am not a big fan of that bush either... but it is healthy. We cut down so many ugly looking one, believe or not, that was one of the better looking ones! I just didn't want to cut down everything, have to start all over, spend so much $ and feel overwhelmed, especially not knowing that much about gardening... Any suggestions that I can work with leaving it in?

On the id.... hmm this tree has small "pine cones" that seem to be the characteristics of hemlock. That's why I thought it was hemlock. Do Junipers have that?

i admit my reaction is the same as Ken's Get rid of it and get something beautiful you'll enjoy every season every year:stewartia, paperbark maple; an unusual conifer or any chamycypress at all.
So little time on earth, so many beautiful trees. Dont waste your time on a plant past its freshness date.
marie

Hemlocks aren't as bad as some other trees such as red maple. The attached photo shows hostas doing okay under three large hemlocks atlthough they may have done better if planted in Spin-Out-Bags.

Wouldn't it be a long time before any new tree to become sizable? Also if I do decide to cut the tree down, I don't think the stump grinder can get into the backyard to do the work. Would I just leave it in place? Quotes would be around $1000 or more for cutting I would think, for this area.

squirejohn - I always wanted to get hostas, but would I be sending an open invitation to the deer in the neighborhood? Your hostas look beautiful!

If you want to leave it for the screen value, I would limb it up about 10 feet and get rid of the other small growth in the area. You can plant many things under it but build the deer fence first. Al

Before doing anything, get a correct ID. It does look a lot more like a red cedar than a hemlock. They are very different trees, and given the current size, are going to develop in very different ways. If it's a red cedar, it isn't going to get much bigger, and is on the downward side of its life cycle. The wood is very rot resistant, so the stump will naturally decay quite slowly, and it is fairly common to find something constructive to do with the wood. If it's a hemlock, it's a baby. Established hemlocks grow fast, and get BIG.

This is not my picture (found on google), but this tree has little pine cones that look like this. Based on the leaves/cones, I am pretty sure this is what my tree is - and the picture ids it as hemlock. Looks like they grow up to 80ft? Holly cow! I thought it was already big as is. It is well above our 2 story house now, so I would guess around 40-50ft. The house was built in 1969 so I wouldn't be surprised if it has been here for a while. There was only one previous owner prior to us.

Canadian hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) and the bush looks like some species of nonnative holly or boxwood. I would personally keep the tree, its native and many species of birds enjoy the cover and the seeds produced by the cones like red crossbills. I would remove the bush and add a bunch of native plants that like dry shade (lanceleaf tickseed, red columbine, sundial lupine, blackeyed susan, shrubby St.Johns wort, New Jersey Tea). You might also want to consider a waterfeature in that area as well.

Can you climb off the roof and get a close-up of the foliage of your tree? And a pic of the non-pine cones (if any) your tree has. ;-) Heck, to me it could even be a Leyland Cypress from this distance.

tj

It looks like a hemlock to me and I agree about trimming it up about 10 feet. Liquid Fence works for me although others in areas with very high deer populations haven't had good results.

ok.. small lesson ...

juniper and hemlock.. are conifers.. because they have cones...

pine have pine cones..

hemlock have hemlock cones..

and juniper have juniper cones.. sometimes called berries.. but still cones.. [of which you can turn vodka into gin] ...

THEY DO NOT ALL HAVE PINE!!! CONES ... lol ..

anyway..

you are in a box.. i wanted you to look outside of it.. and thats done..

the biggest problem.. and only real limitation to planting under a very old.. very large trees will be water management ... you are going to be planting under a super competitor ... and NOTHING will thrive.. if you dont water it.. for at least a year or two ... just so they get going..

after that.. then we can talk about dry tolerance...

the second factor.. will be if you can actually get a shovel in the ground .. but you will figure that out ...

google something like: hemlock forest ... or better use the latin.. and you will find out.. that most of our cute little garden trees.. the species.. as compared to named cultivars .... are really forest monsters often harvested for manufacturing ...

that thing was probably planted by the first owner.. and if, say.. the house is 30 years old.. it has the potential to be twice as big in 60 years ...

the cheap way to take care of this thing ... SINCE IT IS PLANTED IN THE UTILITY EASEMENT .. IS WHEN.. and they will show up.. when the utility shows up.. dont argue with them about it.. tell them you have no objection.. if they take it down completely ... most the time.. they will do it ... simply so they will not have to come back ... [and sometimes.. the dudes will work cheap for some pocket money .... but dont tell anyone i told you that... and they are usually very good at what they do.. as compared to bubba with the chainsaw ...]

good luck

ken

ps: i used to climb on the roof of my ranch to take pics ... lol

I'm all for "proper things in their proper places," but I wonder if the large trees in the background shouldn't be considered part of the "landscape design." They will certainly dominate the view, when they leaf out, and the hemlock will fit right in with them. I wouldn't dream of removing or damaging it. I would give it a little water, from time to time. I also don't see a problem with that very healthy looking shrub, which the deer seem to find unpalatable. I'd leave it be, too. You're simply not well situated for a colorful "cottage garden" style. You might try one of the regional forums for specific plant suggestions.

Ok, here is the picture of the tree close up. Hopefully this will end the hemlock vs. juniper debate! What do ya think?

Excuse my ignorance with the cones/type of trees. Newbie as I said before....

I actually had utility guy come out to take a look at this tree because I was worried that its branch is rubbing off the line, and he said it looked fine and they won't be cutting it down, etc. We simply won't be able to afford to cut it down (let alone not sure if utility will allow us to since it is so close to power line) at least this year. All our flower beds are nearly empty and they need a lot of shrubs/flowers, and I need a fence to keep the little one from running off the hill. I didn't want to abandon this space for two years in a row and wanted to get something planted before our baby #2 comes.

What are the best bets I can try planting? I don't mind watering them regularly to get them established- I've got timer! But of course I want to plant something that will tolerate the dryness.

Here's picture of the trunk in case it is helpful!

Also when I walked up to it just now, it does look like the lowest limb is about 10ft off the ground, although the end branches of them are lower and closer to the ground. Would I just trim those branches or limb up further?

This post was edited by mklmkl12842 on Wed, Apr 10, 13 at 13:23

Yep, a hemlock. First thing I'd do is cut those branches wrapping around the trunk and see what you have.

tj

If you want to protect any plants in the garden from deer, I have had success by planting herbs such as sage, thyme and marjoram amidst the other flowers and on the perimeter of my flower beds. Sage comes in different colors and variegated and can look very pretty. We used to live in a neighborhood with lots of deer. Every morning and every evening, the deer would walk through our yards and past a flower bed with lilies and a rose bush, considered delicacies by the deer. The first year, I noticed both being mowed down to the ground. Around that time, I read that deer didn't like scented herbs. I had already planted sage and thyme in that bed. The sage re-seeded itself and started growing next to the lilies and the rose bush. Not only did the grey of the sage complement the pink flowers on the rose bush, nothing was eaten from then on even though the deer walked past the flower bed daily. Hope that helps

I grew up in a home on land with several mature and juvenile hemlocks, and you need to be very, very careful of their root systems. If you plant lawn over their roots, or regularly use a riding lawn mower over their roots, you'll start to see the trees decline. My father lost several before getting good tree expert advice that helped save the rest: Mulch, don't plant, over their root zone.

He circled the area in an attractive way, put in large bark mulch, and in a spot here and there put in large rocks, or a clump of lilies, or a large specimen hosta. There were small bunches of spreading Lamium, too, but not much. On the whole, if you want the hemlock to thrive, you need to leave it alone. They are very, very sensitive to root compaction and competition. Also, they love coolness and moisture and need regular watering if they don't have their normal cool, damp forested habitat around them.

They're beautiful trees. Enjoy yours.

THE plant for dry shade--Geranium macrorrhizum--big Root Geranium. Semi evergreen, handsome groundcover, highly deer resistant, easy to control, very attractive with late spring bloom and no dead heading, dividing or other attention required. What more could you want? Alternate--Epimedium sulphureum--slower to fill in, must be cut back in late winter, but very attractive and has early bloom.

If you garden in deer country, as I do, there is very little point in planting plants that deer love. It's a losing battle. And while it is true that starving deer will eat anything, there is a huge range of plants for both sun and shade that they generally have very little interest in. If your yard has mostly unappealing plants, they won't hang out there much. That said, I ALWAYS spray a new plant with a good repellant so if some young thing tries it, their first experience is YUCK! They spread the word. And having said all that, yes, I do have a few plants that deer will eat, and I do spray those. But they are very few, so keeping up with the spraying is not onerous and doesn't break the bank. However, I have NO hostas, yews, or tulips--the ones that say "Free Lunch".

I’m

Lol I was going to reply but then I saw the thread was a few yrs old
I have a similar situation . Lots of Canadian hemlocks . I planted them as a privacy screen . They are 15-20’ high . I struggle to contain them . I was hand pruning but it’s just to time consuming . I started shearing them . There is an arborvitae that grows aide on the bottom and resembles a hemlock . They are cheap fast growing and I don’t think any insects are a problem with them . So going forward I’m cutting a couple old ones down as needed and planting these in place of them . My neighbor plant a bunch the same time as me and they just let them go . They are timber trees and theirs all shaded out on the bottom and they cut all the lower branches off . So now they don’t really do anything . They haven’t found anything to plant under them either . Pretty sad because they started off nice and they paid for 6-8’trees
So that’s my plan . Mine still look nice but they are getting to hard to take care of .

All these people arguing over your tree when you just wanted shade plant advice lol. It’s DEFINITELY a hemlock, we have one that’s literally 100 yrs old in our yard and it’s way bigger than yours and our main shade tree. Keep it, it’s pretty. Trim it, plant hostas. Juniper my butt lololol.

Don please don’t listen to these people suggesting you cut down a mature, full hemlock tree!! Hemlocks in most of the country have succumbed to wooly adelgid. I spend a lot to have mine sprayed with dormant oil twice a year. Examine yours for the tell tale white eggs. I agree with lucyvail about geranium macrorhizum as the most suitable groundcover. It’s lush, nearly evergreen, snd practically floats on the surface of the ground. You’ll only need a few plants to start becsuse it’s eadily divided and spread. It’s also deer proof.

Your burning bush (euonymus alata) is problematic because it’s highly invasive in much of the country. It’s so hard to remove ostensibly positive landscape elements but when you consider the impact on our dwindling natural areas, you grit your teeth and do it.

Thank you all for your suggestions, but now I am a new house! Ha! The baby I was pregnant with is in 1st grade :).

I ended up not cutting down the tree but planted some shade plants under there. I needed to water it frequently the first year to get it going. I hope the new owner of the house took a great care of it!

I think the whole issue is probably moot as to the ID of the tree, whether or not it should be removed or what sort of groundcover is appropriate :-) This is a seven year old thread and no doubt the OP has already made all the decisions necessary a long time ago!!

Such is life in the Pandemic...