Prefers full sun, will grow in part shade but will not be full and dense there. Here in its native area growth is favored by frequent disturbance, with hemlocks and arborvitaes supplanting it if fire intervals long enough.

Are you in a suitable climate for this tree?

I was guessing on the low side saying 6 hrs of sun. It might be more close to 8hrs but no more than that.. Would that not be considered full sun? I am upstae NY also. I am really just torn between the spacing and if I should just plant a staggered row on my property or altenate between the two. I would be buying 6' trees and plan on staying here for awhile so I am trying to take there size into consideration as well. One positive would be I would save money, but I'm more concerned with the look and want that screen effect while trying to disguise the fence and much as possible..

I'd plant smaller, esp. if economizing is a concern. A huge tree in a suitable climate, so close spacing probably not needed. 'Green Giant' no midget either.

I'd be cautious about using Douglas-fir in NY (or anywhere in the northeast USA); it has a high rate of infection by needlecast diseases in the region, resulting in thin, sparse growth.

Norway Spruce or Nordmann Fir might be better choices.

Resin

Here is a link that might be useful: Douglas-fir diseases

i would NOT do all of one type ...

diversify your planting ... just in case something comes along much later ... and wipes out one type.. then the rest remain ..

ken

Since you're in New York and if you want to spend pennies on the dollar, give Treehaven Evergreen Nursery a call. Doug fir, no way! This guy sells very large seedlings for about 1.29 up to around 2 bucks each. He has all of everything you'd ever need and is knowlegable. His name is Don.

Elma, NY Hilltop Tree Farms - Treehaven

If you want to disguise the fence, putting half of the trees on the other side of the fence may not completely accomplish that goal. If you go that route, maybe supplement with some companion plants on your side? Cooperation with your neighbor can be a great way to create a cohesive design. One downside is the possibility that your current neighbor moves away, and the new incoming neighbor decides to remove the trees on their side.

Thanks for the responses. After some thought and a few conversations with some local landscapers I have decided not to go ahead and get involved with my neighbor. If they move it would mess up my screen and I'm not willing to waste years of tree growth on that.. I'm still going along with a staggered row on my side, but I'm now worried about the diseases associated with Douglas firs here in NY!! Is it that bad? Could I have success? i would be planting about 10 staggered to create a screen. I Know many preach diversity, but I'm not a fan, nor am I a fan of Norways spruces.. Sorry, but what other options would you guys suggest. Leyland Cypress???

Oriental spruce
Korean fir
Abies x borisii-regis (Bulgarian fir)
Abies chinsiensis (Chinese fir)
Canaan Fir (A.balsamea x Abies fraseri: very quick)
Momi fir - sharp needles (Abies firma)
Abies homolepis (Nikko fir)
Fast ... Thuja occidentalis 'Hetz Wintergreen'
Concolor fir (White fir)
Abies alba (Silver fir, European)
Nordmann fir (Abies nordmanniana)

Doug firs will look terrible. They'll be sparse & full of disease and will attract more pest problems because of their state of weakness and succeptibility. You're wasting your own time, forget it man. You need to pick something that grows well in your climate. It's all about reaching a species that grows similarly in a climate that echoes your own.

I'm telling you straight up, Treehaven farms is a wonderful nursery. And, it's in your neighborhood.

Dax

You can add Picea omorika to the list.

Could you have success with Doug fir? Best odds are if you diversify so when/if you no longer dig the Dougs you'll bless the backups. Are there many large establish Doug firs in your area?

tj

Not disagreeing with those who have pointed out the possible issues with D-fir in N.E. U.S. but........it is not a foregone conclusion that every individual will be disease-ridden. I say this only because there are some decent specimens in my area, which is not too dissimilar to your own. But I do advocate for mixing up the planting to some degree. At any rate, Dax has certainly provided you with a nice list of possibilities.

+oM

Well after hours of research, help on this site, and several trip to many nursuries it looks like the Douglas Firs are not the tree for me!! Most don't sell them, and steared me away from them, stating they are disease prone in my area... I stated earlier I am not a fan of Norway Spruces, but I saw some nice healthy looking 6 footers that kind of caught my eye today and said the hell with it. I put 15 on hold and will they will be delivered this weekend. I measured the area that I want to screen and it's 56ft. I want to do a staggered row, but am having a hard time on spacing. I think 15 is way to much for this area, so I will call on Friday to cancel a few, so how many do you guys think I need? 10' on center? Thanks.. Also the soil is heavy clay and does not drain that great, so do you think I should plant them on a berm?

I'm a fan of berms in non-draining heavy clay sites.

Something I see a lot of, which I find to be an abomination, is large, industrial-scale berms, around say, a shopping center, with inevitably, tall-growing plants like spruce planted up on them. There 'may' be a plant-culture reason for planting up on top of high berms, but esthetically, it's just horrible. Micro-relief always looks bad and unnatural. Furthermore, in constructing said berms, some piece of heavy equipment ran over and over the clay soil being piled up to build the berm, so what you end up with is an out-of-scale landscape feature that does not really provide good growing conditions anyway.

Now, a 'raised bed' planting can blend in with its surroundings much better. Overall though, Norway spruce is quite well suited to growing in heavier soils. If it was my project, I'd skip the berm and instead just create a large, wide planting bed of loose, native soil. If you like, you could add compost to the entire planting area, which would give the trees a good growing environment for years to come. The key here would be to amend the entire area. Don't add anything to just the backfill soil when you plant. That doesn't help and can cause drainage weirdness to ensue.

+oM

Too right +oM on the industrial-scale berms! Only thing to hope to plant on them is Alnus cordata which appears to be capable of breaking through the heavily compacted concrete-like 'soil' and (slowly) improving it.

Resin