Heya David. I have tried many plants in the part shade/shade realm myself and have had limited success. Full sun plants just simply look better and healthier in full sun. I can speak for a few of your plants, Rhodedendrons are actually BETTER OFF with that kind of a sun setting, part shade or even more shade. Your 'Skylands' may also benefit from this configuration though it may not be as brilliant gold as other specimens, it should burn very little(if at all) with this limited sunshine. Others will have to chip in on the others.

One more thing too, very important to your problem, is the light will actually be at it's strongest/longest on June 20th/21st, which is the longest daylight day for any location in the Northern Hemisphere. You should have upwards of 15-16 hours of daylight that day, so you may want to measure again then but also, bad news, by Aug/Sept. it will be MUCH LESS sunlight on those same trees as your days will be closer to 12-13 hours long and the maples will still be in full leaf.

-Will

shade will not kill plants.

all it does is reduce vigor .. and make the 'establishment' period longer ...

you have nothing to lose in trying ...

your bigger problem.. with large maples.. is insuring PROPER WATER thru the whole root mass ... for at least this year.. and maybe next ...

PROPER PRUNING of the maple has nothing to do with harm.. nor the long term health of those maples ... if done properly .. which would NOT involve cutting large branches at the lot line... if you go this route.. see if he will allow the tree trimmed to properly cut at the trunk.. rather than at distance ....

did you imply they were just planted this spring???

forget about the rhodies .. other than water.. they should do OK in the shade.. presuming its not too dark ... same with the ERC ....

lots of good words in your post.. but pix would speak louder ... see link ... the HTML code ...

good luck

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: how to post pix

Thanks for your messages. Relieved to hear that some of the trees will do okay and the others aren't in too much danger. They were planted a few weeks ago, all of them are about 4 or 5 feet tall. I'm going to talk to my neighbor about pruning the trees. Some are really blocking the sun; i think that it could increase the sunlight - fingers crossed that I can get his consent.

thanks again for your thougths. I appreciate it. I'm still concerned about the Green Giants but hoping for the best.

Here are a few photos i took earlier this evening.

Wow, those are HUUUGE trees and I can't see a pruning job really helping because they are so high and wide. It may just be that you'll have to do with the light you have and see how things go. Also a pruning job is going to be VERY expensive even if it is recommended(which I can't imagine) and he gives his consent.

The Picea orientalis 'Skylands' is planted to close to the fence. Not enough room to grow symmetrically and falls way short of needed sun exposure especially the side facing the fence. This is a highly desirable and sought after cultivar. It will not prosper where you have it planted.

You need to move it out into the yard.

It needs 8 hours of full sun. A screen is also recommended for two years to acclimate or it will burn.

The same applies for Juniperus virginiana... aka eastern red cedar but in the real world not as sought after or valuable as the 'Skylands'.

Dave

Eastern Hemlocks may do fine, and are excellent trees even if they may get too large in 30 years, but you may have to worry about the Adelgid problem.

Nootkatensis or Alaskan Cypress (also called false cypress or yellow cedar or a dozen other names) does okay in less than full sun, or at least looks okay.

You could at least move the row of trees out away from the fence to a little more sun and put Hostas along the fence?

do what dave said ... but what he didnt say was.. and i will yell ....

DO NOT MOVE THEM NOW ... its just too close to the heat of summer.. it is stressed from one planting.. and we dont want to stress it ... as the heat grows in july/august..

if you are in z5 MA ... you would do it in either late sept/oct ... when the other trees leaves turn colors. ..

or immediately after ground thaw in spring.. thru the end of april ... which would give it 8 to 10 weeks to get the roots pumping water.. before the heat of next summer ...

there is nothing to do about those trees .. short of buying the lot.. etc ...

but i sure dont like the one giant one.. that seems to overhang your house ... which might be an optical delusion of the camera.. in the last pic .... its above a green conifer .... either the juniper or GG ... if it could fall on grass.. ignore it ...

what i think about with those pix.. is the heavy machinery that was needed to build your house .. which looks rather new.. and the long term impact of soil compaction and root crushage.. on those giant old trees.. i would suspect long term .. 10 year .. decline ....

ken

I dunno Ken-Verlio's house doesn't look newish to me, what with the stone foundation (I think). In any case, you are correct about two things there: Root compaction IS a huge problem for established trees, and the damage shows up slowly. But at least to my eyes, this does not appear to be such a case.

If neighbor guy does allow for some trimming on his trees, hopefully it will be done by someone who knows proper techniques, someone who is ISA-certified. That's not quite a guarantee of good work, but it's a great start.

+oM