I can think of several that might work for you, including Douglas fir, Norway spruce, white spruce, even Serbian spruce. They all are fast growing once established and do well on exposed sites. We have a similar issue of long property lines and an exposed, dry location. We have all four trees and they are doing well, even in this near-record heat and drought.

White pine also grows fast, but it's not very wind-resistant on exposed sites. Blue spruce is very dense and wind resistant but can be slow growing when young.

I'm sure others on here will come up with other ideas.

Good luck!

Dave

Norway spruce is your best bet, I think. They retain their lower limbs very well and have less storm breakage than white pine. They are also resistant or immune to most diseases. Blue spruce in some areas are very good and make just a bit more impenetrable screen, especially when young, but they are slower and in some areas are subject to one or two diseases that cause them to lose lower limbs--check with some local source of info on that. I would also check about doug fir before planting. Serbian spruce grows very, very well for me in the mts of western MD, especially in wetter areas. But they may not be as tough and adaptable to your varied conditions as NS. I like the NS especially because there is a lot of variation from tree to tree, which adds beauty and interest.

--Spruce

in the states.. we have soil conservation district offices that sell 2 year old seedlings.. of very mixed varieties .. something like 25 for 16 bucks .... these are plants for the district.. natives.. and a diverse bunch of stock ...I WOULD FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE that CA doesn't offer the same type of thing ... contact an Ag agent or some sort of thing..

next/.. diversify with a line that long .. it will be more pleasing to the eye.. and avoid infestations of plagues in the long run ...

finally ... PLEASE don't plant willows or poplars ... or cotton woods.. all are messy .. fast growing trees that die fast.. and lead to more problems than they are worth ... trust me.. grew them all.. cut them all down .. blah... lol

good luck

ken

Doug fir & Norways I have seen here & the Serbian & white Spruce sound interesting.
A neighbour of ours wants to thin out his yard full of large Norways and offered me some trees that look to be 20' or more for free I just have to supply the tree spade, however they are in a sort of a grove in the middle of his yard the outside part of the trees look great but the insides are all just brown and leafless(?) He seems to think that they will regrow the branches but I am not so sure. I sure do love the look of a weeping willow I still might reserve a spot for one or two !

"offered me some trees that look to be 20' or more for free I just have to supply the tree spade"

Not too good a chance of success, and digging will also risk the future health of the remaining trees.

"He seems to think that they will regrow the branches but I am not so sure"

You're right, they won't. What's brown will stay brown.

Your neighbour would be better off just cutting the thinnings down; there's nothing to be gained by tring to dig any out. Maybe he could do the thinning in December and sell the tops for christmas trees.

Resin

Darn good idea for christmas trees I'll sugest that to him next time. I remember from my youth in New Zealand a tree I think was called Radiata Pine that took 20 yrs from seedlings to harvest, large forrests of them were planted during the depression, now that seemed like a fast grower!!

I think one of the very best combinations of trees is a golden weeping willow growing in front of a screen of Norway spruce. The one problem you have with establishing this kind of combination/effect is the growth rates of the trees and judging the planting distance.

To start with the weeping willow (and I specify specifically the golden weeping willow for the color effect, among other things)initially grows much faster than the Norway spruce. They also get quite large and wide, so unless the Norway spruce are already large and growing fast, the golden willow can overwhelm them.

If it is possible I would give the Norway spruce a 15 year head start and then plant the golden willows about 25 feet in front. The effect is, in my view, stunning in all seasons!

--Spruce