You can trim any of them but if you want that height then you will have to be working off of scaffolding or ladders. So much for trimming easily.

Carolina Sapphire Arizona Cypress seems to take trimming ok.
Planting so close to the house may be ok for a number of years, but will eventually (20-30 yrs) cause problems.

Thanks for the answers.

@scotjute: in which way do you mean problems? Do you mean damage to foundation?

Whether you get damage to the foundations depends on (a) how deep the foundations are, (b) what type of soil you have (heavy clay is most prone to shrinkage caused by tree roots), and (c) how large a crown you allow the trees to get.

The worst case I've seen was with a garage (possibly shallower foundations than the house) with a Leyland Cypress hedge that had been allowed to grow 12m tall, only 1m away from the garage, and on heavy clay. The garage wall had cracks nearly 2cm wide in it. Not good!

Resin

The soil where I live is classified as "humid sand-loam".
I have no intentions in letting the hedge grow higher than 3.5m and 1m diameter for each tree. Is it safe if I won't let the trees grow any taller than those dimensions?

hey

the dinosaur is back .. lol ..

i dont know why you think.. that trimming off the top.. is somehow going to slow down the root mass ... its two different equations ...

i would suggest.. its more an issue of what kind of foundation ... [plus soil] ...

are we talking 100 year old foundations .. that are already structurally unsafe ..

or are we talking rather modern poured concrete that is intact ...

IMHO .. trees are advantageous .... no tree is going to come to a piece of concrete.. and burrow its way into it ...

but they will find EXISTING cracks and holes.. and take advantage ...

so more facts on your foundation age.. and condition ....

if you took a few hundred hours to review all 69 pages of historical posts ... i believe you will find that there are many negative comments about cypress ... i am surprised that passion has not shown up here ... in your post.. though scot seems to dance around it a bit ...

lets take a step back and ask.. WHY CYPRESS???? .. you have no other options ??? or is this a situation.. where they are common and cheap.. and that fits the budget best [and that is fine.. dont take offense at that.. its my world, for sure] ...

perhaps a different post.. properly titled.. about options.. including a picture of the sight.. will get you more precise information.. and suggestions ...

and i am with bboy on your height ... working 10 to 13 feet above grade.. is 'doable' when you are young.. but as the decades roll by.. you will be having to pay to hire people to work at that height ..

good luck

ken

I'm not back, I just never left (it's too interesting here) :p

I took a picture of where I'd like a hedge to come. Since it's currently terrible weather here, I took the picture from out of our veranda. A hedge should come right next to our neighbours fence so we have a slightly higher green wall (in fact I think I'm mistaken and the hedge should only be something like 2.5m high). The place where I want it to come is a total wasteland so that's one of the reasons I want to make something nice of it too.
The house was built slightly less than 20 years ago. I don't know anything about the condition of the foundations but I think it already had to endure quite a bit since we have/had (I already cut it down and removed some of the rhyzomes) some kind of bamboo-grove at the other side of our house. (Some gardening company planted them when my parents did have the house built and that same gardening company didn't seem to find it necessary to install rhyzome barriers...)
The only reasons I thought about a cypress hedge are:
- I absolutely adore conifers :)
- We want something that stays green year-round
If there are any other evergreen possibilities, then feel free to tell me of course.

Oh, yes, almost forgot the crappy picture:

Don't plant a leylandii hedge over there, you'll regret this later on because it will grow to fast, to much work and your garden will get smaller by the year.
You need to plant a dense growing Thuja hedge like 'Smaragd' or 'Eurostar'...

"The soil where I live is classified as "humid sand-loam".
I have no intentions in letting the hedge grow higher than 3.5m and 1m diameter for each tree. Is it safe if I won't let the trees grow any taller than those dimensions?"

You won't have any problems with that!

Resin

liopleurodon,
I'm not expert on growing hedges. Have trimmed a Carolina Sapphire back as leader was leaning and tree grew everywhere, has yet to establish dominant leader 2 yrs later. This would seem a good candidate for a hedge for a # of years. Eventually (20-30 yrs ?) you would need to cut it out and start over.
Have observed several trees growing next to houses over the years and had to deal with them. Eastern Red Cedar seems to cause the least problems as does Italian Cypress. I personally would not want either closer than 18' of a structure, but they seem not to cause noticeable problems for years. Eventually any tree next to a structure will need to be trimmed or cut or in someway managed.
Arizona Cypress also seems to be fairly trouble-free next to a structure as it will tend to lean ever so slightly away from structure and apparently roots are not too damaging and limbs are not overly large. Somewhere between age 30-50 you will need to deal with it as in cutting or trimming.
A row of Nellie Stevens Holly would seem to cause less trouble and give you a fine hedge. Perhaps plant one conifer at end or center where you can let it grow to its potential for 20-30 yrs. to help assauge your coniferous desires!
Hedging a conifer is like training a coonhound to be poodle. Sure you can do it, but it's a lot of trouble and perhaps you's both be happier if you didn't fight nature so directly.

Scotjute, he's from Belgium, Europe...

Only something like Thuja occidentalis 'Smaragd' is going to fit in there. Will take quite some years to reach the desired height but then won't generate an annual big shearing and cleanup project either. Keep in mind that with a sheared hedge you have to be able to get at all surfaces, including on the back side, between the hedge and the fence, with ladders and other gear.

The space also looks too tight for a tall wall of green, which is likely to seem confining, domineering and gloomy.

what about de groots spire ... Thuja occidentalis DeGroots Spire ...thin.. tall ... and it could be topped at whatever height you wish ..

mine.. at 12 feet.. lets call that 2 meters ... was about 18 inches wide .. half meter?? ... w/o multiple leaders ...

its the width.. more than the height parameter ...

how deep is the bed from the brick sidewalk to the fence???

ken

{{gwi:242866}}

Thuja occidentalis 'Smaragd' indeed seems to be a good option.
@Ken, the width of the bed is 195cm (6.4ft), but it gets wider more to the left (which is not included on the photo, but where I want the hedge to be too).

I'll keep the Thuja occidentalis DeGroots Spire in mind too, but it seems to be less available where I live.

in your pic.. from the brick-work sidewalk to the fence is 6 feet?????? bottom right corner of pic????

i asked.. how 'deep' ... that means from you to the fence.. NOT how wide ... left to right ...

if you leave space at the fence.. and you want space before it infringes on the patio .. walkway .. whatever ...

then you are going to need a plant that is much thinner than smargard.. emerald green .... IMHO ...

and one thing for sure.. you will have to insure.. no matter what you plant.. they are single leader plants ... or talking about width is not feasible ..

we'll get you there.. dont worry if language gets in our way ...

ken

Yes, it's 195cm (6.4ft) from the sidewalk to the fence (measured it again).
The picture is probably not taken from a good angle, since I would think it would be way less than 2 meters too if I'd have only seen the picture. The other dimension (length I want to hedge to be) is somthing like 8 meters (26ft).

I edited the picture in paint to make more clear in which direction it is 195cm:

Liop, Thuja occ. 'Eurostar' will be your choice once you see it.
It's a cross between 'Brabant' and 'Smaragd' and does have a very dense habit, so perfect for a smaller garden.

Indeed, 'Degroot's Spire' is produced in a to small amound in Europe yet...

Liop, I choose Thuja occidentalis 'Boothii' for my hedge... Very easy to grow, not too wide and resistant to weather (wet snow). Very dense and fast growing. I also had a "problem" with the neighbors - there were just a mesh sieve fence. In the ground only 4 years....

Ireena

@Ireena: thanks for the suggestion, however searching for Thuja occidentalis 'Boothii' only gives me Latvian websites.

Eurostar only gives me very few results too.

What are the differences between Thuja occ "Smaragd" and "Eurostar"?

Liep, I think 'Smaragd' has narrower cone shape. But you can look at Edwin Smits nursery plant list. There are a lot of interesting hedge thujas - with pictures too. 'Green Pillar' for example...'Eurostar' too...

I am surprised that 'Boothii' is only available in Latvia. It is not a Latvian breed... Like us hugely popular 'Holmstrup'... 'Smaragd' is already weary....

Ireena

Yes, I've seen his website and it indeed has a very nice assortment of all kinds of Thuja hedges.

I suspect the Eurostar is a faster grower than the Smaragd too? (I've seen data of both the Brabant and Smaragd and Brabant seems to grow faster than Smaragd.)

@Edwin, if Eurostar is denser than Smaragd than my interest goes to Eurostar of course. However, I'm afraid prices will be a lot higher for Thuja occ. 'Eurostar' than for more known cultivars like 'Smaragd' and 'Brabant'. 1/4th of one side of our garden has to get that hedge, which is about 8m long. That will (if I'm not mistaken) make about 16 trees.

@Edwin (another question): if price of Thuja occ. 'Eurostar' isn't a lot higher, do you know of any nurseries that will transport those trees to somewhere near Antwerp? (Or perhaps does your nurserie?)

Liop, beside the 'Degroot's Spire', the 'Eurostar' is the second to one narrowst Thuja occidentalis hedge cultivar I'm familiar with.

I guess that I'm the only one here in Europe who's growing it in a larger amound.
The one's offered in Hungaria and Estonia derived from my nursery.

The good quality characteristic of the 'Eurostar' is that it grows much more narrow/denser then the 'Smaragd' and it is pretty maintenance free.

The growing rate is in between the 'Brabant' and the 'Smaragd'.

For a nice hedge it's wise to plant 2,5 specimens per metre.
In your case it's 8 x 2,5 is 20 specimens.

Because this cultivar is very rare in the trade will not say that it is more expensive.
I can arrange transport to you, no problem.
For more details you can reach me by email.

I would use Thuja occidentalis (the species) as it clips well as a hedge.

The species Thuja occidentalis would be the very last one to list of hedge conifers.
These will be propagated from seed mostly.
Because of this all plants will have their own DNA and a nice straight hedge can never be created.
Another negative habit of this species is that it will drop a lot of it's foliage and will create a lot of seeds at an early age, which will give it an ugly appaerence.
A lot of better seedling selections were introduced for these reasons.
Thuja occidentalis 'Brabant' is one of them.
It was selected by Geert Rombouts from Steensel, The Netherlands.