Here's a view of the property from location of the power pole that I want to hide. I've referenced Sunset's Zone 15, as the property is located in Walnut Creek, CA.

Unless you plant a ~dwarf cultivar and wait many years for it to size up these are likely to overwhelm your lot. This is a massive tree growing a tall and broad crown on suitable sites. When I went and looked at the historic (1871) row of them in front of the California capitol building in Sacramento these characteristically candelabra-shaped mature examples were so massive* it was hard to maintain a sense of normal scale and proportion - same as when I have visited the giant Sierra redwoods in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Better look for something else, maybe a clumping bamboo (such as one of the more vertical Bambusa species, if hardy there) as that will shoot up quick to provide screening but be comparatively slow to occupy a large horizontal area.

Or a modestly sized Eucalyptus species - you need something that will develop fairly rapidly yet not get huge. There are good tree collections in various California botanic gardens and arboreta, where you can see labeled examples of kinds that might appeal. University of California at Davis, for instance, has a noteworthy arboretum that might have generally similar conditions to yours.

*One of them was determined to be 101' tall with a trunk 17' 9" around - approximately 6' in diameter - during 1989; another planted example, in New Zealand had grown both taller and thicker by 1982

This post was edited by bboy on Sat, Dec 13, 14 at 14:45

Bboy is right of course.
Here are some pictures of some in India, and I think I've even seen some larger ones on another website.
OTOH if you like the look of them when they are small(er), it isn't the end of the world to plant one with the realization you will have remove it someday. Not the end of the world, but maybe not a good idea either. The estimate from my county's most esteemed tree removal practitioner to remove a 100' white oak was $8000. This in a pretty rural area. As it happened, it fell over in a storm a few years later, into a fallow field adjoining my property. The local countryfolk were happy to have access to the high quality firewood so it was gone in a couple weeks. Not likely to happen in your scenario: more likely is it would have crushed the house like a pancake.
(trees less likely to be downed in California given the relative paucity of hurricane force winds, but not impossible)

Here is a link that might be useful: http://batchgeo.com/map/662deedd6d41431fef9ebb528d6ea460

This post was edited by davidrt28 on Sat, Dec 13, 14 at 15:12

That website has those annoying internal URLs that are hard to copy. Obviously (to people who know this tree) you just have to click on the pins in Uttarakhand or Himachal Pradash to see them.

Overwhelm is the word that comes to my mind also. They get big and they get big fast. Many a yard here in the Seattle area is completely dominated by just one Cedrus deodara. And if planted near the property line for privacy, it dominates two yards.
They don't make good trees for privacy. They get too big and open and are difficult to garden under when they get some size to them.
They are used as a privacy barrier along I-5 in Seattle, but that's on a much larger scale than your typical suburban yard.
The few I have here on 10 acres have been trashed by ice and wet snow. I happen to like the resulting look as I'm not trying to grow perfect specimens or for lumber. You won't have that problem though in your Sunset Zone 15 in the San Francisco area.
Here's one of mine I planted about 25 years ago. It looks more crowded than it really is.
Mike
{{gwi:2125107}}

Deodara will get too big for that space, but as suggested, you can remove it when it does.

In this area (DC/Baltimore metro region) you don't see many large specimens of C. deodara, but a lot of smaller to mid-sized trees. Makes me wonder if they're truly hardy long-term. I know from heresay that a fair number in Howard County and west/north of here were lost in '94. Last winter didn't seem to be too bad on them, some mild to moderate needle burn but they recovered. However, there is only one truly LARGE deodara in my immediate area, and it appears to be 50+ yrs old and gorgeous. Most others are probably no more than 20-25 years old.

My neighbor has one in his front yard. It's quite beautiful. I suppose it will eventually need to come out. It's about 30 years old, maybe 40' tall. They must be slower here where there is less rain. He hasn't had any root problems, unlike the Ficus benjaminia on the other side of the house which completely blocked his water supply. He had to have the tree removed, some of his driveway removed and replaced, and the pipe replaced.

I have about 10 Deodars. I used a lot of them because they were able to take our hot Oklahoma summers a lot better than many conifers, especially like the record setters we had 3 and 4 years ago. They definately thin down their needles compared to how they look further north, but they are still pretty trees.

Now we've had two several cold snaps last winter and then just a few weeks ago where we went from weeks in the 60's to windy nights in the 20's literally overnight without any adapting time. Last year we had some days near zero. So now most of mine, and many of those scattered around thye city, are all freezer burned. You can drive around and see lots of Deodars with their tops cut off.

So make sure your climate will suit the tree. Most of them are not very hardy.

Mark

Colder winters burn some C. deodara even here in this part of USDA 8 - one of the common names is California Christmas Tree. After the 1990 winter even a percentage of large examples could be seen to have browned, here and there. Nevertheless there are still ones over 100 ft. tall in this area.

I appreciate all of the great comments! It seems the general consensus is that I should look for another species to provide a screen from power pole due to the restricted size of the area in question. I would really appreciate any suggestions regarding other species that could provide the desired screening and also enhance the yard!

Better look for something else, maybe a clumping bamboo (such as one of the more vertical Bambusa species, if hardy there) as that will shoot up quick to provide screening but be comparatively slow to occupy a large horizontal area.

Or a modestly sized Eucalyptus species - you need something that will develop fairly rapidly yet not get huge. There are good tree collections in various California botanic gardens and arboreta, where you can see labeled examples of kinds that might appeal. University of California at Davis, for instance, has a noteworthy arboretum that might have generally similar conditions to yours.

hairmetal: I wouldn't rule out "decline or removal due to non-hardiness related factors" as the reason for so few large cedars in the DC area. For example I remember a big one on Trap Rd. or thereabouts in Vienna, VA. At some point in the mid to late 00s, the last time I drove through that part of Fairfax County, I noticed it had been cut down. It was along the road, by a house that was close to the road, and I suspect either the utility or the owner decided it was just dominating the lot and the power lines too much. As I've noted about hollies, large, dark trees for some reason scare some homeowners.

Elsewhere there was a huge Cedar of the Atlas or Lebanon pursuasion...I could not be sure. It's the one I posted a picture of a while ago. It seems ot have some kind of foliar disease or decline. Maybe caused by soil compaction, herbicide damage or whatnot. I was aware of that tree and it was definitely not damaged in 1994, cause I did landscaping the following summer and I remember seeing it.

But yes, the winters of the late 70s, mid 80s and 1994 could have weeded some more tender strains of deodara out.

If anyone is planning to plant these in North GA, take heed. Two snaps taken 3 yrs apart...

Mar 13':

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.8837429,-84.4522403,3a,75y,232.83h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sFahf5nDVs6s1kpFkHqLthQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

July 16':

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.883762,-84.4523288,3a,75y,224.17h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sY9eAl8C96-np0yMuT1bnYg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

I would recommend podocarpus macrophylus. Maki is a shrub form, and for the most part, that's the taxon you find at the nursery.