Sorry. Located in zone 6. Suburbs of Philadelphia. We have laurels and rhodendroms but they aren't doing so well there. Looking for a taller shrub or tree.

Green giants? Or a nice hedge?

I think a mixed planting would look nice, but there are others on this forum who are way better than I at design. A conifer that's supposed to be shade tolerant is Thujopsis dolobrata. I don't have any personal experience with it, but it was recommended to me when I was seeking ideas on shade tolerant conifers. You could add in Picea omorika and Abies Koreans cultivars with the Tsuga you've got, and you'd be well on your way. BTW, it looks like a very nice property.

are the pix from a balcony???

and is it really that bad when the trees are leafed out??? ... how about a pic of that for reference ...

i suspect its a winter thing .... and you just dont want top see that house and drive behind ... correct???

and.. looking at shadows.. the line of plants goes east to west???

the base problem is you need for a fast solution ... as noted.. shade TOLERANCE ... is not an amount of sun.. that makes things grow fast .... a conundrum ...

and.. though its bugging the heck out of you ... how much time are you really going to be spending out there in winter ....

i also see power lines.... do will they be impacted if you ever get the height you want/need???

and where is the property line.. in regard to the black soil???

and about how far is that house behind .... do you just not want to see it.. or are you concerned they are peeping????

ken

Hi. Thanks for the replies

My property goes about ten feet past the mulch.

I love my neighbors but I guess it's just my ocd. We cleaned it up a bit behind there. But these are the pics in spring and summer. Not really an issue. Just wanted some blockage from the road when people drive up. They can somewhat see in my yard.

When you say Rhododendrons aren't doing well, what exactly do you mean? Are they just slow? Or are they chloritic from alkaline soil? Our native R. maximum gets quite large, is quite deer resistant (unlike most) and grows in the woods, so is highly shade tolerant.

Green Giant arbs, and indeed, most any conifer, even those with decent shade tolerance, will be thinner than you likely are looking for when placed in heavy shade. I'd look more to deciduous stuff, but then of course, winter leaflessness will leave you more or less right back where you are. I'm not a fan of broadleaf evergreens like the hollies and so on, finding their use in such cases to never blend in aesthetically with the existing plant types,, always looking artificial and contrived so will leave those recommendations to the fans of that group of plants.

+oM

I would want a few of the questions above answered before I could make any further recommendations.

Laceyvail asked: "When you say Rhododendrons aren't doing well, what exactly do you mean? Are they just slow? Or are they chloritic from alkaline soil?" I would also want to know the same thing about the mountain laurels.

Ken asked: "and.. looking at shadows.. the line of plants goes east to west???" Knowing the direction will help figuring out where to place plants in order for them to grow best.

Ken asked: "i also see power lines.... do will they be impacted if you ever get the height you want/need???" This is an important question since you don't want something under power lines that might grow up into them.

You answered Ken's question about the property line with, "My property goes about ten feet past the mulch." Does that mean 10' past the far side of the mulch or the near side lawn-mulch line?

I have a few additional questions:

Is it mainly the road or the neighbors that you want visual separation from? Since they are two different heights, different plants will address different priorities. Is the road as much lower than your property as it appears to me from the photos?

Would it be acceptable to plant on the far side of the wooded edge?

Would you be OK with losing some lawn to plant on the near side of the trees?