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benannino

Privacy screen busy road

10 years ago

Need to block road view while accenting front yard curb appeal on very busy 1 lane street. Conifer needed. Suggestions? Boston area. Zone 5b. See pics. Thinking thuja green giants spaced 6ft. Maybe a norway spruce? There's general partial shade under a few old tall maples, oaks, apples. First pic looks to front left corner of yard, want to block that gap where car visible. 2nd pic looks to front right corner

Comments (14)

  • 10 years ago

    Deer? Because if you have them, the Arborvitate (Thuja, "Green Giant") will never look nice. You'll have to fence them . . . forever. Ask me how I know! Most conifers need sun or they look scraggly, and the ones that do well in shade are deer candy. If you don't have deer, then yews, arborvitae, and hemlocks are all good choices. If you do have deer, white spruce, Picea glauca can tolerate some shade and is stunning. Other options are blue spruce (overdone, IMHO) and Serbian spruce Picea omorika, which comes in a pendulous form just like Norway spruce, and I know this because I just bought one for a deer infested area. Serbian spruce is more columnar than blue and white spruce, so it wouldn't screen quite as well. You could mix them if you like that look. I would judiciously plant some pendulous Serbian spruces, because any spruce you plant is going to eventually get big and fight for life with your shade trees. So either commit to taking those out when the time comes, or give them all the space they need. You can put your street blocking shrubs up close to the house, my folks have three pyramidal arborvitae right up next to the house, forming a little living wall/courtyard that blocks off the bay window's view of the street. In that application, the deer have so far stayed away from them, I guess because of their closeness to the house, but even then, all bets are off with deer. They probably don't bother those ones because they are so busy eating the other ones we have planted out by the busy road . . .

  • 10 years ago

    Thanks for great response. No deer problem. There are arborvitae scattered around property and those aren't deer munched. Are you against norway spruce in that exposed lot corner, btwn bush and shade tree to left?

  • 10 years ago

    Green Giants are not a standard arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis) but a hybrid of two other species of Thuja that are significantly more deer resistant.


    Either selection will make a decent privacy screen.

  • 10 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    I absolutely adore Norway spruces. Have one in my front yard. They just need adequate sun. Can't really tell from your description. As for the deer, guess they didn't get the memo in my yard, or the shrubs we planted were mislabeled, which is entirely possible. Probably why they were on sale. I'm in the Midwest though, another thought is that the deer may have more cosmopolitan tastes for both east and west coast species. Green giant has been reported to be deer resistant in your area, and I have seen some beauties when I lived out east.

  • 10 years ago

    Vstavay that is tremendous thanks so much for that awesome suggestion??

  • 10 years ago

    Your neighbor across the road with the stone wall looks like he has what appears to be a Norway spruce up against his house. If you think you have enough room for it, go for it!

  • 10 years ago

    ok my bed is done. 2 yds of loam to build it up. Putting green giant immediately to left of bush. What to put btwn green giant and tree on left. It will be partial shade, prefer something conifer and full, that I can't kill!

  • 10 years ago

    Why not to plant the same bush that you have from the right? Conifer alone doesn't look good.



    benannino thanked User
  • 10 years ago

    Thanks vstavay!! I don't even know what the heck that Bush is. I'M it's ugly. Liking conifers for year round screen of road

  • 10 years ago

    How about like qty 4 arborvitae 3 footers kinda staggered.

  • 10 years ago

    benannino thanked User
  • 10 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    If you don't like that bush, plant a group of evergreens instead.

    benannino thanked User
  • 10 years ago

    Most likely will. Thanks