Filling in with smaller junipers won't work. There is really not at all much you can do with the existing situation other than remove and replant - this is what happens when a plant that is ultimately too large for an area is planted while still quite small and without an understanding of how tall or wide it can grow.

Where are you located? Depending on location, there are any number of plants that could be utilized for privacy that you won't have to wait years for adequate growth. And not all of them are conifers :-)

We are in the coastal San Diego area, USDA zone 10a, Sunset zone 24. I'd love to here some ideas for what we could plant there as an alternative to the Juniper. Thanks

i would plant on this side of the wall they are growing on .... and plant a new hedge of some type ... and when that is big enough.. remove these.. and then replant in this space ...

a 10 year plan.. for sure ...

ken

Golly, in SoCal, your choices are almost endless..........podocarpus (will need pruning but tolerates hard pruning well), pittosporum, dodonea, Indian hawthorn, Grewia, Callistemon (bottlebrush), ceanothus, coffee berry (Rhamnus californica).

All are commonly used BLE hedging plants, take pruning/shearing well and are a lot more suited to SoCal than boring, grow-anywhere junipers!! Junipers are what you use when your selection for hedge-appropriate plants is limited......like in other parts of the country other than CA :-)) btw, NONE of these will take 10 years to achieve privacy hedge size.....maybe just a couple of growing seasons.

where would you plant them gal???

ken

I'd rip out the junipers and plant where the junipers are now. There's already a good 24" or so elevation from the raised planter and 2-5G shrubs of the varieties I mentioned will already be close to the same height the junipers are now. Easy-peasy.....except for the effort involved in getting those juniper roots out of there. But that's unavoidable.

I personally like the "legged up" look you have going there and really like Tsugajunkie's recommendation to clean up the dead wood leaving clean main trunks and branches. I intentionally pruned some yew and juniper bushes that way in front of my house. You might be able to plant some tall growing perennial or annual flowering plants just in front of/in between the junipers to add some lower greenery and color. Just my two cents!

My back is hurting just thinking about removing those Junipers. How long do you expect to be there? If five years or less, I'd go with TJ's suggestion. If longer, then I'd follow Gardengal's advice.

I would just clean up the trunks, get rid of the dead branches and twigs coming off them. I think they'd look sweet after that.

Would some type of yew work to fill in?

I would clean it up (per Jalcon's comment)and plant some type of flowers that can handle some shade in the gaps. I wouldnt think the sound would change that much one way or another, but you probably have insight I dont on this. Weigh the pros and cons. If blocking sound is priority and you are confident filling in will solve this to your liking (perhaps you pruned them back and noticeably noticed the increase in sound?), find something to fill up those gaps(perhapds some tyoe of yew). In the long run youll eventually be dealing with the "filling-in specimens" outgrowing the space, even with pruning. Filling in to get Frankenshrub is something I would try, if for no other reason than no one recommends doing this. Done properly (soecifically pruning as it ages) I think a Frankenshrub with the juniper up top and something else below would look pretty cool.

The elevated dirt bw the walls in gonna be solid roots. Really not ideal for planting anything. That is a situation where I would fertilize.

If it was me id fill up the gaps with little $5 hicks yews and call it good. I dont like the site of the fence bars. Im confident in 5-8 years +/- it would be rockin.

LOL!! If you folks from the midwest/east coast had the wide range of BLE plant choices as the OP in SoCal does, you would not be recommending either maintaining the junipers (ugly mothers and no amount of pruning is going to make them look good) or adding something as commonplace (but perfectly serviceable) as yews.

Then again, perhaps the OP is not as tuned into the local flora as others in their vicinity. Really, it is their choice.

btw, plants do not make effective sound blocks. You need a solid wall for that, preferably concrete or masonry.

I remember in June 95 when I moved to 1000 Oaks, CA from Columbus, Ohio. After my first day there, I remember thinking it was like that rare "perfect day" that happens perhaps 1-3 times a year in Columbus.. Then the next day was the same. Repeat for over 100 days. Then maybe there was a cloud in the sky. Now Im back in Ohio, but with 2 acres (and a red fox prancing around on it Sunday, just my 3rd fox siting in over 35 years around Cbus)