First image shows spruce, probably Norway, Picea abies, second shows spruce and pine. Are you wanting to remove everything? Location would be helpful. The pines may have some issues, the spruce looks fine.

Nicer might be opinion based. What do you like, where are you, and what do you need any trees there to do?

could you clarify your goal???

the pine should be the first to go ...

ken

and what do you mean by strangled????..... maybe thats what the second pic is supposed to show????

ken

not sure what you mean by strangled but.....

you could remove every other one to free up some space then add some underplantings. You could also cut them down (shame, those are beautiful norway spruce) and Replace with something likeacer rubrum, acer saccharum, acer platanoides 'Royal Red'. I could provide more suggestions if I knew where you where. Maples aren't messy trees and should be fine by a pool.

i figure they dont want deciduous trees because of the pool ...

the spruce were limbed up.. either to install the fence.. or because those trees with huge potential were planted way to close to the fence ...

ken

Thank you to everyone for your responses. It has been more helpful than any other advice that I have received. I indicated that the pines were " strangled" because as someone mentioned they were planted too close to the fence line and because they compete with trees on my neighbors property don't seem healthy (starved for light/water?). Up until recently the fence was old and falling down and the pines had dropped saplings that were enormous. We have sinned removed those but now the poor condition of the pines and the lack of interesting and varied plantings stands out. We now just have a long prominent fence (on two sides of the property) and a row of overgrown pines. We live in the Northeast. Any further assistance is greatly appreciated.

Do you want plant suggestions? Where in the northeast do you live? What is your USDA hardiness zone? Is there anything specific you are looking for in replacements?

I'm reasonably certain that the "pines" being referred to here are the obvious row of Norway spruce in the photo. And yes, that is given the fact that there is at least one actual pine-the Austrian (I think) pine in one of the views. That tree appears to suffer from Diplodia tip blight and/or any of a number of common pathogens that plague that species. Basal cut is the only solution for that one. But with more photos, more views, perhaps we could come up with something a bit more meaningful in terms of a way forward. Incidentally OP, every single planting on a given property need not be composed of ten or twenty different species. It is a long-known fact that in landscape design, repetition equals power and harmony, assuming it's not a plant collection you're after. Large-growing conifers, like these Norway spruce, can and often do provide the perfect foil for smaller, more varied items to their front-as viewed from the primary direction, whatever that may be.

They are however, quite close to that fence, and at some point, that's going to be an issue. Might take a while though. How long have you got in this location?

they arent going to get too far.. if they keep calling them all pines ... and think that a spruce looks like an unhealthy pine ...

there isnt anything to do with the spruce ... they are not going to regenerate down low ... and you dont have a lot of space to plant in front of them ... to plant a new wave of site blocks ....

i would give them a year or two to recover from the fence job.. now that you cleaned out the area. .. and then decide if it is time for them to go ... if you decide such.. one way to maintain a site block is to remove every other one ... and plant something new ... give them a few years to get going.. then remove the rest .. the alternative.. is just to get it over with ...

with the space you have.. thuja green giant MIGHT be an option ... another conifer.. that is NOT a pine... lol ...

tom agreed.. in the last pic.. the actual 'pine'.. is diseased .. and should go .. inside joke about basal cut ... which means cutting it to the ground .... i am sure you can find some company to take money to spray it for a number of years.. but i highly doubt it will ever recover ...

good luck

ken

What you are calling pines are spruces, if you are referring to the evergreens in front of the new looking fence. On your neighbors side of the fence are more, unknown kinds of trees. You want to remove the trees on your side of the fence because you are concerned they are too crowded and overgrown and replace them with something else. Is that what you are saying? If so, we need more info, what would you like there instead, where exactly are you located, etc., etc., etc.

I am sorry, I am new to these forums and obviously do not have a green thumb. The spruces (not pines :) have few lower branches and are intertwined with my neighbors trees. And some seem to have lost all greenery hence my view that they seemed diseased. I plan to repost after a holiday hopefully with better pictures. We are likely to be here 15 years or so and we are located in Buffalo NY and the first picture is to the south east I believe. I would like to have a bit fuller of a look, something that conceals the fence a bit since it is so massive but perhaps something that looks like a bit more thought went into it then a row of spruce and a row of hostas. Really we just planted them to fill the space quickly until we figured something out. Overall this is a huge improvement from how the yard looked previously but it still has a ways to go.

cut down the pine, then remove every other norway spruce to provide space. some underplantings would also make it look better. I agree with kentrees, painting the fence would also improve the look.