Privacy Screen

9 years ago

This fall I am cutting down at least two pine trees (probably 4) to give this maple
(perhaps a red?) room to grow (1st pic). They are basically dead garbage collectors at this point, anyhow. The tree to the left of the maple is part
of a cluster of evergreen screen (2nd, 3rd & 4th pics) from the
street and house of my retired neighbor lady, and her son, Creeper Jim.
I live in Minnesota, so evergreens are nice when the snow hits, but
they line both sides of my property and there is a grouping of 4 midway
up the backyard. I would like a bit of a change.

I'm wondering if this would be a good place/circumstance to incorporate some specimen shrubs or trees I've been wanting. i.e. smoke bush, magnolia, tamarisk, etc. I would not be opposed to adding a fresh new healthy evergreen to the mix. Thoughts or suggestions? I'd also be interested to hear from anyone in Zone 4 who uses shrubs/trees for a screen and what plants you use. The last photo is looking towards the street, so it would also provide an opportunity to wow the passers-by. I also have 2 silver maples planted between these trees and the garage. I wouldn't mind seeing them go. They are just too big and hulking for that side, and they will crowd out this maple within a couple of years!

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Comments (5)

PRO
Yardvaark
9 years ago
Relatively speaking, it is a close-up picture, so it would be anyone's guess as what the property "needed" from a landscape perspective. It can't be told how these plants will affect surroundings and their needs. And I'm not sure what exactly you're trying to develop, so no real opportunities to give suggestions about additions.

Beyond that, as I look at the maple structure in your first picture, I would not want a tree with a branching pattern like that. Limbs are coming off the main trunk at a very low position but are aimed upward sufficiently that most of them will end up being a large part of the canopy. This is not a pretty scheme. If you want a tree that is limbed up like a tree (so that a person could walk under it) the branching is much too low to the ground. The solution would have been to remove these lower branches as the tree grows so that you'd have a decent trunk and canopy by now. The fix is to begin doing it now and suffer with a canopy that has some gaps for a while. Eventually, you'll regain the shape of the tree without these lower limbs. If you allow it to remains as it is, you'll be facing the same problem to a worse degree every year.
hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
9 years ago
The tree forum would be a good place to ask this question. Some experts from your region there.
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grabembythegreenthumb
Original Author
9 years ago
And here I thought I was taking the photos properly after reading the lowdown on another post. I will take some photos of different angles this weekend. What I'm trying to develop a privacy screen from the neighbors house that doesn't consist of a cluster of dead pine trees. The maple can easily be trimmed when the evergreens are removed. I don't mind it being a little patchy for a couple years. There is at least a dozen silver maples on this property, so it will be nice to have one (eventually) that is a more structured tree with lovely fall color.
PRO
Yardvaark
9 years ago
Silver maples are not good trees. put your effort into something good and get rid of silver maples.
grabembythegreenthumb
Original Author
9 years ago
Not to cause confusion; the maple pictured is NOT a silver. They are horrible trees. Out of the 12+ silvers in my yard, only one is a nicely shaped monster of a tree. The rest have grown oddly, have branches breaking off consistently and the yard is terribly bumpy and lumpy where they are planted.