Looking for a very specific tree...

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

I am having some trees removed from my property. They're dying, falling down, snapping in half, and are about 200' tall and looming over the house....so they've gotta go (luckily all of the ones that have fallen seem to fall uphill). Once those are removed I want to replace them with something that will be really useful. I've done some research but would also like your opinions on a tree that is:

Evergreen - this is a must.
Excellent as a windbreak.
Privacy, I like to feel secluded and surrounded by the trees, I live on half an acre so there's some good space between neighbors, but I definitely still notice them and would like more privacy.
Adaptable to dense, wet, clay soil
Is very sturdy/has a strong root system
Massachusetts zone 6a (cold, wet, brutal winters - except for apparently this year it seems)
Preferably does not shed massive amounts of pine needles like my current ones do

Some of the ideas I've come up with include Canadian Hemlock and Thuja Green Giant. But I'd like more ideas, or to know if my selections are even good ideas haha.

Here's what it looks like currently (trees have not been cut yet) - big*** white pines that keep falling down. (thankfully uphill). There's quite a bit more that wraps around the left side - hard to get good pics it's an awkward angle.

View: the deciduous trees to the left of the pines.

view: standing in front of trees looking towards back of property (that little area is a shade garden)

Further to the right side (it extends very far back).

view from driveway (told you it was a weird angle lol)

the left half of this picture is where the new trees would go to help add privacy particularly in winter when the deciduous trees are bare.

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Comments (4)

cecily 7A
5 years ago
ilex opaca
bengz6westmd
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Keep in mind deer will chew anything green when there's snowcover like you have, including holly, rhododendron, hemlock, green giant, etc. Hemlocks get attacked & killed by the hemlock woolly adelgid & aren't recommended.
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
5 years ago
with removal of the old dead ones.. im wondering how those left will respond.. to increased sunlight ... you might want to see what happens during this summer .. and plan on fall planting ...

conifers.. evergreens .. prefer full sun ... anything less will impact annual growth rate.. aka speed of growing in the future ... meaing its going to takle a long time to accomplish your goals ... and longer depending on how many hours of sun ...

do you know why they died.. id put my shiny penny on all the bulldozing when your house was built ... disturbing a significant portion of the mature trees root mass ...

your clay should be irrelevant as to the long term.. obviously these stood there for decades with little or no problems ...

the issue with clay is how you plant and care for a transplant .... until it can put its roots into native soil ... and get established ... seems like we have discussed this often with you across the various forums ... but if not.. we could expend on it ...

finally... trees planted closer to the viewer .. fill the line of sight faster than those planted far away ... is there a reason you cant work in the grass hill.... rather than way out there in the lesser sun forest ??

think outside your box ...

ken
Embothrium
5 years ago
Nothing you have is anywhere near 200' tall - how tall do you think the house is? Otherwise when a bunch of comparatively young trees are jammed together into a dense stand resulting from a major disturbance such as logging there will be lots of things such as you have mentioned happening. As a normal course of events. In fact even an old growth (200+ years) forest will often be strewn with fallen branches and entire trees that have failed during high winds or other occurrences.

Also when an opening - such as your cleared building lot - is made in a forested site there is damage resulting from the additional admission of sun and wind.