My soil pH is somewhere in the low to mid 7s and chammys do fine.

tj

Thanks, please recommend a cultivar of size I mentioned. Open to other conifers too.

Most any evergreen conifer or broad-leaf evergreen is going to be targeted by deer, especially when the ground is snow covered. Sometimes wrapping w/netting is the only defense. One of the few evergreens that weren't eaten by deer on my lot was southern magnolia, but that may be because of its location.

I'm not really concerned about conifer damage from deer. Deer pressure here is quite light--I'm just avoiding anything they really love.

Someone please offer some cultivar suggestions. Pine, spruce, chamaecyparis?

i dont do deer advice.. so i will leave that to others ... but here is some general info ...

as trees .. conifers never really stop growing in size .... there is no magical height nor width ... its all about the annual growth rate ... if your choice grow 3 feet a year ... then in 10 years.. it will be 30 feet tall.. and in 20 years .. double.. etc ...

so if you want to limit size.. you look for lower annual growth rate ... it takes longer to height.. but it should stay within the parameters you want longer ...

btw.. on the better sites... height estimates are usually at 10 years ... and presume the doubling ...

one thing that changes growth rate.. would be sun .. all conifers are full sun .. but most do just fine in some shade.. but as it darkens... it might impact density of canopy and annual growth ...

also .. as trees.. once fully established ... most should not ever need watering ... but with some of the foo foo ones .. variegated and what not.. a good drink during drought wouldnt hurt .... intensity of sun is a variable here .....

the last though would be to add a pic or two of the spot.. so useful suggestions can be made... you really only told us about pH ... other variables may be useful ...

ken

I knew you'd comment, Ken, about trees that never stop growing. LOL

I don't have a cell so no way to take a picture--have no idea how to post one anyhow. I'm developing a shrub/tree border for some privacy from my neighbor. The area is between our two houses but there's over 20 feet from the side of my house to the property line and about the same distance from property line to her house. The border is to the west of my house and to the east of hers, so there will be some shade, but very open shade, if you know what I mean.

I'm kind of lining it up to be in front of the bedroom window of my little one story house. If I can't get a good suggestion from you folks, I'll probably go with one of the (semi)evergreen Viburnums, maybe 'Allegheny'.

Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Gracilis' would fit the bill and is relatively widely available. As with most Hinoki cypress, it is pretty slow growing but over time can be expected to reach 25' while maintaining a narrow but dense and sculptural profile (common name is slender Hinoki cypress). And is not often bothered by other common conifer pest and disease issues.

I grow a lot of Hinokis personally and spec them often for client designs and IMO, they are indeed workhorses, requiring minimal attention after planting. Not fussy about soil conditions other than it be well draining, they would appreciate a good soak during very dry periods. Very tolerant of less than full sun but will not be happy in excessive shade.

As to deer, they are seldom selected by deer for browsing - my healthy deer population have never bothered mine - but agree that is likely a factor of available fodder. If deer are hungry, they will eat anything!!

chams dont grow as fast as gal suggest in my ground freeze mi .. compared to her pnw z8/9 .... your closer to me.. than her in zone... so keep that in mind ...

i like your shrub idea .. faster to get going .. faster to accomplish your goal.. and easy pruned to accomplish said goal ... and faster to recover if browsed ....

or do both .... so by the time the conifer achieves the goal... the shrub can be removed ... or some such ...

i will know im in trouble.. when i cant remember all my boilerplate cliches.. lol ...

ken

ps: have you considered planting every deer delicacy at the old place.. with kleig lights.. and big flashing arrows.. to attract the deer over there ... so you can have some peace at the new place.. lol ..

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffcm&q=kleig+lights&ia=images&iax=images

I never suggested they grow fast....they don't. But they are available in a decent size to start with (6-8' or more) so you just need some patience for them to achieve a loftier altitude.

Thanks for weighing in, Gardengal. I doubt I can get one locally--there is really only one nursery here that carries much in the way of woody plants. Any recommendation on mail order for that plant?

My zone is now likely almost 7--it hasn't gotten below 12 degrees for several winters and it doesn't even get into the teens most of the time even at night. Over the holidays, daytime temps were high 50s-60s and night time not even in the 30s. When I moved here in the early 70s, we were a straight zone 5 A--and I remember Christmas eve 1983 when it got to 30 below!

Sorry :-)) I forget that not all parts of the country share the same easy access to a lot of great nurseries and garden centers as we do here.

If your nursery is supplied by Monrovia, you can order one directly from them that will be delivered to your local nursery with the next delivery. That may be the only way to obtain one of decent size (unless you are into a road trip that offers more choices). Otherwise, I'd check out some of the more popular mail order conifer specialty nurseries - Conifer Kingdom, Western Evergreen, Broken Arrow, Singing Tree, etc.

Caveat: I do virtually NO mail order so cannot speak to any of these as to quality, size or customer service.

Good luck with your project - I am wondering, where in West Virginia would have only light deer pressure? Are you at the center of town surrounded by busy roads or something? Or is it because venison is frequently on a lot of family dinner menus? ;-)

Actually, down at my old place (4 miles down the road) and most certainly in the country, I considered the deer pressure light. I avoided tempting them--no rhodies/azaleas, yews, tulips, hostas, etc--and I did choose resistant plants, spraying only for a couple of daylillies, and I had a deer fence around the veggie garden. Actually, my most difficult varmint was a groundhog that showed up every year in late summer to burrow under the fence and get into the many fall greens I had. Never was able to lure one into a box trap. Obviously, it couldn't have been the same critter for so many years, but they were always too smart for me.

Here in the tiny town I'm now in, 2 streets, maybe 20 houses and surrounded by fields, woods and streams, pressure is still light. But I'll need to fence my veggie garden. And no tempting ornamentals.

I should add, the county in which I live is VERY rural. In fact it's the only county east of the Mississippi without a stoplight. Or so I've been told. And it's the home of the smallest covered bridge in the state.

I had groundhogs in the past .

When I fenced in the veggie garden , I sunk the fencing partly under ground .

Works great to keep out the diggers

ron

But it doesn't work at the gates. And they always found the gates.

Yeah, I'm w/davidrt, where in the world is there light deer pressure except downtown areas? They are over-populated just about any other area. In the woods where I lived before in southwest VA, the entire understory was stripped away in the 15 yrs I was there. All mountain laurels, rhododendrons, ferns, shrubs and tree saplings were gone. Mushrooms might last a day before gone.

D'oh !

mine has no gate .. it is getting harder & harder to step over the 2 ft. shortened area without tripping

D'oh