Best choice for hardy visual barrier/privacy screen in Northeast PA?

MikoDel · Feb 28, 2024

Best choice for hardy visual barrier/privacy screen in Northeast PA?

A friend of mine would like to block out a very rude 'neighbor' in back of his property. This guy has parked (and left to rot) an fugly, dead box truck right along the rear of the property line. It's a regular neighborhood, NOT zoned for commercial, but we're pretty sure this landscaper has connections in the township, because even after many complaints, over a long period of time, nothing has been done.

My buddy would be happy with I guess 9+ feet high of anything green & pretty, so long as it looks nothing like a rusty old truck, lol, and of course visually opaque. His backyard isn't too wide, so I'm thinking about a 25-30' row would do it?

He's currently looking @ thuja green giant arborvitae, from a site 'fast growing trees', Qty. 10 for about $1,300. (then of course then we gotta rent some tools & plant the buggers) And arborvitae, being wildly popular, may be an excellent choice. However I have some concerns because I see brown dead zones, sometimes, in what appear to be otherwise healthy ones. If I recall correctly I was told that die-back is a kind of fungus, or something? Point being, I'd hate to have him invest all the time and money, and then have issues like that.

So I looked up a couple of alternatives, which I've pasted below.

My friend isn't a Rockefeller or a Rothschild. I'm really want to help him establish a healthy, effective natural privacy screen, because his anger dealing w/this nasty view everytime he looks outside, thinking about what an A-hole the guy is... is not healthy. And a cheaper solution certainly wouldn't hurt. I would love to ask around about re-purposing some other homeowner's large plants, that they want gone, but I don't have any hvy equipment to take advantage of such a circumstance; even if there was one.

As always, I very much appreciate all you experienced folks who weigh in when I post my queries.

Be well, all... stay healthy, strong & safe!

The Best Privacy Hedges: Shrubs and Trees for Privacy (With Pictures)

leafyplace.com

23 Plants You Can Grow Instead of a Fence for Privacy & Lush Green Look

Grow a living barrier for your home with these Plants You Can Grow Instead of a Fence for Privacy and Lush Green Look!

balconygardenweb.com

10 Best Evergreens for Hedges and Privacy Screens

Evergreen hedges make wonderful living privacy screens and wind or noise breaks. Learn the best varieties to plant in your yard.

www.thespruce.com

evo · Feb 28, 2024

What about columnar English yew?
Your green giant will get wide, thus likely pruned, and if pruned too far back you’ll loose the lower screening.
Yew will sprout from bare wood, and toxic to deer or other browse, can be pretty narrow.

MikoDel · Feb 28, 2024

evo said:
What about columnar English yew?
Your green giant will get wide, thus likely pruned, and if pruned too far back you’ll loose the lower screening.
Yew will sprout from bare wood, and toxic to deer or other browse, can be pretty narrow.

interesting - not sure i am familiar w/English. i know Japanese yew vry well. grew up pruning a 60' wide wall of that s__t every few years for dad.

i'll check out columnar English variety.

bobs yeruncle · Feb 28, 2024

How's the planting location, you say the guy has his truck parked right along the property line so is it asphalt along where your friend wants to plant? Which way does water flow? Eastern white cedar can take a bit of salt but then you're at risk of damage from deer browsing. Yews are great for the reason evo says, you can absolutely butcher them and they'll bounce back

ATH · Feb 28, 2024

Western arborvitae (Thuja plicata) is also deer resistant and pretty adaptable (Green giant is a cross of Western and an Asian species). There are some cultivars that won't spread as wide as Green Giant. Not to take away from the Taxus talk...just saying something else to look at. Eastern arborvitae is deer candy, so if there are a lot of deer around maybe not a good choice. If you said western PA, I'd say not even an option.

Check at local nurseries...quite possibly not much more than online shopping when you have to pay shipping, and you'll probably get healthier roots since they aren't trying to keep a tiny root system for shipping.

MikoDel · Feb 28, 2024

bobs yeruncle said:
How's the planting location, you say the guy has his truck parked right along the property line so is it asphalt along where your friend wants to plant? Which way does water flow? Eastern white cedar can take a bit of salt but then you're at risk of damage from deer browsing. Yews are great for the reason evo says, you can absolutely butcher them and they'll bounce back

drainage... yes of course, very important.

i forgot, i have pics from when i took his box elder down. that's when we met.

i'd havta talk to him about which way the water goes, but no, it's not asphalt, it's a garden bed. was totally overgrown w/klingers(?) (sorry! CLEAVERS) and other such pesky weeds, but he rips 'em out every season. and some poison ivy as well. stuff is definitely growing there. you can see his problem w/the GD trucks.

also he's pissed cause he already planted (or maybe the guy who has the business, planted?) some arbor vitae-type shrubs, you can see 'em past the fenceline. but they ain't growing really at all. so the new plan is to plant whatever he decides, closer, IN his yard, on the near side of the fence.