Ideas for Windbreak/Privacy Trees

[JUDGE1162]

I am looking for input on species, size, spacing, timing the whole deal.

Here is my situation, I have a (weekend/vacation) house in Walton, NY (Catskills) with a large meadow at the end of the meadow is 800 feet of road frontage. Along this road frontage I am looking to add an tree line of Evergreens to serve primarily as a Privacy wall, there is a tree line presently of deciduous trees and during the spring through fall when the trees have leaves I really can not see the road from the house and you can not see the house from the road, but in the winter, the road becomes very visible.

2 year ago I ordered 500 sapling white spruces (from the local soil district) and planted them along the road and along my driveway as a wind/snow break they were 2to 3 year old trees. The problem is since I am only up on the weekend and not every weekend I was not able to water them and 95% of them died the road is 800 feet from the house so setting up a sprinkler is out of the question. I would like to give it another shot but wanted some input on type, size, things I can do to improve their survival, etc.

Some more info

Soil is fairly well drained, on one side will be the older existing tree line and then the road the other side is an 800 foot by 800 foot meadow. I can water the trees only on the weekend and figure there will be time when I may miss a weekend here and there so they are pretty much on their own and in full sun. The next limit is Money yes I could plant 50 foot trees and they would survive but that is out of my price range I figured I would spend a few hundred dollars a year on this tree line and I do not mind doing this over a few year to do the whole 800 foot of road frontage. I would like a tree that in a few years will offer some coverage so faster growing trees would be nice and ones that do not get more than 50 feet or so would be ideal as much taller than that would block the view of the next mountain across the road. I guess I could always just top the trees once they got 12 to 15 feet to slow the growth and limit their maxium size to save the view, but would rather not.


So I am looking for

Species of tree or trees
Size to plant
When to plant
Any special way to plant
Spacing between trees
Any other info

 

[NYCHA FORESTER]

Don't ya think it's time to retire and enjoy the good life?

:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[JUDGE1162]

I wish, I still have to pay for the place, 20 more years I can think about retiring:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[kyle1!]

Norway spruce?

Hey Judge,

Planting saplings usually doesn't pan out. In IA norway spruce is used alot for windbreak rows. They are a pretty fast growing evergreen here with a nice shape If I was you this is what I would do.

First kill all grass/vegatation where you want to grow these trees with roundup. Do this again in a couple of months with a pre emergence herbicide with the roundup to kill any regrowth plus future weed control

Plant bareroot norway spruce in the spring or similar fast growing spruce for your area. You can find a 17in-2ft tree (1 gallon pot)here for $4 each. You need a 1 cubic ft hole for each tree root system

Space the plants every 8 ft. As the trees get older you may have lower branch die back but the row will fill in faster

Mulch each tree to conserve water/weed control. I haul free mulch from the city parks dept. Could you borrow a farmer's 500 gallon water tank so they could get some liquid refreshment everytime you are there?

Fencing for animal control? I don't have trouble with deer/rabbits but maybe you do.

Alot of work but spaced out over 2-3yrs and it would be doable. Your results will be much better then planting saplings and hoping they live

Brian

 

[NYCHA FORESTER]

Stay away from a mono culture

 

[kyle1!]

You are correct

I guess when I'm thinking one row it is mono culture. Many rows make up a windbreak so there would be diversity with different rows of trees/shrubs planted.

Brian

 

[Booshcat]

Stay away from a mono culture

Can you explain what this means?

Thanks

 

[Adkpk]

Juniperus chinensis
Juniperus virginiana

Here's two to look at. Together they will form a quick screen. Not the best looking imo but should give you the screen desired. The virginiana is not tempered to your zone but reference this tree to get some sense of what your are trying to achieve. Never know it might do well. And they are as cheap as trees and shrubs get.

 

[moss]

Juniperus chinensis
Juniperus virginiana

Here's two to look at. Together they will form a quick screen. Not the best looking imo but should give you the screen desired. The virginiana is not tempered to your zone but reference this tree to get some sense of what your are trying to achieve. Never know it might do well. And they are as cheap as trees and shrubs get.

I like this proposal. J. virginiana forms a nice shape in the landscape IMHO. Check out this map in the Silvics manual, J. virginiana looks potentially in range for Catskills, right?
Silvics - J. virginiana

How about a mix of white pine and juniper? The white pines will grow fast and create the screen. If the junipers are given enough room they will grow more slowly but will be there later on if you want to selectively take out the white pine when they block the view. On the other hand a stand of mature white pine can be a magnificent view in itself.
-moss

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

I guess when I'm thinking one row it is mono culture. Many rows make up a windbreak so there would be diversity with different rows of trees/shrubs planted.

Brian

The best plantings look natural. Rows do not occur naturally, so you want to do the plantings so they are staggered.
It also important to diversify the planting material. It's ok to have clumps of the same or similar plants, but always consider the possibility that some insect or disease could move in and kill all of one type of plant. By diversifying the plant material, you have built in protection. Try not to plant more than about 25% of one type of plant, to avoid possible devastation of the planting.
It also a good idea to mix evergreen, deciduous, fast and slow growing plants. Like a perennial flower bed, you want taller plants in the middle, then medium sized plants, and on the outside the smaller shrubs.
It's best to get a general idea of what you want the bed to look like, and then both look at what native plants do well, and shop nurseries for what is locally available. It's very frustrating to have a planting list, and then not be able to find anything that looks good.

Buy plants grown locally and read up on girdling root/planting depth!

If I get bored, I'll draw up a plan for discussion.

 

[Adkpk]

I like this proposal. J. virginiana forms a nice shape in the landscape IMHO. Check out this map in the Silvics manual, J. virginiana looks potentially in range for Catskills, right?
Silvics - J. virginiana

How about a mix of white pine and juniper? The white pines will grow fast and create the screen. If the junipers are given enough room they will grow more slowly but will be there later on if you want to selectively take out the white pine when they block the view. On the other hand a stand of mature white pine can be a magnificent view in itself.
-moss

Just south of you in Warwick I see them all over the place. That is how I pick most of my trees, I just look around at what is thriving. Judge I don't know why where you are its out of this zone. I am in the middle of the Catskills and I'm in that zone. I know we have a lot of limestone indicating to me that the soil is alkaline but then again our place is in hemlock alley and they are acid lovers. Here's another one, Thuja occidentalis, I have these on my woodlot in the Adirondacks and they are lookers, might be a little pricer but with mosses suggestion of white pine I think you got yourself a nice screen. White pine is cheap as it's gets too. Oh ya and the deer don't eat this stuff, most important.

 

[kevinj]

Fencerow ideas

First of all, at your age, its a blessing to be able to have a weekend home.
Getting back to your plantings, your getting good advice. And I recomend this, and I've had great success with it is: When planting seedlings I like to make a furrow, so that when the rains come, the moisture will follow along this line of plantings. Root pruning is also very important prior to planting. I will bring along a pair of scissors with me at planting time. My seedlings will be placed in a bucket of water. If at all possible, for succesful survival, would be to incorporate a compost blend to nourish, and also retain moisture. And another very important secret, is to add a product called terra-sorb. It may also be available under another name. You may want to google terra sorb. This works great at drawing any moisture from around the area to the root system. To keep from drying out. I hope this may help you.
Kevin

 

[maybar]

When considering cost, disease resistance, drought resistance etc. and the number you need to plant the Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus Virginiana) would be my choice.

 

[ehgauss]

Windbreak/privacy screen

One additional factor that no one has mentioned is palatibility to deer. A friend planted a screen of cedars in the northern Adirondacks and they are all now bare to the height that deer can reach to browse. I'v had good luck planting white spruce, Norway spruce (pine?) and Douglas fir. Scotch pine grows well also, but the foliage is quite open, as is the Norway spruce (?). I've seen some very bushy red pine plantings around here also (just north of the Mohawk Valley to the north of you. Gene Gauss

 

[ehgauss]

Windbreak/privacy screen

One additional factor that no one has mentioned is palatibility to deer. A friend planted a screen of cedars in the northern Adirondacks and they are all now bare to the height that deer can reach to browse. I'v had good luck planting white spruce, Norway spruce (pine?) and Douglas fir. Scotch pine grows well also, but the foliage is quite open, as is the Norway spruce (?). I've seen some very bushy red pine plantings around here also (just north of the Mohawk Valley to the north of you. Gene Gauss

 

[maybar]

One additional factor that no one has mentioned is palatibility to deer. A friend planted a screen of cedars in the northern Adirondacks and they are all now bare to the height that deer can reach to browse. I'v had good luck planting white spruce, Norway spruce (pine?) and Douglas fir. Scotch pine grows well also, but the foliage is quite open, as is the Norway spruce (?). I've seen some very bushy red pine plantings around here also (just north of the Mohawk Valley to the north of you. Gene Gauss

I've lived around white tail deer and eastern red cedar all my life and have never known of a deer ever eating a eastern red cedar. Something besides deer are causing the bare. Check with your wildlife department or county extension service on this topic.

 

[JUDGE1162]

OK, so I have an idea on type of tree, I am going to try the eastern red cedar with some spruce mixed in.

Now the next question what size should I plant, basicaaly what size is the best bang for my buck and still has a good chance of making it the first year

should I get 18" tall tree, 24" trees, 48" trees what do you guys (gals too!!) think is the best cost to benifit ratio

I have one input on spacing any more, any special planting techniques?

Any further help would be wonderfull

 

[Adkpk]

The bigger the better. Judge, I am over here in Phoenicia, I have 30 years of planting experience. And I am not all that busy this winter. If you want to get it really right pm and we'll talk.

 

[Thillmaine]

Mixed Border

Use a mixed border. Depending on where int the Catskills you are you more then likely will have acid soil. If you ever go to hunter or windham (ski mts) tyou wil see what they use. I go to school in Cobleskill and have seen what species work here. I would say use a mix of, Hemlock (make sure it has screenign from the wind), white spruce, blue spruce, norway spruce, austrian pine, white pine, balsalm or fraiser fir, concolor or white fir (all firs like high altitudes) as well as deciduous species mixed in, red oak, beech,sugar maple,heritage river birch, betula niga "cully', or 'heritage'. I work at a nursery up in Albany area that could supply you with all of those trees, and I also know a reasnoable landscape contractor in the Windham area. The other option you could do it have a tree spade come in and transplant already mature trees on your property to the location desired. Being that you are older I would use more mature trees, at least 3" and up, rather then saplings. Fall planting will help with the water issue, as we usually get rain in the fall, without the hot temps sucking the water out of the leaves. Use various sizes to keep a natural look, some evergreens at like 12 feet, as well as some at 3 or 4'. More or less find someone reputable to do this job for you, or contact SUNY Cobleskill's Plant Science dept,and they will direct you to someone who is educated with your particulular area, or PM me and I can set you up. Hope I helped. Oh and by the way, I sell the plants and can get you a phenomenal deal if your intrested.