Best trees for privacy.

Bossypants

PattyO88 wrote: »

Hi, Looking for trees that provide privacy from the wrong kind of neighborhood watch?

Green Giant Thuja (Arborvitae) would be a great one for you.
The Green Giant Thuja is widely considered one of the best trees for privacy, and certainly a fan favorite in many backyards. “Thujas are one of our most popular trees,” says Kantor. “They are extremely fast-growing, provide privacy quickly and are also cold hardy. They can survive in a multitude of climates and are not affected by many pests or diseases.”

Their uniform, cone-like shape and consistent annual growth rate of 3 to 5 feet make for a polished tree privacy fence that requires very little pruning to maintain. You can trim the tops regularly for a classic, French Renaissance feel or leave them be for a more natural look.

What You Need to Know
Height Range: 30-40 feet
Width Range: 5-8 feet in rows
Sunlight: Full to partial (3 to 6+ hours of direct sun per day)
Planting Guidelines: If you like the height and density of the Leyland Cypress but don’t have the conditions to maintain it, the Green Giant is a great alternative. Just be sure to have a defense against deer on hand, as their soft leaves and branches are irresistible to these native grazers.

When you directly copy and paste other people's work, it's polite to give credit: https://www.budgetdumpster.com/blog/best-trees-for-privacy/

Sapphire

Olive trees are very good and attractive plants. They are extremely dense and evergreen. They can grow very large, though I keep mine pruned and shaped to around 12 ft tall. If you leave them unpruned, they also produce fruits (olives). They grow best in a sunny spot.

Bamboo is good, but don't buy a running bamboo, which would rapidly swamp the place unless the roots were contained.

Grumpelstiltskin

OP How much do you now about gardening in general and trees in particular?

My guess is not a lot.

You do realise you can't just stick trees in just inches from your boundary?

As well as growing tall their roots spread.

Don't do anything permanent until the other house is occupied and you can see how much it actually impacts on you.

alumende27

One of our neighbours put up Leylandii trees some years ago for "privacy", (despite the wall they were against being over two metres in height), which ended up growing up to over 8 metres and encroaching considerably on our property. It was an annoyance for both the previous owners of our house and ourselves. We ended up threatening action via the council to reduce the height, and they eventually cut them down completely.

Generally neighbours have better things to do than stare into other peoples houses. You could consider net curtains if you're that concerned.

System

Remember as well that if the trees prevent sunlight getting onto their property they may have a claim against you. The Rights of Light Act 1959 states that if a Property has received daylight for the last 20 years they may be entitled to continue to receive that light. This means that if your neighbour builds a large fence or there are large trees which restrict the daylight your Property receives (for example by blocking daylight reaching a window), you may be able to apply to the courts for your daylight to be restored. Quite how that works with new builds I'm not sure but the argument could be made that the land had received daylight as there were no trees there prior to it being built.