Arborvitae and landscaping costs

[joefrompa]

Hi all,

I have a wedge shaped .6 acre yard and the rear is a L-shaped ridge that provides a very full view to 2-3 neighbors homes.

I'm thinking of planting some fast-growing arborvitaes (maybe aim for 5-6' to start with a 2' a year growth rate).

I was wondering if anyone has any idea how much such a planting would run, delivered & installed, by a professional landscaping sevice?

I'm guessing I'm not going to want a solid screen of bushes, since that'd be hugely costly, so I figure I'll plant one every 6-10'....so probably 15-20 of these guys.

I'm a private person and I think the privacy gained will really be worthwhile...

 

[Jack Straw]

Do you have deer around?....they love to eat arborvitae.

 

[joefrompa]

I do, despite it being a suburban development there's enough deer around. I understand there's some species/variations of the theme that deer dont eat. Elsewhere in my community there are alot of arborvitae or similar type plantings with no apparent deer-destruction.

 

[semipro]

I think it depends on how high you want the hedge to grow to. I'm not a big fan of arborvitaes for this type of application. I think they make better specimen trees. There are many other good varieties of fast growing hedge trees available. Have you considered Leyland Cypress? They're hearty, fast growing, but get pretty big.

 

[joefrompa]

Yes, sorry, I'm using arborvitae as a catch-all.

We looked at leyland cypress and I'm open to other suggestions as well. Leyland was quoted as growing up to 3' per year and up to 40' tall, but that they are so hearty you can just trim the crap out of them and they'll be fine.

I'm open to suggestions, and any/all info on pricing is welcome too.

 

[woodchip]

Leyland was quoted as growing up to 3' per year and up to 40' tall, but that they are so hearty you can just trim the crap out of them and they'll be fine.

They'll keep growing to about 50 - 80 ft tall no problem. They are used in France mainly to shield nuclear power stations and the like, so they can build huge things out of sight of neighbours.

Leylandii have been a touchy subject here for a while because of the size they grow to in back yards. They can get incredibly ugly when trimmed, and make crappy firewood when cut down because of all the resiny sap.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4596685.stm

 

[Highbeam]

The arborvitae grow tall but are very narrow of course so you need many of them stacked like soldiers to make a screen. They are cheap. I just planted 18 6 footers last year and I believe they were only about 12$ each from the HD parking lot. So far they appear healthy but haven't begun their 2-3 foot per year growth. I didn't want to waste the room around a cypress, since the cypress grows so wide in all directions you lose a bunch of your yard compared to a 2 foot wide hedgerow. The AV look better topped too which is what I will do to keep them windstable after they reach my desired height.

 

[dougstove]

Around here, Eastern White Cedar (I think = Arbor Vitae) is very patchy in where it likes to grow.
It has particular soil preferences; I think wet, but limestone rich, is the favourite.
There is also some sort of leaf miner type affliction that makes the foliage patchy.

 

[billb3]

There are a bunch of different variety of arborvitae , some stay thin and grow slow ( I have two of these at the house corners - the deer just luv them), some get quite fat and you might want to make sure they only grow one trunk, some get fat, different growth rates. The deer "resistant" ones are just that - less likely to be eaten- but when deer are hungry ....

They do prefer rich dampish soil.


Most can be top pruned, but once the deer eat the bottoms (sometimes all the way to the trunk) they don't grow back. At least not 40 footers.

 

[gpcollen1]

hemlocks are under used IMO. The are very shade tolerant, can take a good trimming where they fill out a bit and the lower branches don't die out.

 

[dave11]

At best, it will still take a number of years, 5 or more, to get a decent screen, unless you plant them very close together. If you do that, they'll be too crowded through most of their lives, unless you end up removing every other tree down the road.

I used a tall, fast growing native shrub, Northern Bayberry, to do the same, and it filled in naturally and much faster. And the deer don't eat it, for the most part. There are some native viburnums that will do the same.

 

[Flatbedford]

Here's some of the wall of arborvitaes that were planted at my house almost 20 years ago by a previous owner. They make a great screen and are like apartment houses for birds.