What to plant as a privacy screen between close houses

Just moved to Montana and live with my neighbor on top of me. I want to plant something that would display some greenery rather than the side of a house but the space is limited and receives little sun. Not sure Thuja wintergreen or green giant would grow there. Any suggestions?

Could you send in a picture of the area you are thinking about planting, I need to try invizage what you mean by not much space as there are lots of plants that would be useful, but there are many that perhaps the roots could become a problem after a couple of years, also what type of soil do you have, is there any sun at all, even for part of the day, maybe you need wall shrubs etc, these clues will help others to come onto the thread and help you out. WeeNel.

How tall does it need to be? Vines on a trellis are always a nice idea if you've got a really narrow space to work with

Thuja Occidentalis 'Brandon' or 'Niger' may work. Both are very narrow and 10 to 12 feet tall. You will have to check the zone to see if they are hardy there. Gene

Here are the best questions to ask yourself before installing plant material:
1. How big do you want the plant material to get?
2. How much sun does the area you are looking to install your plant material (determine also direction of north then look at the shade movement)?
3. What kind of soil is in the area (pH is good, but soil type (clay, sand, etc.) is better when dealing with general landscaping plant material)?
4. Does the area hold water or drain quickly (soil type can determine this, but elevations of the existing grade is a key factor)?
5. How much maintenance do you want (no landscape is maintenance free)?
I would love to help more, but I am not familiar to the region so I will not recommend plant material. Hope you find a great screening plant for your home.

Consider tall ornamental grasses. They're low-maintenance and can get very dense.

This message was edited Jan 29, 2008 8:53 PM

See if these will work for your zone:

'Amanogawa' Cherry - approx. 6' wide
'Crimson Spire' White Oak - approx. 8' wide
'Musashino' Zelkova - approx. 15' wide

They are not evergreen, but they are excellent columnar deciduous trees that will fit nicely into a tight area.

I have the same problem. Feel if I live in a neighborhood, any neighborhood, then people are right on top of me. Going to plant the Thuja's here. :) Good luck!

Just as a plea for future dwellers of your house and those of your neighbors, please consider the amount of shade that you may cast on your neighbor's yard as well as your own. The neighbors on either side of my house planted cedar hedges along the lot lines because they did not like the original owners of this house. Now 30 yrs. later I have a north facing front yard that barely gets any light at all because the east and west suns are blocked by those hedges. The yard is constantly wet and mossy. I am trying to make lemonade out of this inherited lemon and open to suggestions...
anyone?

That's a good point. The area I will put mine gets a lot of sun so it will cast some shade on my neighbors side yard. But their side yard is very small and they are never out in the yard and new to the home so not likely they'll move anytime soon. For some reason that side yard of theirs (can see through the fence) doesn't even have grass so I guess the area could use some "greenery".

As for situations of plantings....I looked at that in the yards of homes we'd looked at when buying. There were certain trees I didn't want eating up the yard (like pines) and I also looked at shade values from neighbors yards into the one I was looking. I need a relatively clear backyard so I can have sun and vegetables.

The few plants I didn't care for in the front didn't look long established so I knew I could rip them out relatively easily and have done so. Now I have the blank slate I needed to work with.

Hi all,
New to the forums here, but I have pretty much the same question/problem as the OP: close neighbors. In my case, I'd like to plant something that's (preferably) evergreen, may grow fairly fast, BUT is shade-tolerant. Is there such a shrub/tree (or other plant)? I've searched the web, but not come up with anything definitive, and judging by some of the replies here, I'm sure there is someone that can help me out and recommend something. :)

Thanks in advance!

ladyfiresign consider putting in a rain garden in your bog.....check my nick and read the article I wrote on them. There are some excellent reference sites included.

Indigo-how much shade are you talking about? Do you have some pictures of the area in question? That would help a lot to help you with some suggestions on what to plant that would do well for you. :)

Hi all,
This is my 1st post to the group. We have a corner property and due to excessive fencing laws in our town, we are unable to install a fence where we would like - however, we can plant hedges. Since we have two small boys, I want to plant some sort of hedge that grows thick & tall but that remains green & dense all year. I was considering the "chinese wall" from Michigan bulb until I read all the negative feedback on this site. I was also considering bamboo - not the running, out of control one but am not sure that I really want that. Any/all feedback is appreciated!
thank you.

I'm not sure if there are many clumping bamboos that will be hardy for you. I guess I shouldn't say that without knowing what zone you're in, but I picture NJ being zone 6-ish and I know many of the clumpers tend to need slightly warmer winters. There may be some that would work though, or if you're in a warmer zone than I'm thinking then you'll have more options too. I'm not familiar with the Chinese wall you're talking about, but if you like it, see if Michigan Bulb lists the Latin name for it on their website, if they do then you should be able to easily find the same plant either at a local nursery or at a more reputable mail order place.

Excellent suggestion, ecrane3. You might want to add your zone, you can do that in your preferences. :) Welcome to DG ;)

oh sorry, yes I am zone 6.

doccat5 - By shade, there are several large oak trees and some younger maples that shade the area - when leafed out. It's not dense shade, but enough that I wonder what might work there. I do have tons of Mountain Laurel around, but I've tried to transplant that before and had absolutely no luck. [Which is a shame since it's evergreen, of a sort, and free! :) ]
Do you know, or does anyone, if Holly will transplant well? I do have a few of those I could try moving....

*I'll have to get an image of the area and see about uploading it.

Thank you again for you help! :)

I have mugo pine and love it. It is evergreen all year and is a good privacy. They can get pretty wide depending on which one you buy. They will not shade out neighbors because the branches on mine face upward like a candlelabra.

Hi DigMontana, how tall does your mugo get? I have seen them, but didn't realize they could be used for that purpose. I have an area at our property line our neighbor uses to stash "leftovers" like old tires, boards, etc., and I would like to screen that from my view.

I have two that are about 7-8 ft. and one that is about 11ft. I might be able to take a picture if the camera is working later. Dm

I'm new to this forum. I am in a similar situation regarding privacy trees. After reading everything I can online, it looks like the Thuju Wintergreen Arborvitae would be perfect in my yard. However, the local nurseries do not seem to carry this particular tree. Does anyone know if it will grow in Southern Oregon, zone 7?

This message was edited May 5, 2008 9:00 PM

I would like to make suggestions, but would love it if you would make separate threads and include photos, zone, kind of soil and amount of sun. It is hard for me to visualize what each of you is working with.

You could use leyland cypress. They grow very fast and are a great wind break. I just put twenty in the ground and they look great.

Hello, all. This is my first time "chatting in" but I had to add my bit about Leylandii cypress. I live in Napa, Ca, and here they grow VERY fast and very large. Not sure what they would do in your zone, but I suggest you plan ahead!

All the discussion about Thuja as a screen between houses...I have a house less than 14 feet from mine with a 6-foot fence between us. Only a vine would allow a walk space between the fence and the house, but it needs to be one that can tolerate shade since it's on the east side of my house and my neighbor's house has two stories, totally blocking any morning sun. Ideas?? Thanks!