evergreen fence - white pines surround 3/4 of house?

I need some help with building an evergreen privacy fence. As you can see by the picture, my house is located smack in the middle of all these other houses, and everyone can see our yard. I would add a normal wood privacy fence, but our house sits higher than those behind us and lower than those to the east of us.

So, I figured I could just buy about 50-100 white pine trees and plant them on 3/4 of the yard (2 rows offset, about 6-8 ft in between each). If there are any extra, I could just give them away.

My concern is that it will look dumb with that many of the same tree surrounding the entire yard, and I don't want to make my property value drop by doing this.

Any help would be great. In the picture, the red line is my property line and the green is where I would plant the white pines. Thanks!

I'd plant a number of different kinds of trees rather than all one kind. I think it'll make it more interesting and natural looking, plus that way if a disease or something comes along it won't wipe out everything. I'm also not sure on your spacing...6-8 ft sounds a bit close together but I've never grown white pines so maybe they're a lot skinnier than I'm thinking.

I like the ideas of evergreens because they still provide a fence, even during winter.

What other type of trees would you plant? (preferable something fast growing...)

If you want all evergreens that's fine, just don't plant all the same kind. The trouble with planting all the same kind (besides looking less natural) is that if you get a pest which that type of tree is susceptible to, or some sort of climate thing like floods/drought which cause stress for that particular tree, then it can wipe out everything you have. But if you plant several different kinds, then most of the time you'll only lose a small portion of your trees if something bad like that happens.

There are a huge number of evergreens, needled and broad-leaf. Like ecrane3 said, mix it up. After a few years, you may want to plant rhododendrons and azaleas under them to fill in the "fence".

alright you've sold me. so here's where i need some help...

what other kinds will look good? and how many different types should i use?
i'm an engineer, not a landscape designer :) haha.

Looking at the size of your property, I'd say: every! Truly, I would go to the tree farms and nurseries and buy whatever grows well in your area, plus extras of your absolute favorites. There are weeping varieties of some of the conifers that would look wonderful in the "inner ring" of your rows. Be aware that some are not EVER green, my cypress looses it's needles in winter and that is not what you are looking for.

In the back, if you could get the needed privacy with evergreen shrubs, that might be the way to go. Hollies and rhododrendrons are 2 that I can think of off the top of my head that are good for screening and would do well with your neighbor's trees.

great, thanks for the help! unfortunately (you can't tell by the picture) that in the back i really need taller trees as our porch is about as high as other's second story.

I guess I am still unsure of how to approach this. Maybe what I need to do is consult a landscape designer, but...

- if you could name a few trees that are going to grow well and look good in a zone 5/6
- and how to plant them so they won't look dumb (you were saying a "weeping" conifer, got an example i can google?)

again, thanks for the help and sorry for being so naive. i think i'm finally heading down the right path though!

I'd go with the landscape designer - just for the plan and an opinion on how the property would look surrounded by trees. In looking at the photo you posted, your property will look quite a bit different from the surroundings. Maybe the designer would suggest a combination of fence --where it is reasonable and effective --and plants/trees/etc. where it is not. I agree, I think hollies would look great and provide interest year round but you have to learn how big? how fast do they grow? and how much $$ to buy trees at decent size to get the screening you want. Also, do you have the muscle power to dig and plant something that is large? You could also consider Thuja - Green Giant -for privacy where you need the taller trees. I think fast growing. Handsome. Google to see if the tree will do well for you in your zone.

here's some:
http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&hl=en&q=weeping+cypresshttp://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=fast+growing+conifers&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2



This message was edited Nov 2, 2008 8:01 PM

This message was edited Nov 2, 2008 8:02 PM

www.variegatedfoliage.com/S-Thuja_Techny_Gold...

here is a shorter beauty

opps it was a varigated thuja.

if you Google : thuja you can see a bunch of different forms

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=fast+growing+conifers&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2
Here's some fast growing conifers. I don't know why I couldn't get it to paste onto the other post.

Holly trees would look nice mixed in with your pine trees. I have a Nellie Stevens that's growing fairly fast and is a real pretty tree. An advantage to the hollies would be that they keep their limbs all the way to the ground for complete privacy. LOL--I can appreciate the "engineer, not a landscaper!" Hubby is an engineer--I'm the one who does all the landscaping here. He just sits out on the porch with me and enjoys looking at it.