welcome to GW

a sight block.. is also a wind block.. and your local expert is your county soil conservation office.. i shot in the dark at the link below...

i see they are not offering a spring plant sale.. bummer..

but they would be a great source for a list of plants that are specifically suited to your area ... i bet they have pamphlets in the office ...

i like that you are already thinking diversity ... NEVER plant too many of one thing ...

and dont leave out flowering shrubs.. like lilac .. etc ...

the deer.. good luck with that ...

how close you plant.. is a function of budget. and how fast you want it blocked .... and how thick a block ...

a double line.. is the same lateral space .. but between the two rows.. i usually go half ....

try to avoid a straight line .... boring ....

and do not plant under power lines.. if any.. the easement says its not yours to plant in ...

please learn to post pix.. and give a pic or two.. to give us the flavor of the job ...

and finally.. do NOT fixate on the lot line alone.. view such from every window in the house.. and understand.. that one tree .. 25 feet from the house.. for any given window.. will block all 180 feet .... climb out of the 'lot line' box.. and look at all your variables ....

i will leave the deer thing for others ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Hopey the picture shows up. The house sits on an angle with the road and the entire back yard is exposed. You can see the existing tree line running between me and the neighbor. I would like to run the screen form the street back past their house. As you can see there are woods in the back so there will be more shade in the back. I am also considering planting something at the front of the screen that would curve at the front and run along the road a bit but I'm not sure how to make it look good. Ill try to tak some ground level photos to show existing trees as well. Thanks for the help!

Do they salt the road in winter? If so, avoid these:

Conifers very sensitive to road salt
(do not plant near salted winter roads)

Yew, Taxus sp.
White spruce, Picea glauca
Red pine, Pinus resinosa
Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris
Eastern white cedar, Thuja occidentalis
White pine, Pinus strobus
Eastern hemlock, Tsuga canadensis

tj

Here is a link that might be useful: Windbreaks and salt

The evergreen in the bottom of your picture looks like a good candidate.
Down here Eastern Red Cedar is a reliable standby for evergreen, but you should have more choices available up there.
Green Giant - I would not plant a tree that can grow to 60' tall 5-8' apart. First site I looked at indicated 10-15' spacing.
Whatever evergreen you choose will need plenty of sunshine to develop the thickness of foliage you will want for a screen.

Thought I would post an update here. I had a local forester come out and he mostly suggested blue spruce. He said white would work too since I told hime I saw a screen of them and liked the look of it. He also gave me some ideas to plant food plots in the woods to keep the deer satisfied.

I reposted this under the design forum with some updated pictures if anyone wants to see...

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/design/msg0209065216449.html?3

Thanks for the help... it's much appreciated!

Mike