congrats on the move! i find myself with the same challenge, just moved into a new house with 1.5 acres.I,fortunately, don't have the deer issues. With 500 feet, i would plant some larger trees for sure.One thing i can recommend, is searching for trees that grow in a columnar, or fastigiata fashion.My personal favorite is the Serbian Spruce "Pendula".This tree typically grows straight up, with a much smaller radius.Also, Colorado Spruce "Fastigiata".Both of these trees are common enough, so you can probably get them in larger sizes.One of the issues with searching and finding interesting cultivars, is they can be somewhat rare.That being said, if you do find them, they are likely to be smaller than the more common varieties.The smaller the tree, the longer you look at traffic.Hope this helps, good luck

i am a visual type of guy.. no pix.. no opinion ...

manipulate the size in the uploader..

ken

Welcome aboard! Since you plan on going with Western Evergreen or Coenosium, which are both great suppliers, why dont you call Jason or Bob and express your concerns with them in addition to the fine folks on here. Also like Ken suggested...If you can post a couple pics of the planting area it helps enormously.
Best of luck

Picea omorika is deer/rabbit candy here in Maryland, so do find out if it's safe in your area. Deer like Picea orientalis here too.
Congrats on your new house and happy planning. That's the fun part, starting and planting a new garden, though a lot of back breaking work if you do it yourself. I just got started. And welcome to the forum.

Hello, thank you for the ideas and the warm welcome. Yes we are doing it ourselves, specifically I am designing it myself, my husband takes care of the lawn. It is fun and overwhelming at the same time. I would love to deside on the border so I can also take care of other things inside our new home that are on hold while I am preoccupied with the garden decisions... it is turning to a slight obcession I noticed lately... with the pictures, when I browse and attach the file (even zipped) the message is rejected. How do I use the uploader?
Alley_cat I just called Jason but he couldn't really talk much on the phone, but was open to answering my email so I will do that shortly. Thank you for the idea.

Hi Everyone,
I hope everyone in the US had a nice thanksgiving holiday!! now that is over... I just figured out how to attach pictures. Please let me know your ideas on creating evergreen border.... I divided the area in 3 segments, 1 - orchard area, 81 feet lenth, ~10 feet wide, hoping for ~20 foot high border, 2 - main stretch 135 feet, width is flexible (but prefer narrower to not take too much of the yard) and ~20 high foot border, 3 - no fence, trying to create quick border, narrow but tall height is preferred 20 feet +. The key in area 1 & 2 is to cover the road so I do not see it year round, in area 3 is to completely block off view of the swamp and the main road visible in the distance. The last 2 pics are deck view and kitchen view.

Our current running list is but I am unsure of what other choices could be suitable and what combination... Please help! and thank you for reading...

picea omorika Gotteli,
picea orientalis gracilis,
picea abies hillside,
chamaecyparis green pillar,
crypteria yoshino
thuja plicata 4 ever (goldie) - we already have 15

When I'm planting a new area I generally try to spring for 1 or 2 larger specimens so that everything isn't the same scale. It tends to anchor the planting bed (and give me hope for the growth of the smaller plants!) If you buy from a reputable grower (or a retailer who knows what he's doing), buying large plants is not a problem. Just make sure that you can handle the transport and the planting. Be very careful of b&b specimens unless you know where they came from and how they were handled. That is generally where the danger lurks.

Have fun, great project!

Sara

Thank you Sara! what is the problem with b&b?

Others may chime in more vociferously but the trouble with b&b is that if the plant is dug and immediately b&b'd (and dug poorly, with too small a root ball) it may never recover from the root loss. Also, it seems that a lot of b&b plants arrive with soil mounded way up the trunk - it is critical to remove the soil down to where to can view the root flare. Container plantings have their problems, too (can be root-bound or roots growing in circles) but it is easier to view the problems and correct them.

Sara

Sara - Thank you for the warning on b&b, this is very valuable advice I will remember when I am actually purchasing the plants. Right now I am still in the decision mode, but I think majority of the plants would be very small starters anyway.

I feel still confused what to plant....

dorotamon - I have copious photos of my garden on my blog (apologies to you all who have seen this ad nauseum) - you might take a look at the link below as I use conifers mixed with other foliage plants and I consider myself a gardener (and plant fiend), not a collector. I'm in zone 9b so the specific plants may be different, but see if you get some inspiration.

Sara

Here is a link that might be useful: Form and Foliage

It appears you have quite the restrictions...

Deer resistant
Shade adaptable
Evergreen
Faster growing but then slowing/controlling at 10'

I'm rolling with Hemlock and evergreen/semi-evergreen viburnums. The fine dull texture will play off the think/course potentially clossy foliage of the viburnums.

Rhodie, Bayberry (evergreen in zone 6 if I'm not mistaken), boxwood and yew are other potential plants to include for diversity.

Whaas - we can actually go to 20' in height with a width of approximately 10 ' would be best. So maybe this opens some more opportunities? We have additional restriction - this area is more wet and it sometimes floods (not swampy or standing water)â¦.. I like the idea of hemlock,rhodies, bayberry and viburnum, could you please recommend any evergreen cultivars? Yews would probably not take well the occasionally wet soil...So the conifers I was considering you think would not work out in terms of size/placement etc?

Sara- thank you for the link to your blog...i will take a look shortly

what is the problem with b&b?

===>>> first off... most of us.. do not have a husband who has very large machines .. to move these things around... lol ...

i 6 foot BB... can weight.. 200 to 300 pounds.. you arent going to be hoiking that size things.. out of the car pictured above ... its no real problem getting them into the car ... and i often joke with the burly young men loading it at the nursery.. if they are willing to follow me home to get it out ... even if you have them delivered to the driveway .. moving them a couple hundred feet across the yard.. can be a lumbar disc killer ... sans heavy equipment ...

now.. a large BB was field grown ... and if .. as it is said.. a tree is twice as big below as above ground... and you dig up a 6 foot tree .. with at most a 2 or 3 foot rootball.. you should be able to conceptualize ... that a vast majority of the root mass is cut off ...

and since no one can see into the ground.. there is some loss.. simply because the digging itself causing severe root loss ...

so.. based on all the above ... i would never go.. about a 3 footer ... and do be prepared.. that once you sink the roots ... it might only be a 2 footer.. lol ... so when i say 3 foot .. i mean the tree part ...

its all about the stress you are applying to the plant ... thru digging .. transporting.. and planting.. and the larger the plant.. the larger the stresses involved ...

i highly recommend you call your COUNTY extension office .... and ask them about their suggestions for your COUNTY ... that is a good way to start with LOCAL opinion .. feed us back that knowledge .. and we can go from there ... i even found out.. they had a tri-county forester on staff.. and though it took a few weeks, he eventually visited and offered many opinions ... and also ask if they have any spring plant sales.. my MI soil conservation dist offices sell 1 to 2 foot trees and conifers for a buck or two .... this is a good way to plant a lot of stuff .... on a low budget ....

and do understand.. there really is no instant gratification in this project ...

one thing you really need to get thru your head though.. is that this is not suburbia .... and this is not a one year project ... i would suggest.. with the scope of what you are trying to accomplish.. a min of 5 years.. to get this done ...

coffee buzz is kicking in.. and my eyes are vibrating.. no chance to reread the above.. lol... gotta go .. perhaps do a couple laps around the acreage ... lol

ken

See, I predicted that someone would chime in more vociferously!

I would work on drainage with the land that floods before I did any planting. The soil used for a berm can come from the swale in front of it. Make sure the swale drains.
Mike

I think your choice to plant Thuja plicata was very smart. Shade tolerant, don't mind wet roots, and deer dislike them. Any type of hemlock would work well as well as Chamaecyparis thyoides and finally Picea mariana.

The first thing to observe the root ball. The bigger the size dug the better. It's most important to observe is the root ball integrity. Make sure they are wrapped tightly in burlap and the root ball is not broken or cracked. Root flare must be tight in the root ball and not move. If this is not apparent then don't buy it.

Buy a 2 wheel cart to transport your conifers to the pre- dug hole. Never drag them on the ground pulling them along by the trunk. Make sure you never bounce them to the ground unloading them. Purchase 1-3 extra because inadvertently 1-3 will die in mass plantings. Just heel them in a prepared area. Sooner or later you will be coming for them.

Dave

This post was edited by Davesconifers on Sun, Dec 8, 13 at 9:52

I would look at evergreen viburnums like V. pragense, 'Cree', and several others. They should be perfectly hardy in your zone, get to 10 feet or so and would be terrific with a couple of conifers.