Ilex opaca is a fine tree and essentially trouble-free. White pine and eastern red cedar are also easy to grow in this area. The latter two will grow more quickly than the american holly. Another excellent evergreen for our zone is eastern hemlock -- alas, I cannot recommend planting it at this time because it is plagued by hemlock wooly agelid.

We have a Deodar cedar in a mixed wind break, it has been trouble-free and is very lovely with its unusual color (ours is yellow-green, there is also a very nice gray-green variety) and drooping branches (a bit of a Dr. Seuss tree in form). These are expensive (compared to Leyland cypress) but are a very nice accent and are untroubled by deer and other pests. I agree with Mary, years ago eastern hemlock would be a great choice, but not now. We also have several hollys in the break -- all are nibbled by deer, but I do like the mixed textures and colors.

Hemlock wooly adelgid can be controlled if you spray horticultural oil once or twice at the right time in the spring. It's not that much work. But it still is a lot more work than not spraying :-). I probably wouldn't plant any either.

As for not wanting to plant Leyland cypress: I recently found out that even the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection recommends against planting Leyland cyprus (sic).

Here is a link that might be useful: Alien Invaders In Your Yard

Hi Dottie (haven't seen you for awhile),

I have several volunteer holly (2-4'now)that you may have for the digging. Besides, it will give you an excuse to come on over soon!

Laurel
P.S. Did you overwinter the brugmansia?

I grew up in a house with several mature white pines on the property. I strongly recommend that anyone considering planting white pine makes certain to take a close look at a mature one before planting any.

I have seen people plant white pine in a row with other pines and spruces, or close to buildings, etc. White pine can become a gigantic tree, and tends to lose its lower branches. I cringe when I see the way some are planting it. Is the intention to cut it down before it matures?

I also live next to a property where hemlocks were planted in a row as a "hedge" that was supposed to be clipped. It never was, and now, with the origional owners long departed, it is a stand of one rather magnificent tree and a row of spindly ones marching behind it, also incidentally producing enough shade to have destroyed our attempts to continue having a vegetable garden in that section of our land, since the overgrown hemlock hedge blocks the morning sun.

Remember that if the trees are planted too closely, they will eventually not be able to afford privacy, as they will shade out the lower branches of each other. Fast growning, expendable shrubs, such as the taller forsythias, or tall grasses could be interspersed in the meantime to afford more privacy while the trees are growing.

American Holly is rather slow, look into the Foster Holly.

Might I suggest Green Giant arborvitae (thuja "Green Giant")? It's mature shape is similar to leyland cypress, but, unlike leylands, it has a deep and stable root system, and isn't so sensitive about water.

Mike Dirr, the renowned garden guru from one of the universities in the Carolinas or Georgia, has described it as sure to become the new industry standard. It grows 30-40 feet high, and about 12-15 feet in diameter. Also, grows up to 3 feet per year.

Now this is the kicker to induce you to try it. I have a gorgeous specimen, about 5-6 feet tall, that I was talked into planting 18 months ago by a professional landscaper. At the time I thought it would become too big for the space, but I was assured that it would only grow 10-15 feet tall. I began to think that my info was incorrect.

The upshot of all this is that I have a tree growing where there will not be room for it in the near future. It needs to be moved very soon, before the root system becomes too well established. I have nowhere on my 0.3 acre lot to move it to. I just can't throw out a lovely, healthy tree.

Said tree, which cost me $75 (wholesale), is up for grabs, FREE! The only catch is that I need help digging it. I have a ruptured disc, and fear that doing by myself would be a mite foolish.

So come one and all to my Bel Air home and relieve me of this treasure. Contact me by e-mail. First come, first served.

Lesley

G'Day!
i second what eibren said; consider what you want the row to look like when mature, and plant fewer, high-quality "specimin" trees at proper spacing for their mature sizes, then fill in the gaps with something temporary. Tall grasses, shrubs, even trellises or wattle panels to smother with vines. Later, if you are concerned about thinning lower limbs allowing opening up the underskirts of the trees too much, an understory of broadleaf evergreens, such as azaleas, is a Mid-Atlantic classic, not so fasionable at the moment, but likely to be revived.

my first choices would by true Southern magnolia if you are warm enough for it, and giant rhododendrons, but then again i like "antique" style plants.

How high a "wall" do you want to grow, and how much depth can the trees have? You mention putting them in the middle of the yard; won't you lose the view of the back half of the yard, or is dividing the yard the goal? If the latter, then something with a less "formal" branching pattern than most conifrs might be a good choice, if you want to eventually do a minor bit of topiary and sculpt a gateway through the wall.

A variety of plants will give the row an informal look, provides better wildlife habitat, gives you some insurence against losing the whole thing to some future disease, and will provide a nice range of textures; a single variety, on the other hand, makes for a more soothing, calmer, more formal presentation, suited both to a generally more formal landscape or to provide a calmer backdrop to a somewhat chaotic foreground, such as a play area or a mixy-matchy cottage-style garden or arts-and-crafts Romanticist faux-naturalistic style along the feet of the treeline.

Post a picture of the site for more site-specific ideas.

Happy gardening,
-vlad

I have quite a few Hemlocks and dearly love them. The oil was of no help in controlling the wooly adelgid, no matter how hard we tried. We have come upon the Bayer product which has done incredible for us and it doesn't take long at all to see the results. You only apply this product once a year, so you aren't constantly fighting a losing battle.

I would second the suggestion for the Green Giants. We have several of these and they are doing well. Only problem is the deer love them. My first year, they just about ate one totally gone. I have since then covered them with netting in the winter to protect from this.

We also have a row of Lelands which have been growing for 13 years now. They are beautiful and the deer don't bother them at all.

Little Gem Magnolia is a smaller version of our Southern Magnolia and is well suited to the size of a residential backyard.