I've just purchased a zone 6 Home in CT. As with other Homes Built in 1760 it is located to close to a busy road. I hope to plant a privacy hedge along the front, six feet high at a minimum, to improve the aesthetics and control the road noise. The ideal hedge would fill in within a few years, evergreen is preferred, and trees are an option. I'm also concerned about damage from road salt resulting from winter plowing as well as trying to minimize installation cost, I love Boxwood but it grows to slow and is expensive. Arborvitae, Privet and Holly are a consideration. Any Ideas would be appreciated.
Privacy Hedge
jmc, is there a deer problem in your new neighborhood? As you can probably tell from browsing these threads, deer have become a significant nuisance in our region. Arborvitae is one of their favorites. Perhaps ask your new neighbors or the local garden center before you invest lots of money in your hedge.
I have a tall Juniper that I love. I think that it would make a great hedge.
Hebron CT is pretty rural and I'm sure to have some problem with deer. The proximity to the main road may intimidate them some, but the Arborvitae is sure to suffer some damage. I Like the Juniper idea. Do you know the variety?
I actually asked that question several days ago in the Trees and Shrubs forum. Even though I planted the shrub 8 years ago, I forgot to file its info in my plant files. Anyway, Resin nicely identified it for me as a Chinese Juniper. I then went over to a local garden center and found out that it's a "Hetzii Columnaris" Juniper. They grow to about 15 feet tall and 5 feet wide. Mine is probably about 10 feet tall and 4 feet wide at this point. It has grown vigorously through many adverse conditions, including hungry deer! I plan to get more of them to replace my Arborvitae, which have been absolutely destroyed by the deer over the past three winters.
jmc, is bamboo an option for you? I don't have any or know much about it, although I find it pretty intriguing as far privacy screening goes. Perhaps someone else will chime in about it and offer some personal experience and insight.
Most people I know call bamboo a nightmare. It can cross underneath a driveway and come up on the other side. I wouldn't even trust the supposedly non-invasive types.
Yikes pirl ~ that is definitely good to know!!
Welcome JMC!
I would reinforce the avoidance of arborvitae, there is a row of them near me that are in a permanent hourglass shape. They taper in at the hight of the deer's mouths. Kinda funny but probably not what you're looking for.
They recommend barberry, boxwoods & spruce on the deer resistant thread
This message was edited Apr 25, 2007 10:42 PM
jmcmeekin....we have two Arborvitae 20 feet tall or so within a couple feet of the main road leading into town from I-95. No problem with road splash and salt so far.
My dad planted bamboo in CT 1966 and I'm a big fan of it but its more suitable to the back or side of a yard (at least the species we have--Phyllostachys aureosulcata). It is a great privacy screen but you do need some depth for it to be effective. My sister has a 20 foot deep strip of it running along the back of her property. With no care since it was planted, the grove is 30 feet high and needs thinning every few years. She's on a rock ledge so running isn't a problem--the "Yellow Grove" is growing in only a few feet of soil.
Thanks for the info guys, The Bamboo would be too invasive for the front and I'd prefer not to feed my hedge to the Deer. The Juniper sound like it has all the right characteristics though. If I add a short masonry wall in front of them I can minimize the salt damage.
Thanks again, JMc
Sounds like you have a good solution to the visual privacy you want. I just want to add that you really shouldn't expect much sound buffering from plants, based on research I've read about. To get good sound reduction you really need something solid like a fence, wall, or earth berm.
JMc, The thread I referred to that listed boxwoods, juniper or spruce, later had 2 or 3 people saying deer ate their spruce. You may want to check into it more.
Dave