Question
I am redoing my backyard right now and I have a raised planter bed at the rear of my house and don't know what to do with it. The planter is 30" tall, 78 ft long and 12' wide. I currently have a 20' patio and 26' ft wide of sod that leads up to it. I was going to plant 7 Thuja Green Giants up there at 8' spacing off center. I wanted something to help block the fence from my neighbor, be fast growing yet low maintenance. Is this a good idea or should I do something different? Is the spacing good or should it be more/less?

Thanks

Answer
Hello:

The spacing would depend on how dense you want the screening effect to be. I would consider 8 feet to be too far apart. I would recommend from 5 to 6 feet spacing on center. The spread of thuja giant is from 12 to 20 feet.

The thuja has a pyradmidal shape and so as the top of the plant is reached,the branch coverage becomes less and so it may create the perception of being too sparse in its coverage to some people. Thuja is fast growing,low maintenance,disease and drought resistant but if you would be dissatisfied with its ability to block the view of the fence you may want to consider a plant with another kind of shape.  Thuja does not tolerate shade well and in shade will not produce as much foliage and thus shade will reduce the amount of screening.

Here is a list of privacy shrubs with columnar and round shapes:

Holly

Lilac

Spirea (Deciduous)

Forsythia

Privet


You may also want to consider small trees,such as:

Crape Myrtle

Sargentii Crab Apple

Dogwood

Serviceberry



Mark Harshman


For more comprehensive help check out my website at:

http://www.prestoexperts.com/expert/markland