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| I have a 75' retaining wall at the rear of my yard. I am going to dig the mulch out and replace with stone and plant new trees. Here is a picture of what the last owner left us (don't mind the homes behind, you get the idea, I stitched together a few pictures and it didn't do a great job).
http://fototime.com/198A3BE471C2A1B/orig.jpg I may leave the plum trees on the ends but will remove the juniper and the dead bushes. They are about 10' tall and growing nice. I want something that will grow at least 12-15' to block the homes behind us, but not get too tall so it makes the yard like a "prison." Also want something low maint. that looks nice (color would be nice). I was thinking of these two options: A solid wall of Emerald Green Arborvitae. They would start at 6' tall and grow from there. I would need a lot of trees, every 3-4 feet. or Put a 6' solid vinyl fence up, and plant more plum and some pear trees on the wall about every 10-12 feet. Eventually they will make a solid wall and add some color in the spring. The only issue is that I don't want anything too wide because it will extend too far over the wall into the grassy area of our yard. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by toronado3800 Z6 St. Louis (My Page) on Sat, Apr 28, 12 at 2:23
| My goodness, is New Jersey really Hardiness zone 7? menace73, my vote is for a mixture and start with small trees and your idea of a bit of a vinyl fence. You can put up a trellis and let some vines climb it. I know nothing about vines BTW. Space in some variety of trees. All of one type is inviting trouble on a large scale and things will look weird if one dies and you have a gap. Do you own enough of the land above the wall to stagger the planting also? Red and yellow barked Japanese maples in front of some evergreens are something I have wanted to try. Them spreading red twig dogwood shrubs have done me well also. Arborvitae come in a hundred cultivars. Mix in a few. I am somewhat concerned about their eventual size being right on a retaining wall. How many feet back can you plant them? |
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| Thanks for the response. I only own about 4' beyond the wall, so if I put a fence up, I only have 4' to work with between it and the edge of the wall. |
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- Posted by ricksample 6 (My Page) on Sat, Apr 28, 12 at 8:38
| I would have to agree with Toronado here. A misture of dwarf conifers (some blue, some green, maybe a yellow one here and there). Then perhaps a red weeping Japanese maple such as Red Dragon. The blues/greens/yellows/reds would really pop and be the center of attention. See the link below in the conifers forum I wouldn't do a solid row of green emeralds. I'm just not a fan of them. Keep in mind trees never stop growing. When you see a size of like 6' tall, that's usually what it will be in 10 years. In 20 years it would be 12', etc. Eventually destroying that retaining wall. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Conifer Design
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- Posted by tim_treenut (My Page) on Sat, Apr 28, 12 at 13:25
| How about pink pussy willows? Maybe a bushier cultivar? |
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| @tornado - Yes, much of NJ is 7. There are probably a few places in the far south that are 8. Some places in the NW are 6 probably. |
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