where are you???

conifers are trees.. NONE stop magically growing at a mystical height ... the faster it grows to your height.. the faster it will get twice .. 3 .. and 4 times as large ...

most size estimates are at 10 years ... at 20.. they will be twice as big ...

GG sounds way out of bounds for your application ...

leylands have a whole host of issues.. besides not knowing where you are ...

there are hundreds of variations on arbs ... are you willing ot search out the unique.. ???

if you are going to rely on bigboxstore.. your only option is smagard.. emerald green ... and if you go that route.. you MUST insure.. single leader plants...

ken

In ocean county New Jersey, Lakewood /Jackson, border. That is what is being suggested to me. I need a lot perhaps that's the most cost effective way. you have any other ideas to look into. low maint. fast growing not to costly?

I have a row of Emerald Green Arborvitae (same as Smaragd). I planted them 7 years ago - they were 8 footers and expensive but I got them 1/2 price at the end of the season (maybe $50 each?). They have grown slowly and are about 10 feet tall now, although I've nipped the tops a couple times.

This is a great screening tree for a tall narrow space and they make a great backdrop for other plants too. But it will probably be expensive to get larger specimens (I wanted instant privacy).

You could get smaller trees than 8 footers for less money, plant them a little closer together and they might grow faster than mine did. Ken is right, they should be trained to a single leader which helps them withstand snow load.

Or, how about a lattice fence? Or maybe you could put up a 10 foot trellis and grow morning glories or some other annual vine, and they would fill it up by the end of the season (although deer love my morning glories, and they've never touched the Arborvitae!).

I tried Arborvitae in my area of 'deer central' a couple of years ago...all long since eaten by deer. (Deer can exhibit regional taste preferences!) They just loved it to death. My deer proof, living privacy fences have left me with...

Fargesia (clumping bamboo)
Southern Magnolia trees (not recommended unless you really have the yard space)
Holly
Boxwood
Butterfly bush
Crape myrtles
Rhododendrons
Weeping Atlas Cedar
Ornamental Grasses will also work

P.S., I used to love morning glories, now, I have the wild, weedy ones and hate them all.

This post was edited by njoasis on Thu, Jun 5, 14 at 17:30

I am still a novice in this field and have learned a lot of what i know from these forums. That said i can speak specifically to your question.

Over the last 4 years i have planted a lot of trees at the rear of my property to screen an unsightly parkway. Like you my objective is/was fast growing,low cost, dear resistent. I have planted mostly green giants and leyland Cypress, some smaller from big box stores and some large 6/7 footers with huge rootballs from a professional nursery.

My observations are as follows.......
The cypress start out slow and then accelerate rapidly, the deer have nibbled on them from time to time but nothing drastic. The " single leader" theory mentioned above comes into play, because mine are not single the snow can create splitting problems.

The GG grow reasonably fast at a consistant rate. The deer have never touched them, supposedly they are considered somewhat deer resistent, so i have been told?

Some 2/3 footers i planted 4 years ago are just now starting to become "reasonable screen" if you want immediate results i would go with 6/7 foot GG from a professional nursery because you might not find them in the big box. I WOULD NOT go with the emerald green if you have a deer problem because based on what i have wittnessed from my neighbors trees they are number ONE on the deers choice list.

Please note i am in southern new york state zone 6 ?
And everything i have planted is in good soil AND in a sun drenched area, i do not beleive any of the afforementioned will flourish in limited sun.
I have fould my best deals in the big box stores late in the fall planting season. As mentioned above bamboo might also be an option but i have found that to be ridiculously EXPENSIVE.

Perhaps the more experienced members might have something to add.
On that note..... Is it possible to train a Cypress into a single leader?
(Also- i realize that this is not the proper forum but i am interested in some sort of annual that will climb on lattice and does not need a lot of sun, morning glory was mentioned above, i would like to learn more, could you please direct to proper area? )

Thanks

I can really understand the comment about Clumping Bamboos being ridiculously expensive...even for SMALL plants. So too, they will require some degree of shading in HOT summer areas, and I assume your pool is in full sun. But, if there is shading from the hottest sun, they will form a barrier within your lifetime. The Fargesia below were planted six years ago. I originally purchased three, overpriced, tiny pots of Fargesia rufa (Green Panda Boo). Every growing season, I divided the clumps to propagate them. They now form a thick wall from 7-8 feet.

P.S., I would also Photinia 'Red Tip' to the deer-resistant, privacy list (they also grow fast). I know they have been decimated by some kind of blight in the South, but (so far), not true here (NJ).

This post was edited by njoasis on Thu, Jun 5, 14 at 20:00