I'd much rather look at some nice trees than whatever is behind that fence. Trees also reduce noise and light pollution, dust, provide roosting and protection for birds, sequester CO2, cool the surrounding air by evapotranspiration, and increase the value of your property.

So, I "vote FOR trees"! :-)

If it were me and I felt about them the way you do...I'd rip them out and plant fruit trees, which you will keep small. IF you keep them 7' or under you wont need a ladder to harvest. High density planting and successive ripening can be reallllly awesome.

You could espalier them against the back fence, or plant 4 in a hole, or even grow them in a hedge shape.
And in zone 7 you have a lot of options. Cherries apples and pears are especially good for espalier. (Google espalier to see photos of all the cool shapes.)

Why spend all that effort and money to shade someone else's property with tall trees. Grow them high to the west and low to the east.
That's just my opinion. I know it's pretty hard emotionally to rip out a healthy tree:)

Here is a link that might be useful: Backyard Orchard Culture

Here is a tool for finding fruit trees to fit your zone.
You are lucky because you can grow all the best cherries peaches and nectarines.
Bing, Royal Ranier, Van, Utah...Cherries
Spice Zee, Double Delight, the Arctic Series (esp. Arctic JAY)...Nectarines.
And check out the pluots called Dapple Dandy and Flavor King. I think they are the best tasting two. (I like the pluerry interspecific too.)
And all the good apples - I love a pink lady, red fuji. Spitzenberg apple is supposed to be awesome.

Here is a link that might be useful: Good tool for finding fruit trees to fit your zone

This post was edited by babyg on Tue, Aug 12, 14 at 23:53

I trimmed trees when we moved in. Neighbor put up 6' fence soon after. He has pool though. House had no neighbor for 10 yrs on north side. So trees actually served a purpose as property line. Backyard is 120'x120 and has always looked bare. I have envisioned an orchard for many yrs.

Maybe I would cut down some of the smaller trees, but absolutely not the large tree in the middle. But it all depends on what kind of trees they are. Some are more desireable than other.

the two just right of center.. look to be leaning into the fence... those would go in my world...

then i would get an ID on the others... and get rid of any weed trees ...

and in the mean time.. i would plant an arc of more friendly .. QUALITY trees starting with the red one on the left ...

my z5 MI is not fruit friendly on a consistent basis ... e.g. after this winter.. no flowers on a dozen trees this spring .. and crikey.. if you dont like raking leaves.. who needs fermenting rotting fruit ... lol .. but this would depend on your micro climate ...

if you dont want them.. dont get wrapped up.. in the opinions of these tree hugging commies ... lol .. it is your yard.. its your trees ... and who cares what other think.. makes me wonder why you asked at all ...

i will yell ... IF YOU WANT TO DO IT.. DO IT ... do not look to the opinions of others ...

if you garden otherwise.. have it done in fall .. after leaf drop .. and keep the wood chips and the firewood ... in the alternative.. get rid of those bat-turds.. before you have to rake up the mess ...

playing devils advocate...

ken

Holy crap you rake leaves? Mulch those leaves right into the grass with a mower. I wish more leaves would blow into my backyard just so I could do so.

I'd remove the ones to the left and right of that middle tree.

Oh wow...I just looked at your photo again. There is a small incline. Looks like you probably have great drainage there. Great for cherries and other pit fruits!
If you really want to do it..then you should.
Ken is right, don't let anyone (like us!) guilt you into keeping (or not keeping) something when it interferes with whatever vision you have.

I would keep the one in the middle. The others are up to you. Remember fruit trees require spraying, and pruning for best fruiting. Bugs will get them or birds, unless you spray chemicals. This may be no problem for some, but to others more pain than it's worth to grow your own fruit.

What about mountain ash for winter interest(berries, birds), flowering crabapple for spring interest(blossoms, ornamental fruit, birds), cutleaf weeping birch for grace(little,small leaves!), ornamental cherry like Amur or Mary Liss(fruit for jam or birds, fall colour). These would certainly be more interesting to look at and high enough for some screening. Pictured: a cutleaf weeping birch, a flowering crabapple and a mountain ash - I rake very few leaves - as a matter of fact I leave them where they fall till spring and spend about 15 minutes in clean up time.

No need to be so extreme. Compromise. Cut down the smaller ones & see how that is. You can always cut more later.

A few days of raking? Boo-whoo.

If raking leaves is really your only beef, one of these is cheaper than removing trees:

Here is a link that might be useful: Cyclone Rake

I guess if you didn't want our opinion, you wouldn't have asked for it. I'd much rather look at that wall of healthy green than someone's roof top. The tree isn't 'leaning into' the fence. The fence was placed after the fact, the tree was there first. If they didn't want a tree hugging it, then they should've thought about that before they constructed it so closely. When those trees get more mature, it'll be the fence leaning. LOL

Even better put a 6' swath straight across of mulch in there and plant 1 gallon Hydrangea paniculata hedge in there and bam no more fence just a really nice, simple bed of trees and shrubs.

Won't have to worry about all that crap around your trees as I can see your rider can't get in between there.

Joe,
If you want to remove them all, do it.
But, I will tell you, you will have tree loss shock for a little while.
You will have very little privacy at all from your neighbors, but I can understand you wanting to get rid of them.
Your lawn will look nicer too, if that matters to you.
Wouldn't want to get your tree removal bill though.
Ouch.

neighbor to left of me planted crimson maple in my yard. about 3' over my property line. since it provides no shade for me, i can live with it or without. i did like the price though. how about that celery stalk tree to the left of the ugly willow?

This post was edited by joe_mn on Thu, Aug 14, 14 at 15:15

Not knowing what they are, I pick the two highlighted ones. Do it in the fall in the event the equipment needed is going to damage tree roots of the keepers.

How about posting some close ups of the individuals in question and lets get the whole row identified. If any are Fraxinus family ash trees I say get rid of them first since you don't have much of an emotional attachment to them and a bug is coming to kill em all for example.

Yeah, I agree, at the VERY minimum, get rid of the two with pink arrows because they interfere with the form of the pretty tree, I'd take out a few more to the left too initially. Then try to I.D. the rest and label them in the photo. That's if you go the least-amount-of-change route.

I still think if you want a fruit orchard you should do it. One of the main ideas of backyard orchard culture is that you keep them short enough that you don't need a ladder-- its' high density planting. Then all of those TALL trees to the north will be replaced with SHORT trees, allowing more indirect light without more heat, and a screen to avoid looking at your neighbor's pool. Tall to the south/west, short to the north/east.

And by the way, if you espalier the trees planted along the fence, then there really isn't much racking, it all falls in one pile naturally and you can leave it there to mulch the weeds.