Help with selecting tree

[Doc_Bob]

I like Norway Spruce for privacy. As long as they have sun for the first few years and the grass is kept trimmed around them they will really grow fast. Once they get above the grass you don't have to worry about cutting it around the trees anymore. I'm talking about planting 10-14 inch seedlings. I buy mine from the state each year. I pay 30 dollars per 100 for spruce. I think its only 55 dollars for 250 seedlings but thats a lot of trees....

And how do you plant them? Any tools? Tips?
Bob

PS I ask because I planted 55 Colorado Blue Spruce trees and "enjoyed" every minute of it

 

[teach]

Volcamp,
In another life I was a landscaper. Here in the northeast white pines and arborvitee would fill the bill. Not sure how they grow in the south. The only problem with arborvitee is that the deer love them in the northeast during the winter when feed becomes scarce. But both trees are fast growing, and provide excellent screening as they are both evergreens. Try using an auger on your tractor to plant them. You can probably plant 3-5' trees with a 12" bit and use a smaller bit for seedlings. The auger saves your back and goes fast once you get set up. Good luck and happy planting!
Teach

 

[RalphVa]

Hooved rats love orborvitae but won't nibble the Leyland so much. I'm gonna have to take out the orborvitae and put in something else. The deer eating weakened them enough so they've gotten affected by something now.

The Park Seed catalog has an alternative on the back page. Consult their web site and order a catalog. Their stuff is kinda small though, but the catalog will tell you what it is. I've forgotten the name.

Ralph

 

[KentT]

How fast is fast? How soon do you want a screen that works. White pine or arborvitae will give you decent screen maybe in 8-10 years, if you plant them in double, alternating rows. If you plant a single row, it'll take even longer. Is that soon enough?

If not, you choices go toward the fast-growing hybrid poplars, hybrid willows, or hybrid elms. I'd recommend you avoid the fast-growing Russian Olive trees that many places will try to push -- they are very invasive and spread like crazy, since they are non-native with no natural pests.

In comparison, the hybrid willows and hybrid poplars are sterile and do not reproduce from seed... (Note that I'm talking hybrid poplars -- not Lombardy poplars).

The hybrid willow grows much faster than the poplar, which grows faster than the elm... The elm is the better tree, once mature, followed by the poplar, and then the willow is last.

Like most everything in life -- it's a matter of tradeoffs and what works for you in your situation.

 

[volcamp]

Guys, thanks for the insight. I think I'm going to be leaning toward the hybrid Poplar. My only reluctance is that it sounds like they will be at risk from wind. We have had more than our share of hurricanes in the past ten years. We are in a pretty wide open area of flat land. Guess there's a trade off with everything.

 

[johnk]

Doc Bob,

They way I plant them depends where I'm planting them. If its open I use my sub soiler and dig straigt lines for the rows. I then make the next row with the width I want between them. I then hand plant the seedlings and tamp the soil the best I can around them. If I am spacing them in the woods I use a steel chisel bar Like an ice chopper and make a slot to put them in. I am clearing out slowly a 4 acre christmas tree farm gone bad from 50 years ago. Planted to close and never thinned out. All dead 3/4 of the way down due to the dense canopy and no sunlight. Keeps me out of trouble and give me some exercise....

 

[johnk]

Volcamp,
I'm really not sure how those pines would grow in your climate. Do a google search for planting pines in your zone...........

 

[johnk]

Here is a few pics of the spruce I am clearing slowly but surely. The garbage bag was dragged back there by a Black bear because there was dung and tracks all around it..The pic of my dogs leg shows the dung with berries in it and my cabin 100 yards from the garbage bag. Bag probably weighed 40 pounds with all the other stuff in it.

 

[KentT]

Guys, thanks for the insight. I think I'm going to be leaning toward the hybrid Poplar. My only reluctance is that it sounds like they will be at risk from wind. We have had more than our share of hurricanes in the past ten years. We are in a pretty wide open area of flat land. Guess there's a trade off with everything.

If you have room for more of a true windbreak, you could do something like put a row of hybrid willows on the outside to grow quickly, with a row of slower-growing white pines behind them. Then, plan on removing the willows when the white pines grew large enough to provide the long-term screening you desire....

But, that requires probably 20-30 feet of space. Do you have that much room?

 

[daTeacha]

Jumping back in here, the South is Yellow Pine habitat. Like KentT said, consider planting two species, one a fast grower that will eventually be cut down and the other something that takes some time to get established but will be successful in your environment.

How about the Hybrid Poplar or willow interspersed with Yellow Pines, planning to remove the poplar or willow in 6 to 10 years? Check with local state agencies about what will grow best in your area. Climate and soil types can make a major difference in what grows and what just sort of survives.