Trees to block off traffic at back of garden

[AndrewP]

Hi all.

I'm seeking some advice on what trees to plant at the back of my garden.

My garden backs on to a main road, with a approx 2m high wall to separate from the road. However the garden slopes up towards the house and so it doesn’t do a good enough job of blocking off the traffic.

What I'd like to do is plant a row of trees in front of the wall to help block off the view and noise of the traffic.

I'm also not wanting to annoy the neighbours by having something that grows up completely out of control. Although I fully realise I'll need to spend some time trimming them each year. I'm aiming to maintain at the 3-4m height maximum.

I'd also like to have a bit of variety to the trees. Maybe 2-3 different species. And as much as possible, avoid it turning into a plain hedge all the way across, but still see the individual trees if possible.

I've been looking at the following as possibilities.

- Western Red Cedar

- Thuja Occidentalis Smaragd (White Cedar Emerald)

- Portugal Laurel

- Thuja occidentalis Brabant (Possibly a bit too big)

- Monterey Cypress Hedging (Cupressus macrocarpa 'Goldcrest')

The space is 11m wide. I'm hoping to buy the plants as tall as I can physically manage to manoeuvre in place (I'm not entirely sure how big that is), depending on price as well. This is mainly as I'd like to gain the benefit of the trees being in place as soon as possible.

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

Many thanks.

 

[Meadowlark]

The Monterey Cypress and the western red cedar would make a striking living fence and give great fragrance to the area. Seems like it would require a good bit of trimming work as both can get quite large.

 

[Tetters]

Hiya Andrew, both of the trees that Meadowlark mentioned are great, and so is the idea of a mixed boundary.
My first bit of advice is to buy all of these plants as small specimens rather than splash out loads of dosh on big, well established, potted ones, that will struggle when replanted.
One of the best ingredients for success here is patience. Small plants will make themselves at home in the soil much more successfully, and be a lot healthier for it.
One good plant for this job that dominates my thoughts is the Griselinia littoralis, as it will grow like a hedge, very quickly. It is easy to find, and if you look at hedging companies here you will find small plants for a reasonable price. This would make a good sound barrier, is evergreen, soft leaved and very easy to trim with a pair of shears.
This plant will grow up to 20 metres tall. Start with small ones!!
If you make a start with these, you can add other plants in front slightly in a separate staggered row. For the back line add silver birch maybe - another fast grower. Try here for Griselinia https://www.hopesgrovenurseries.co....-aaGXbSQ40kbA0KZ-Fp7kPs54Jol5kF8aAiXiEALw_wcB
As this is a ''new'' garden, check the soil first - before you start. Knowing the ph values and digging over to see what you have will make a difference. Add grit if you're on clay, some decent farmyard manure and other organic matter if it's sandy etc....
Once you have your first plantings in, we could think about other plants to add, or consider other ideas instead
Another way of making a screen is actually making structures nearer to the house - like an archway with rambling roses or similar. Everything looks taller from a closer point when you have a slope going away from the back door.
This, of course could be achieved quite quickly and give you something else to think about while your trees are growing.
Oops - I get carried away a bit on this subject. Time to stop for now

 

[Mr_Yan]

I'll echo what @Tetters said - buy the small potted plants and let them grow into the area. If you look at my "Starting To Landscape" thread you'll see I bought the smallest of each variety I could knowing they would grow in and do better in the long run than if I bought large plants to start.

As for blocking the road. I had to do this at my last house. A single row of trees can block the view of the road but won't do much for the sound. To noticeably reduce the sound level I suggest plantings at multiple levels - both in height and distance - and different textures of leafs and branches. I used a mix of trees that were already there, a privet hedge, some shrubs like dogwood, holly, azaleas, and low soft ground covers like hosta and ferns. It sounds like a lot but all that fit into a very small garden and proved to be rather low maintenance.

 

[Tetters]

@AndrewP it would be quite nice if you could post a photo or two of the garden you are working on. Please.
Will you have the space for a vegetable garden there? - important now with the threat of food shortages in the shops!
Which way is south in your garden? You will need to work out how much shade your screening trees will make as well. Sometimes just one tree in the middle will give sufficient screening visually, leaving plenty of sunshine (if we ever get any sun that is) If your garden is small, you won't want to block the sun out altogether.

 

[Sheal]

Some very good advice in the previous posts Andrew. I'd just like to add when shopping for all kinds of plants, be they trees, shrubs or just flowers, it's important to check the overall height and spread when they are fully mature. Many people when new to gardening buy without checking and find a few years down the line they've bought something that's totally out of hand and often has to be removed. The height and spread also applies to planting distances, not only between plants but closeness to boundaries too.

 

[Tetters]

Cotinus coggyriaUlmus hollandica (Elm)

Have a look at some crab apple trees - different colour blossom, different colour fruit, very ornamental, great for birds and bees.

 

[Tetters]

Some time ago I chatted to someone else on another forum about this very subject. He insisted on buying big plants which cost him a small fortune. The outcome was grim, and he came back for advice as his ''green screen'' was a mess. His new plants had struggled to stay alive, let alone bush up and look healthy. I advised under the circumstances to feed and water, and to cut his plants right back to give them a chance of survival, but I don't think he did. I think he lost a lot of money. Slow and sure wins the race.

 

[Zigs]

I see Mr Yan has already mentioned Holly, I used to plant that on a road bank next to the A35 for the National Trust, it deflected the noise from the road with it's concave and twisted leaves.

 

[AndrewP]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I hear you about not going for bigger plants as they may not succeed. Definitely want to get it right, but disappointing to not be able to take a short cut to gaining the height. What size is good to start with?

Hadn't thought of Holly, and honestly isn't one I'm particularly fond of. But I get how the shape of the leaves could make an impact, so will consider.

My garden faces east and here's pictures as requested: https://photos.app.goo.gl/cBeYGrTxqhNzRFv96

I do like the look of the cotinus coggygria.

 

[olly-buckle]

Hedges stop a lot of pollution from roads getting through, that's great for keeping the air in your home and garden clean, but when you come to trim hedges near busy roads it is worth wearing a mask, I made myself quite ill the first time I cut back an overgrown hedge on a busy street.

 

[Tetters]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I hear you about not going for bigger plants as they may not succeed. Definitely want to get it right, but disappointing to not be able to take a short cut to gaining the height. What size is good to start with?

Hadn't thought of Holly, and honestly isn't one I'm particularly fond of. But I get how the shape of the leaves could make an impact, so will consider.

My garden faces east and here's pictures as requested: https://photos.app.goo.gl/cBeYGrTxqhNzRFv96

I do like the look of the cotinus coggygria.

I would look for plants in about 1 litre pots. I would prepare the planting holes, and put a handful of "fish blood and bone in each hole. It will depend on which trees or shrubs you decide on as to how far apart they should be. A staggered planting would give a more interesting and wider barrier. In the meantime, a self clinging Parthenocissus could adorn the wall and maybe grow into the trees/shrubs later on giving you a bit more of a wow factor in the autumn.
There are no short cuts with plants - just a right and wrong way to grow them.
For year long cover you'll need evergeen plants, and not too many gaps, so the prettier bits of the scheme like cotinus would be better planted in front.
Cotinus will eventually get quite wide, but it can be trimmed back then to the required size during the cold months when the leaves have fallen.

 

[Mr_Yan]

So @AndrewP looking at those two pics you have a great blank slate to do about anything you want in there.

Earlier we spoke about getting little plants rather than big ones. @Tetters went with 1 L in size or so but that is a bit extreme. I usually like buying trees in what is a trade size here in the US of 5 gallons which has a pot nominally 250mm wide and tall. Common trees that size are about 1.5 m tall and run me $30 to $40.

This weekend I bought two larger trees each in 10 gallon pots. One is a birch about 2 to 2.5 meters tall and the other is a sycamore 3+ meters tall. These ran me $150 each from a good nursery and I will have to carefully water this season. The sycamore is a species and variety I've wanted for a while but is less than common at nurseries so I jumped on the first one I saw.

The smaller plants establish faster and easier and will usually do better in the long run than the larger ones when transplanted. There is a large price difference between big and little plants at a nursery. But very importantly the smaller plant is much easier to move and plant than a large plant. The 10 gallon trees took my wife and I working carefully together to remove from the car onto a wagon then place from the wagon onto the ground where I wanted to plant them. I can easily handle a 5 gallon tree alone.

Click over to the thread "Starting to landscape" and you'll see what I am doing in my garden right now as I landscape around my patio with arborvitae and other shrubs.

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On your list you have Thuja occidentalis Brabant AKA American Arborvitae - Yeah, these can get tall but there are dozens of arborvitae cultivars that don't get that tall. In the last week I planted 4 Emerald Beauty Arborvitae which is about the same size. I put these in at about a meter tall each and they cost about $25 each.

Check out Thuja occidentalis "Sunkist" which should be available over there as it has a RHS award of garden merit stamp on it.