ATJaguarX
Full Member
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Jul 14, 2008 3:00 pm
Location: Yorkville, IL

Evergreen Trees - Do I need them?

I know evergreens are a great privacy tree, but I don't care for the way they look. I'm trying to come up with a master landscape plan and was wondering if there is any place for them in it. Any thoughts?

:roll:

MaineDesigner
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Posts: 439
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2006 11:17 am
Location: Midcoast Maine, Zone 5b

You certainly aren't obliged to plant conifers. They are good for privacy and if you have strong prevailing winds in the winter they can be great for slowing/redirecting the breeze and probably saving you some money on heating.

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hendi_alex
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Posts: 3604
Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2008 7:58 am
Location: Central Sand Hills South Carolina

The fruits and berries from hollies, cedars, and many others help the birds make it through the winter. They also provide nesting sites and areas for critters to get out of the weather. Your yard, your plan, if evergreens don't fit in that plan, well, they just don't fit.

ATJaguarX
Full Member
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Jul 14, 2008 3:00 pm
Location: Yorkville, IL

MaineDesigner wrote:You certainly aren't obliged to plant conifers. They are good for privacy and if you have strong prevailing winds in the winter they can be great for slowing/redirecting the breeze and probably saving you some money on heating.
With the housing market as bad as it is, I probably will not have houses built around me anytime soon. That being said, we do get strong winds in the winter that I would love to break up. Perhaps conifers could help.

biwa
Senior Member
Posts: 203
Joined: Sun Aug 13, 2006 4:15 am
Location: Virginia, zone 7

If I wanted an evergreen bush/tree, I would choose holly because they can be very pretty depending on what species you get. However, if you don't like the looks of evergreen trees, there are plenty of things that stay green throughout the winter that look like like normal trees. My neighbor has a bush that's about 20 feet tall that looks rather like a cherry tree and stays green all winter. Sometimes the leaves develop a reddish tint, but they never all fall off at once like with other trees. It had tiny red flowers in the spring, if I remember correctly. I've got no clue what it's called, but I could ask the neighbors if you like.

Some photos of it:
[url=https://img2.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?ac7e6a9dbf.jpg][img]https://img2.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/th.ac7e6a9dbf.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://img2.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?8107b3be10.jpg][img]https://img2.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/th.8107b3be10.jpg[/img][/url]

TheLorax
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Posts: 1416
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2008 9:40 pm
Location: US

What MaineDesigner is referring to is a windbreak. In order for a windbreak to be the most effective in our region, much thought must go into the creation of same.

As a rule of thumb, windbreaks should be placed about 100' from the NW corner of one's home and should consist of mixed species of both evergreen and deciduous woodies.

Although conifers can help provide much needed habitat for many species of critters while multitasking to afford privacy, improperly planted species can have the opposite effect on those strong winter winds we'd all love to break up.

The windbreak I have on my property is a work in progress and I am constantly adding to it based on my drawings. It was designed to multi-task in that it is a windbreak utilizing species chosen for maximum wind reduction however species were also chosen based on the fauna indigenous to my area. My windbreak utilizes mixed native woodies exclusively which happen to be the best adapted to this region anyway so the odds of them being able to perform for me for many years to come are greatly increased. Best guess is that I should begin benefiting from its existence in about 10 years. At that time, I'll also begin to enjoy the privacy it will afford as the area directly behind it is a wetland that is in the process of being cleared of invasives. Once that wetland is restored and the crack willows and other nasties are removed, there would have been a clear visual path to my home... not any more.

biwa, your photos aren't enlarging. Looks a little bit like you could have a Ligustrum there but images are way too tiny to see in thumbnails. Maybe MD can get your thumbnails to enlarge to take a peek. He'd be able to identify what you have growing there.



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