Here are the best tree species you can plant for screening your property.

You will agree that privacy, is something everyone is looking out for, irrespective of how large or small your yard is. You will also agree with this old saying that “fences make good neighbors”.

You gain a more quality state of being alone by using specific trees for screening instead of some piled-up block fence. More importantly, there are so many trees for your privacy you can choose from, for either your big yards or small yards.

By using lush green plants, they shield or protect your outdoor space from nosey neighbors, help neutralizes noise from the streets, therefore creating a sense of isolation needed to make your backyard a haven.

Choosing the Best Trees for Screening

There are varieties of trees you can choose from when it comes to screening. But before you choose, try considering their various traits, growth tendencies, and characteristics.

Here are some traits you should look out for in choosing a tree for screening:

  • Easy to Grow

Try to consider trees that are easy to grow, otherwise, the stress you will incur in tendering the tree might make you give up, allowing it to wither.

Fussy trees are not always advised to be considered, because of the difficulty encountered in growing them. Also, they might not be suitable for a broad diversity of soil and sunlight conditions.

  • Evergreen Trees

One of the best character traits you look out for is a tree with an evergreen quality. This makes it suitable for screening and beautifies your yard irrespective of the current or future weather condition, or seasonal variations.

You will agree that privacy, is something most of us lookout for all year round.

You should go for dense, evergreen trees with thick branches, rather than deciduous trees whose leaves drop with every winter.

  • Easy to Find in the Market

It is a total waste of time, effort, and research if the tree you researched and chose is not available in the market or the local nursery. At best, look out for trees that are readily available and that can tolerate the climate in your environment.

  • Beautiful Trees

Most people that have trees in their yards opt for pretty, attractive, and beautiful species. You should consider soft, green foliage, pretty plants, with good shapes, needles, and or leaves.

  • Tall Trees Suitable for Seclusion

Normally, trees or plants for your privacy are mostly tightly spaced.

Most evergreen trees need a lot of space to grow and usually don’t do well so close together, as a lot of room is needed for trees to spread and show their beauty.

You need trees or plants at least 6.5 to 8 feet in height if you aim at blocking your neighbors view. However, you need to pay attention to the mature dimensions of the species you are considering.

Most trees grow much taller with time and require more care and attention.

  • Ease of Maintenance and Moderately Fast Growers

Evergreen trees are used to create a backyard retreat that is easy to maintain.

Yes, you will agree that you need to maintain your trees by watering deeply and regularly, pruning, and applying fertilizer at least for the first year of planting.

You should look out for pest-resistant trees which are easy to grow and maintain.

There is no space for any slow-growing tree or plant when it comes to creating your comfort. As you won’t want to wait for as long as ten (10) years for your solace, choose a plant variety that grows fairly fast.

Based on the above, here is a list of some plants you might want to look out for when picking the best trees for screening.

  • Leyland Cypress (X Cupressocyparis Leylandii)

This plant is considered the best fit for the job, as it has dense, feathery branches in a lovely shade of green and beautiful evergreen feats. Adding several feet yearly to its height, it is considered a fairly quick grower.

Ranging to about 10 feet wide, it grows very tall to about 60 feet in height for a fully grown Leyland Cypress.

This tree is considered the best for screening as it blocks even the toughest, rowdiest, and nosiest neighbor and neighborhood.

  • Lawson Cypress (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana)

Lawson Cypress is considered one of the best screening plants as it has a low rate of maintenance. Its evergreen foliage is soft and plush.

The tree grows very large, to over 40 feet at best when it fully matures and spreads to about 20 feet  (but it grows wider and larger in the wild).

There is a particular species, which stays smaller and is worth looking out for if you wish to plant in your urban backyards.

  • Arborvitae (Thuja Occidentalis)

This plant has reigned for decades and has earned its place among the best trees for screening.

With its deep green foliage, and almost zero rates of maintenance, arborvitae, tolerate a vast array of soil and weather conditions.

With heights reaching almost 20 to 30 feet tall and 10 feet wide, very few plants create solitude of their kind.

  • Concolor Fir (Abies Concolor)

This evergreen tree is noteworthy for several reasons. Its shape requires no pruning as it has a conical natural shape. Its chubby gray needles are soft.

At full maturity, it grows up to about 40 feet and 20 feet wide, offering a great amount of winter interest. It poses less susceptibility to disease and insect-related problems.

It thrives on any type of soil and in any climate condition.

  • Red Cedar (Juniperus Virginana)

The Red Cedar tree is another type of tree considered highly for its prickly foliage, and its ability to shrug off drought and city pollution.

It grows densely, and at maturity may reach up to about 30 feet in height and about 8 feet wide.

  • Dragon Lady Holly (Ilex x aquipernyi ‘Meschick’ DRAGON LADY)

Dragon Lady Holly is the only broad-leaved, evergreen tree, which offers many benefits.

First, it prevents deer and other animals. Its leaves are very dark green in color, and considered an excellent hedge plant as it grows at maturity, to only 10 feet tall and 4 feet wide.

This tree is dioecious, meaning it’s a female plant (since plants can either be male or female). For its beautiful red cherries, a male plant is needed nearby to pollinate.

It is good for narrow yards and has hybrids of ‘’Blue Stallion’’, and ‘’Blue Prince”.

You will do well to ensure for the first year, your plants are properly, adequately, and regularly watered, pruned, mulched well, and as much as possible well-taken care of to ensure the desired screening results.

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