What trees/large shrubs to plant along my fence?

garycoogangXNLjmjw

I'm looking to plant some small trees or shrubs to act as a screen along the fence and to block out my neighbors bedroom windows. I'll be pulling the decking up and it's about 4.5 metres wide from the shed to the fence.

I don't want to block much light going into their garden, so I think something around 6 metres tall should be perfect. For reference, the fence is 2 metres high. My garden isn't too big so I would like something that's fairly upright to maximize space in the garden. 

I like flowering cherry trees, so was thinking 3 Prunus Agawanoga would look nice. Obviously they're deciduous but the branches would provide some screening during the winter months.

Another option is Cotoneaster Corunbia as it grows to about 6 metres, is semi evergreen and would be good wildlife. I think one would do the job here or would it be better to plant 2-3 to act like a hedge? I know this would involve pruning.

Other options I considered were a couple of crabapple trees, Malus Evereste and Rudolph maybe as they don't grow too big and have good wildlife value.

Any thoughts on my choices? Or would something else be better?

Fairygirl

6 metres will block a lot of light to both sides. Are you sure you want that?
Nothing will grow quickly to that height anyway, so it would be several years to get there.
It's better to have a smaller screen further in. The farther away you put height, the higher it has to be because of the perspective. 
Malus Everest does get pretty big - eventually. 

garycoogangXNLjmjw

Fairygirl said:

6 metres will block a lot of light to both sides. Are you sure you want that?
Nothing will grow quickly to that height anyway, so it would be several years to get there.
It's better to have a smaller screen further in. The farther away you put height, the higher it has to be because of the perspective. 
Malus Everest does get pretty big - eventually. 

Thanks for the reply. The gardens are only 12 metres long so I can't really come in much further for a screen. I will move the bamboo containers further towards my house while trees grow. I can buy semi mature prunus agawanoga so it won't take them too long to fill up and out a little. They'll still allow plenty light through  and that's why there my preference. Ye Malus Evereste is probably is too big so I think I'll rule that out.

JennyJ

Assuming autocorrect has mucked up and you meant Prunus Amanogawa (ignore me if not), it stays as quite a narrow column even when quite mature so it shouldn't block too much light, but you'd need to position them carefully to line up with the windows from the spot that you want to block the view from. I have one of those and it's only maybe 12 feet tall and 2 feet wide in the crown when in full leaf after around 20 or 25 years, but it is in very well-drained sandy soil and was close to a privet hedge until last summer when the hedge was taken out, so they might grow bigger and faster in better conditions.

Pauline 7

Do you want to block your view of their windows or to stop them seeing into your garden from upstairs?  If it is the latter I can assure you that they will not be able to see into your garden.  Your garden is about the same size as mine.



Taken last weekend to show the snow. 

garycoogangXNLjmjw

Pauline 7 said:

Do you want to block your view of their windows or to stop them seeing into your garden from upstairs?  If it is the latter I can assure you that they will not be able to see into your garden.  Your garden is about the same size as mine.



Taken last weekend to show the snow. 

I want to block the view of their windows. I recently had some work done and it included big glass back door and now the kitchen looks directly into the garden. So now I'm concentrating on making the garden nicer

garycoogangXNLjmjw

JennyJ said:

Assuming autocorrect has mucked up and you meant Prunus Amanogawa (ignore me if not), it stays as quite a narrow column even when quite mature so it shouldn't block too much light, but you'd need to position them carefully to line up with the windows from the spot that you want to block the view from. I have one of those and it's only maybe 12 feet tall and 2 feet wide in the crown when in full leaf after around 20 or 25 years, but it is in very well-drained sandy soil and was close to a privet hedge until last summer when the hedge was taken out, so they might grow bigger and faster in better conditions.

Ye my autocorrect messed up 😁

I would be hoping they would get a bit wider than 2 feet wide! Looking at descriptions on RHS etc it says they usually would. The soil is decent with plenty of moisture so I'm hoping they would get bigger over the years. 
If they only grow that thin I would put 4 in rather than 3.

Any other tree suggestions would be much appreciated?

delski

I have a malus x robusta "red sentinel" - Beautiful red apples which have had all of their apples eaten by hungry blackbirds this last week. I believe @Papi Jo has a beautiful mature specimen. I can't wait for mine to look like that!

I also considered prunus amawognana but decided it was too thin for screening purposes so I went for a prunus "accolade" instead. Only because it was on sale though!

You could also consider an evergreen shrub like a Viburnum? I don't know how fast they grow, but I have one that is around 3-4m. I removed all of the lower growth to reveal the trunk and the branches/leaves just sit above the 2m fence screening the neighbours.

rachelQrtJHBjb

I echo the recommendation of Malus 'Red Sentinel'. Annoyingly, the ring-neck parakeets have been stripping mine of its fruit for more than a month now, leaving less for other garden birds. Malus in general make excellent garden trees.

A multi-stem birch would give a light canopy that filters the view into each other's houses.

Evergreen shrubs that get tall include Pittosporum tenuifolium and the tree-like Arbutus unedo.

Cambridgerose12

Of all large shrubs/small trees you could use for hedging and screening, I would recommend evergreens over anything deciduous--Prunus 'Amanogawa' I think probably won't do the trick and has a horrid habit of dying off in parts at maturity. 

Ideally, too, you want something that will not project forward into the door opening of your shed, therefore something that can be clipped back to some extent. 

I personally am not so keen on Cotoneaster 'Cornubia', as it has a really ugly habit when mature (sorry, I love Cotoneaster but not this one!). Here are some options worth considering:

Cotoneaster lacteus--in maturity it gets to be around the right height to screen the house to the rear without overshadowing everything
Photinia davidiana
Photinia 'Red Robin'--it's true you see this in a LOT of municipal plantings but it would be ideal for your purpose, the only issue being that it has red new growth so would dictate what was planted in front of it
Sophora japonica 'Sun King'--usually a small tree, but can be clipped back to make almost a flat front

JennyJ

garycoogangXNLjmjw said:

JennyJ said:

Assuming autocorrect has mucked up and you meant Prunus Amanogawa (ignore me if not), it stays as quite a narrow column even when quite mature so it shouldn't block too much light, but you'd need to position them carefully to line up with the windows from the spot that you want to block the view from. I have one of those and it's only maybe 12 feet tall and 2 feet wide in the crown when in full leaf after around 20 or 25 years, but it is in very well-drained sandy soil and was close to a privet hedge until last summer when the hedge was taken out, so they might grow bigger and faster in better conditions.

Ye my autocorrect messed up 😁

I would be hoping they would get a bit wider than 2 feet wide! Looking at descriptions on RHS etc it says they usually would. The soil is decent with plenty of moisture so I'm hoping they would get bigger over the years. 
If they only grow that thin I would put 4 in rather than 3.

Any other tree suggestions would be much appreciated?

Amanogawa probably will get a bit wider in better conditions, eg Hilliers (reputable tree and shrub specialist) says 1 m wide and 7m tall https://www.hillier.co.uk/trees/listings/prunus-amanogawa/ so mine is a puny specimen. I'll be watching to see if it takes off now the privet is gone and it won't have as much competition for water and nutrients.