Trees for privacy in the back garden

Galego

Hi all,
Hope I can get some advice in this forum.
I live in an estate so my back garden is overlooked and would like to create some privacy at the back. The width of the garden is around 8-9 meters and I would like to plant 3 trees.

My idea is:
1- Whitebeam
2- Malus everest
3- Kanzan or similar

Open to other suggestions.

Cheers.

mloc123

I was recommended cotoneaster cornubia recently for the same requirement.

Almost evergreen, fast growing and decent coverage.

Galego

mloc123 wrote: »

I was recommended cotoneaster cornubia recently for the same requirement.

Almost evergreen, fast growing and decent coverage.

Did you go for it at the end?

If it was you, Would you get 3 of them?

mloc123

Ordered three of them this morning. Similar setup to yourself, our garden is 8m wide and overlooked. I built a 6ft fence with 2ft of trellis on top but we wanted something more.

The cornubia should grow to 20-30ft (bought semi mature ones at 12ft), I will probably keep them around 20ft. They can be kept with a bare trunk for 6ft so you won't lose much space at ground level. I will get some pictures up on Friday when they arrive.

Galego

mloc123 wrote: »

Ordered three of them this morning. Similar setup to yourself, our garden is 8m wide and overlooked. I built a 6ft fence with 2ft of trellis on top but we wanted something more.

The cornubia should grow to 20-30ft (bought semi mature ones at 12ft), I will probably keep them around 20ft. They can be kept with a bare trunk for 6ft so you won't lose much space at ground level. I will get some pictures up on Friday when they arrive.

May I ask you where you purchase them from?
Also you think neighbors in front of me could have something to complain about.

Did you consider any other trees similar to the ones which I listed? I mean trees with pink, red, etc flowers, more flowery.

mloc123

Galego wrote: »

May I ask you where you purchase them from?
Also you think neighbors in front of me could have something to complain about.

Did you consider any other trees similar to the ones which I listed? I mean trees with pink, red, etc flowers, more flowery.

We bought from Carragh nursey in Kildare. I had considered the house behind us and if it would be an issue. I can't see it being a big problem once I keep them maintained and not over grown. I am sure they are equally as keen not to be overlooked.

We were mainly looking at ones with all year or mostly all year coverage which ruled out a lot. We looked at 'red robin' also but they were more expensive... 8-10ft were about 150e each from what I recall compared to 80e for the cornubia.

Galego

mloc123 wrote: »

We bought from Carragh nursey in Kildare. I had considered the house behind us and if it would be an issue. I can't see it being a big problem once I keep them maintained and not over grown. I am sure they are equally as keen not to be overlooked.

We were mainly looking at ones with all year or mostly all year coverage which ruled out a lot. We looked at 'red robin' also but they were more expensive... 8-10ft were about 150e each from what I recall compared to 80e for the cornubia.

Thanks for the info.

How many months coverage do these offer?
At 80eur. how tall are they already?

Do you have many options meeting your requirements a part from the two which you have already said?

Sorry for all the questions. :-(
But thanks for answering them. :-)

Oldtree

Semi mature trees require much more maintainance and care than whips. In the short term you will have instant impact with the larger trees, but if you start small the small trees they will soon outpace the larger ones and require little maintainance.

mloc123

They are about 12ft tall for 80e.

Coverage wise... we were told that near Dublin they should maintain coverage all year around, in Kildare he said 10-11 months. I think it will depend on how cold it gets.. I assume Dublin remains slightly warmer from being more built up.

We didn't find a whole lot else apart from that. My wife wasn't keen on conifers so we ruled those out too. In the end we went to a couple of nurseries and asked for advice, the cornubia seemed to fit the bill but it is probably no harm having a look around and asking.

mloc123

Oldtree wrote: »

Semi mature trees require much more maintainance and care than whips. In the short term you will have instant impact with the larger trees, but if you start small the small trees they will soon outpace the larger ones and require little maintainance.

Yes, was told this... I am quite impatient. When you say much more maintenance what exactly do you mean? Apart from staking them, watering and pruning will there be much more involved?

I understand that it can be difficult to have them 'take' initially.

LurkerNo1

mloc123 wrote: »

Yes, was told this... I am quite impatient. When you say much more maintenance what exactly do you mean? Apart from staking them, watering and pruning will there be much more involved?

I understand that it can be difficult to have them 'take' initially.

Not just initially, they may never flourish as they should, a young plant will adapt much quicker and grow into its environment. A semi mature tree has already adapted and settled into it's growing conditions in the nursery and by taking it into a different environment it may never fully adapt and grow as it should.

The trees you chose can get pretty big, do you really need all that coverage? The reason i ask is that if you are in an estate in time you may have problems with them blocking light into your or your neighbors property.

Galego

mloc123 wrote: »

They are about 12ft tall for 80e.

Coverage wise... we were told that near Dublin they should maintain coverage all year around, in Kildare he said 10-11 months. I think it will depend on how cold it gets.. I assume Dublin remains slightly warmer from being more built up.

We didn't find a whole lot else apart from that. My wife wasn't keen on conifers so we ruled those out too. In the end we went to a couple of nurseries and asked for advice, the cornubia seemed to fit the bill but it is probably no harm having a look around and asking.

How wide are they?

I like the Red Robin trees. Can you not get them cheaper being maybe not semi mature?

LurkerNo1

Those 3 trees in your OP will eventually get too big Galego.
Malus Everest is a large crab apple, whitebeam can get very big as well as Prunus Kazan.
The spread on all 3 will eventually be 5 meters or more and its likely any overhanging branches will be chopped off by your neighbour.

Galego

LurkerNo1 wrote: »

Those 3 trees in your OP will eventually get too big Galego.
Malus Everest is a large crab apple, whitebeam can get very big as well as Prunus Kazan.
The spread on all 3 will eventually be 5 meters or more and its likely any overhanging branches will be chopped off by your neighbour.

What would you suggest?

mloc123

LurkerNo1 wrote: »

Not just initially, they may never flourish as they should, a young plant will adapt much quicker and grow into its environment. A semi mature tree has already adapted and settled into it's growing conditions in the nursery and by taking it into a different environment it may never fully adapt and grow as it should.

The trees you chose can get pretty big, do you really need all that coverage? The reason i ask is that if you are in an estate in time you may have problems with them blocking light into your or your neighbors property.

We don't need that much coverage, I however would like that much coverage
It is an old estate (35 years) so there are already a lot of mature trees.. some conifers 60ft high etc.. at the end of peoples gardens. Based on this I am not sure the trees would be an issue.

I plan to keep them well trimmed back as (if) they grow.

LurkerNo1

Galego wrote: »

What would you suggest?

Its pretty difficult to suggest anything without seeing the property, maybe stick up a picture or two of your back garden and see what you want covered. My advice is take your time, think and research it.

Galego

LurkerNo1 wrote: »

Its pretty difficult to suggest anything without seeing the property, maybe stick up a picture or two of your back garden and see what you want covered. My advice is take your time, think and research it.

Please see photos below and see what you'd suggest.

*Garden shed to be replaced for a new one of the same size.

Oldtree

That is a difficult one. There are a number of ways to establish privacy and I had a similar issue in my London garden (which was 40 ft by 16ft.)

Trees at the end of the garden is one avenue but they will not stop growing so I would be inclined to plant only one tree in the middle, or a pair, at the end of the garden and let it go. Then perhaps half way up the garden plant something that will not be as big yet will reach the 2 story windows eyeline in the opposite houses. A trellis could be put at the top of the wall on your side an grow something like ivy and that will increase the height of privacy there, in fact I would trellis the ugly concrete wall entirely. Then depending on how you want to use the garden and also get privacy from the houses adjacent to you, you can start to break up the views.

In my case a chair at the end of the garden is where I wanted privacy and sun. So with the use of things like bamboo, lilac, to mention 2 I layered the privacy ie staggered planting. ie a seat behind a 5 ft bush is invisible, if you see what I mean. Also you could section off the garden creating mini areas easily using trellis too.

I will try and dig out a photo of my garden back then to give you an idea.

Galego

Oldtree wrote: »

That is a difficult one. There are a number of ways to establish privacy and I had a similar issue in my London garden (which was 40 ft by 16ft.)

Trees at the end of the garden is one avenue but they will not stop growing so I would be inclined to plant only one tree in the middle, or a pair, at the end of the garden and let it go. Then perhaps half way up the garden plant something that will not be as big yet will reach the 2 story windows eyeline in the opposite houses. A trellis could be put at the top of the wall on your side an grow something like ivy and that will increase the height of privacy there, in fact I would trellis the ugly concrete wall entirely. Then depending on how you want to use the garden and also get privacy from the houses adjacent to you, you can start to break up the views.

In my case a chair at the end of the garden is where I wanted privacy and sun. So with the use of things like bamboo, lilac, to mention 2 I layered the privacy ie staggered planting. ie a seat behind a 5 ft bush is invisible, if you see what I mean. Also you could section off the garden creating mini areas easily using trellis too.

I will try and dig out a photo of my garden back then to give you an idea.

Thanks for the advise and look forward to seeing the photo of your garden.

One question. Would I be crazy to put two cotoneaster cornubia and a small tree with flowers in Spring to put a big of colour?
In the Garden center, they tell me that the Cornubia is very easy to cut back and shape it to a manageable size. For something for colour I was thinking about a small crapapple tree.

Yes I agree about doing something to hide the ugly wall. I will plant Ivy and take it from there.

mloc123

A few quick pictures of the trees planted now.

I assume it is not possible to over water newly planted trees, providing I don't saturate the soil.