Best trees to block neighbors
The Best Trees for Privacy Screening in Big and Small Yards
Regardless of whether your yard is large or small, privacy is something everyone is looking for. While the old saying “fences make good neighbors” is definitely true, I’d much rather gain some much-needed backyard solitude by using lush, green plants instead of a stiff, boring fence. Thankfully, there are may great privacy trees for yards both big and small. They shield your outdoor space from nosey neighbors, help buffer street noise, and create the sense of seclusion necessary to make your yard a peaceful haven. Today, I’d like to introduce you to some of the best trees for privacy.
Great trees to screen out neighbors and noise have several things in common. They’re evergreen, low maintenance, and easy to find on the market.What do all good trees for privacy have in common?
Before looking at which specific varieties of trees are best for screening, it’s important to discuss the traits all good privacy trees have in common.
Fussy trees are not a good fit for creating privacy. If a tree is difficult to grow, or it won’t survive in a broad diversity of soil and sunlight conditions, I don’t bother using it for this purpose. I need something tough that doesn’t have to be coddled.
2. Trees for screening are evergreen.Since privacy is something most of us want year-round, why use a deciduous tree that drops its leaves every winter? Dense evergreens with thick branches are the best trees for privacy.
3. Trees to create privacy are easy to find on the market.What’s the use of learning about the best trees for privacy only to discover you can’t find them at your favorite local nursery? All of the trees on this list are common finds at regional garden centers and online nurseries.
4. Privacy trees are pretty.Most folks who install plantings for privacy want the results of their efforts to be attractive.
They want to look at soft green foliage, not ugly plant shapes, needles, or leaves.
Most plantings for privacy are spaced fairly tight. Some evergreens need lots of room to grow and don’t do well so close to their neighbors. The best trees for privacy thrive in dense plantings.
Privacy plantings along streets and property lines should be thickly planted.6. Evergreens used to create a backyard retreat are easy to maintain.Yes, you’ll have to water your privacy trees deeply and regularly, at least for the first year after planting. But the best trees for privacy don’t have to be pruned, deadheaded, fertilized, or otherwise maintained. Plus, they’re pest resistant and tough-as-nails.
7. The best trees for screening grow taller than eye level.To block the neighbor’s view, you need plants that reach at least 6 to 8 feet in height. Many of the trees on my list grow much taller.
If you live in a smaller yard and want a privacy tree that tops out at a particular height, pay extra attention to the mature dimensions of each variety.
There’s no place for slow-growing trees when it comes to creating a living fence. Since you likely don’t want to wait 10 years for your solitude, you need varieties that grow fairly quickly.
Based on these 8 essential traits, here’s my list of the perfect plants for the job.
The best trees for privacy
Leyland Cypress (x Cupressocyparis leylandii)This beautiful evergreen has dense, feathery branches in the most lovely shade of green. It’s a quick grower, adding several feet to its height each year. Fully evergreen, Leyland cypress is an all-around winner. Hardy down to -10 degrees F, it has few pests, but it grows very tall. Reaching up to 60 feet in height and about 10 feet wide, this tree for screening can block even the rowdiest neighbor! Makes a great hedge when planted on 8 to 10 foot centers.
Oh how I love this privacy tree! We have three on the side of our house, blocking our view of the neighbor’s house from our dining room table. Hardy down to -20 degrees F, this low-maintenance tree is one of the best trees for privacy. The evergreen foliage is soft and lush. Lawson’s cypress grows very large. It’s well over 40 feet at maturity with a 20 foot spread (though in the wild it grows much larger). There are a few compact cultivars that stay smaller and are worth seeking out for urban yards.
Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis)For decades, arborvitae have reigned supreme when it comes to the best trees for privacy and rightfully so. Unbelievably hardy (down to -40 degrees F) with deep green foliage and almost zero maintenance, arborvitae tolerate a vast array of soil conditions.
Reaching 20 to 30 feet tall and 10 feet wide, few plants have the power to create solitude the way this one does. There are many cultivars of this privacy tree for small yards and large, including ‘Green Giant’ and ‘Emerald Green’. Arborvitae can be planted close together, about 5 to 6 feet on center.
This evergreen tree for privacy is noteworthy for several reasons. Its gray-blue needles are chubby and soft. And its natural conical shape requires no pruning. Toping out at 40 feet high and 20 feed wide, concolor firs are hardy to -40 degrees F and offer a great amount of winter interest. Skip this selection if your soil is poorly drained or if you live in the heat and humidity of the south. A tree with few insect and disease problems, you’ll find it to have a moderate growth rate. It’s a perfect choice for large properties.
Another great tree for blocking out the neighbors or the street, red cedars survive winters down to -50 degrees and are native across much of Eastern North America. Deer dislike them, and they shrug off drought and city pollution like a champ. Plus, the prickly foliage keeps wayward neighborhood kids in bounds. With dense growth and a mature height around 30 feet, red cedars are a great fit for tall hedgerows when planted 8 feet apart.
Dragon Lady holly (Ilex x aquipernyi ‘Meschick’ DRAGON LADY)The only broad-leaved evergreen tree for privacy on this list, dragon lady holly offers many benefits. First, the prickly leaves deter deer and other animals (including humans). Next, dragon lady is an excellent hedge plant for small yards. It grows just 10 feet tall and 4 feet wide at maturity. The leaves are a very dark green. Since hollies are dioecious (meaning plants are either male or female) and dragon lady is a female, you’ll need a male plant nearby to pollinate if you want to see beautiful red berries.
Good varieties for the job are ‘Blue Prince’ and ‘Blue Stallion’. Hardy to -10 degrees F, this hybrid holly is columnar in form which makes it great for narrow yards.
If you’re looking for a massive plant to block out a massive view, white pine is it. Long-needled and soft, white pines survive winters down to -40 degrees F. They max out at 60 feet tall and 30 feet wide. Stately trees that are tolerant of city pollution, white pines are quick growing and bear elongated cones. This is not a good plant for the humid south. While it has more pest issues than other plants on this list (including weevils, shoot borers, and sawflies), it’s still a privacy tree worth considering for large areas.
Japanese false cypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera)One of the best trees for privacy, false cypress is feathery and soft. Shorter cultivars, such as Soft Serve®, top out at just 6 feet tall, while the straight species grows to 60 feet in the wilds of Japan.
The pyramidal form of this tree requires no pruning to maintain. Look for cultivars with blue-, silver-, and yellow-colored foliage, too. Some of my favorites include the Squarrosa types and the Plumosa types. The Mop types are too short for privacy plantings. ‘Filifera’ tops out at 6 feet tall and “weeps”. Most varieties are hardy to -30 degrees F. This is an excellent plant for screening.
I hope you’ve found the perfect privacy tree for your yard on this list. Remember to keep new plantings well-watered for the first year, and mulch them well – but never pile mulch up against the trunk. With time and care, your yard is sure to become your own personal “fortress of solitude” before you know it (minus Superman, of course).
For more on the best trees and shrubs for your yard:
- Dwarf evergreen trees
- Weeping Alaskan cedar trees
- Narrow trees for urban gardens
- The best trees with peeling bark
- Small evergreens for year-round interest
- Blooming shrubs for shady spots
- Shrubs for pollinators
What have you done to create a privacy screen in your yard? Tell us about it in the comment section below.
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10 Best Trees for Privacy
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Create a green fence with these fast-growing, low-maintenance varieties.
By Amanda Garrity
KatarzynaBialasiewiczGetty Images
Even if you have the loveliest neighbors on the block, it's still important to create a sense of privacy in your backyard.
While you can always rely on wooden or metal fencing to get the job done, planting tall, fast-growing trees are a much prettier way to fence off your space. When planted close to one another, evergreen, cypress, flowering trees and other varieties create a lush green fence — a living wall, if you will — to separate your property from your neighbor's.
When selecting trees for privacy, figure out which USDA Hardiness zone you live in (find yours here) to ensure that the one you select can survive local winters. Then take into account the size of your space — small backyards may require a tall and narrow option like a Italian Cypress, bigger plots of land call for trees with a wider reach like a Weeping Willow. Keep in mind that all of the trees on this list grow fairly quickly, some even growing three feet each year until they reach their mature size. Because of this, you'll want to make sure that you prune the trees regularly and space them out to prevent overcrowding.
Now, here are some of the best trees for privacy, along with their growing requirements and care instructions.
1
Leyland Cypress Tree
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A few seasons after planting, this blueish-green tree will create a full green fence. When fully grown and unpruned, this pyramidal evergreen can reach 70 feet in height. Although they are fairly tolerant and low-maintenance, they grow best in zones 6-10 with partial to full sunlight and well-draining soil.
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2
Italian Cypress Tree
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Known for its long and skinny silhouette, this popular Cypress can squeeze into tight spaces while still giving your backyard plenty of height. Even though they don't grow wide, most trees grow up to three feet in any given year, reaching anywhere from 35 to 40 feet in 10 years. They grow best in zones 7-11, so they can handle drought conditions and thrive in full to partial sun (at least four to eight hours of sunlight daily).
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3
Flowering Dogwood Tree
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White flowers may only make an appearance for a month or two, but the trees offer a gorgeous backdrop all year long. Ideal for zones 5-8, these low-maintenance beauties also boast glossy green leaves in the summer and crimson berries in the fall. Try to plant Dogwoods in the spring months when soil is moist, so that it has plenty of time to grow. FYI, it thrives as long as it has partial shade and weekly watering.
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4
Thuja Green Giant
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Grow a lush dark green privacy screen with ease. Once established, Thuja Green Giant grows three to five feet each year with only four hours of direct sunlight daily and regular watering during the first six months. It's resistant to most insects and disease, and grows best in zones 5-9.
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5
Weeping Willow Tree
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The arching branches on a Weeping Willow tree add drama and elegance to any backyard, large or small. When regularly pruned in their younger years and planted in zones 6-8, Weeping Willows can grow to be 50 feet tall. Plant them in full sun to partial shade and make sure they are watered weekly during the first year of planting, then as needed in the tree's later years.
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Emerald Green Arborvitae
Fast Growing Trees
If your yard is on the smaller side in zones 2-8, make a privacy screen with these glossy greens. They work best in compact spaces since they grow up, not out, reaching a max of 15 feet tall. Just be sure to plant the trees at least three feet apart and in full sun or partial shade.
Start by watering it twice weekly before scaling back to 1" of water each week at around the three-month mark.
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7
Cherry Blossom Tree
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Cover your backyard with a blanket of pink and white petals. This flowering tree is best suited in zones 5-9, reaching a height and spread up to 20 feet. It needs at least six hours of direct sunlight daily and well-draining soil to grow and bloom.
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8
Nellie Stevens Holly
Fast Growing Trees
Technically, it's a shrub, but the Nellie Stevens Holly towers high, reaching 25 feet when it's fully grown. Unlike some of the other privacy trees on this list, this tolerant shrub stays green all year long, even in the heat of the summer. If you live in zones 6-9, plant each Nellie Stevens Holly at least five or six feet apart to create a living wall, ultimately reaching 15 to 25 feet in height.
You can keep their natural pyramidal shape (shown here) or prune them into a tall box hedge.
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9
Thundercloud Plum Tree
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Don't be fooled by the name: This plum tree doesn't always bear fruit, but has leaves in a similar purple hue. The mid-size variety reaches a height and spread of roughly 20 feet when it's fully grown, making it a colorful addition to any backyard space. It grows best in zones 5-9 with full sun and regular watering during its first year in the ground.
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10
Yew
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Another tall shrub makes the cut: This evergreen perennial is tolerant to handle most conditions, making it a great fit for zones 2 - 10. With full sun to shade and well-draining soil, some of the varieties can grow up to 20 feet tall and produce small red berries (similar to holly berries).
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Amanda Garrity Amanda Garrity is a lifestyle writer and editor with over seven years of experience, including five years on staff at Good Housekeeping, where she covered all things home and holiday, including the latest interior design trends, inspiring DIY ideas and gift guides for any (and every) occasion.
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Hedge instead of a regular fence: what to plant
Create a hedge with these fast growing and low maintenance trees.
Valeria Skripko
Legion-Media
Even if you have the most wonderful neighbors, creating a sense of privacy in your backyard is still important. Of course, you can always install wood or metal fencing, but planting tall, fast-growing trees is a much better way to fence off your yard. Evergreen, cypress, and flowering trees planted close together create a lush green fence—a hedge, if you will—to separate your property from those of your neighbors.
Contents of the article
When choosing trees that will help make your site more private, you need to find out if the tree you choose can survive the local winters. Also take into account the size of the area - for small backyards, a tall and narrow tree, such as a cypress, is suitable, while large areas can be decorated with trees with a wider reach, such as Babylon willow. Keep in mind that all the trees on this list grow quickly - some can reach a height of 1 meter in a year.
So there are quite a few things to consider.
So, here are some of the best trees for the private area of the site, as well as the requirements for their cultivation and care rules.
Leyland Cypress
A few seasons after planting, this pyramidal bluish-green tree will create a full green fence. After a while, it can reach 20 meters in height. Although cypress is quite hardy and unpretentious in care, it will grow best in an area with well-drained soil. He must be in the sun for at least three hours a day.
Evergreen Cypress
Known for its tall silhouette, this cypress can squeeze into any tight spaces while still helping to hide from prying eyes. Although it does not grow in width, most trees grow 1 meter per year, reaching a height of 10 to 12 meters in 10 years. Cypress evergreen can tolerate drought and thrive with four to eight hours of sun daily.
Flowering dogwood
White flowers adorn the trees only for 1-2 months, but they will always protect the yard from unwanted looks. These unpretentious beauties in the summer can boast of their glossy green leaves, and in the fall - scarlet berries. Try to plant your dogwood during the spring months when the soil is damp to give it plenty of time to grow. By the way, for prosperity, he needs only two things: an area where the sun will fall for two to four hours a day, and weekly watering.
Thuja Green giant
Growing this lush dark green beauty is quite easy. With daily exposure to direct sunlight for four hours and regular watering for the first six months, in just one year it will grow by about 1 meter. Thuja is resistant to most insects and diseases.
Babylon Willow
Weeping Willow's curved branches add drama and elegance to any backyard, large or small.
With regular pruning of a young tree and the right location, weeping willows can grow up to 15 meters in height. They should be in direct sunlight for at least 3 hours a day. Also, during the first year of planting, they need to be watered weekly, and in subsequent years - as needed.
Thuja occidentalis Smaragd
If you have a small yard, this glossy green thuja will definitely suit you, as it grows upwards, not wide, reaching a maximum of 4.5 meters in height. Be sure to plant trees at least 1 meter apart. Also, thuja should be in direct sunlight for more than three hours a day.
Sakura
Why not decorate your backyard with pink and white cherry blossoms. This flowering tree can reach 6 meters in height. It needs at least six hours of direct sunlight and well-draining soil daily to grow and flower.
Nelly Stevens Holly
Formally a shrub, it can grow up to 8 meters in height.
Unlike some of the trees on our list, this hardy shrub stays green all year round, even in the heat of summer. Plant each holly at least 1.5-1.8 meters apart to create a wall eventually reaching 4.5-7.5 meters in height. You can keep their natural pyramidal shape or form a hedge.
Thundercloud red-leaved cherry plum
Don't be fooled by the name: this tree doesn't always bear fruit, but it does have red-purple leaves. The height and width of a medium-sized variety is usually about 6 meters. The best conditions for it are more than 6 hours in direct sunlight and regular watering during the first year.
Yew
This evergreen perennial is resistant to most conditions. With at least 3 hours of sun per day in well-drained soil, some varieties can grow up to 6 meters in height. In addition, small red berries form on yew branches.
Do you think a hedge is better than a standard fence?
How to get a neighbor to cut down a tree that leans over my plot
Quarreling with neighbors is often costly.
But what to do if the branches of someone else's tree have been hanging over your fence for a long time, creating a shadow for planting, and the roots prevent you from setting up a flower garden or even a garden bed near the fence? And the neighbor does not respond to your comments.
The situation, frankly, is standard: it can often be observed in the framework of "near-fence" wars between neighbors, when the comfort zone of one of them is violated by the actions (or inaction) of the other, and there is very little time left before a conflict with numerous showdowns. And while these few steps have not yet been taken, we must try to solve the problem mainly in a peaceful way.
Why is there a problem with trees near the neighbor's fence? Most likely, the tree grew in its place long before you and your neighbor decided to acquire summer cottages there. Most likely, at the time of establishing the boundaries between the sites, it was not too high (or maybe still quite young), and therefore they simply did not pay attention to it.
In addition, trees appeared in the villages much earlier than the regulations for the location of vegetation relative to the established fences - and this explains a lot. That is, in the very occurrence of the "stumbling tree" your neighbor, alas, is not to blame in most cases. Especially if he is a local resident, and he inherited a tree by the fence from his grandmother along with the house.
Keep in mind that these regulations are subject to change from time to time.
What to do in such a situation? Before taking decisive action, try to look at the situation through the eyes of your neighbor. The tree has been growing on his plot for several years, and all this time it did not bother you (or you did not discuss this with a neighbor earlier and thereby made a mistake). The situation becomes more complicated if the tree is fruit. That is, to get rid of a tree means to deprive a neighbor of part of his crop. And if the fruits hang over your fence along with the crown, then theoretically you too (especially if you used this crop earlier, but now you suddenly stopped).
Try to persuade your neighbor to cut down those branches of trees that make you uncomfortable by hanging over the fence on your site. Moreover, the tree systematically still needs pruning, especially if it is fruit.
If the neighbor once again did not listen to your advice, or just pruning the tree is not enough in your case (for example, part of its powerful root system "moved" to you along with individual branches a long time ago), move from words to deeds.
First, show the negligent gardener the Code of Rules "Planning and development of territories of gardening (country) associations of citizens, buildings and structures" (SP 53.13330.2019). There it is written in black and white that the minimum distance from the trunks of tall trees to the border of the neighboring plot should be at least three meters, for medium-sized ones - at least two meters. It is customary to plant shrubs, retreating at least a meter from the border of the neighboring site.
It is common practice to classify tall trees as taller than three meters, and medium tall trees less than three meters.
