The house we're going to buy is a corner lot, and we are wondering about putting in some kind of privacy barrier between our backyard and the road. A privacy fence is one option, but planting a line of trees is another. One concern is the initial expense, another is upkeep and maintenance, and other is appearance and resale value. There are also probably logistical concerns, and one issue is the distance from the back of the house to the property line at the back of the yard...

The plot is just over 3/4 of an acre, rectangular shaped. The house is in the front 1/3 of the property, so a fence or barrier would need to run about 2/3 of that distance.

Does anyone know if there's an easy way to measure that distance, say using Google Earth?

Anyway, what are the pros and cons of trees versus a fence?

Fence:
I'm thinking of some kind of brown wood

Pros: complete physical/visual barrier
Cons:

• there's probably more upkeep over the years
  
• mowing/trimming/weed control might be tricky
  
• Also, I'm not sure if I like how it might look, and the nicer the fence, the more expensive.
  
• And there's the issue of finding a good fence builder.
  
• A fence might be more susceptible to bad weather (getting blown over?)
  
• Lastly, it might be hard to get a fence that looks nice with the style of house? Not sure.

What else should I keep in mind, pros or cons, re fences?

Trees
I'm thinking of something like arborvitae, apparently they grow pretty fast, and there's a variant that gets pretty thick at the bottom. So I'm thinking that would be a good kind to get. There are five of them on the other side (between our soon-to-be house and the neighbor's) and a neighbor across the street has some as well, they look quite nice.

Pros:

• Green!
• Will look nice.
• Trees would add more to resale value than a fence
• Green!!!

Cons:

• takes a while to get big enough to function as a privacy barrier.
• Tree health could be a concern?
• I would need a lot of them because it's a pretty large distance to cover. Although, otoh, maybe if they were spaced out it would be fine and I could have fewer of them?
• Expense? I actually have no idea how much it would cost, per tree etc.
• Doing the actual planting -- would we do it or would we pay someone?

What else should I keep in mind, pros or cons, re privacy trees?

It depends on the tree - for real privacy you'll want something full. That said, as a tree grows the canopy also grows higher. In a decade or so, it could be that your privacy tree line is just a bunch of trunks.

Trees get expensive fast, based on size. Unless you want to wait years, you'll likely be looking at trees sold in a box, and that will be more than you guys probably want to manage in terms of planting. When we've planted a "medium" tree (like maybe a 36-inch box) we hired folks to bring it (flatbed truck), dig the hole (they have equipment) and plop it in the ground.

There are lots of privacy bushes that can reach over 6 feet that might be a reasonable alternative.

But I think a fence is the cheapest long-term, and really shouldn't require much maintenance compared to trees. As an alternative, I have seen some really nice fences with breaks where there are bushes - you might want to strategically put some bushes in where you want privacy the most (like direct line of sight into your house).

We have a row of arbor vitae for a screen. Excellent, only took about three years to fill in.

I have arborvitae (Green Giants) as well. They block the view from my patio to my neighbor’s patio.

The only maintenance is cutting off the leader every year. If I don’t they’ll eventually get some 30 ft. tall. One of them got infested with bag worms and started to look pretty bad but it bounced right back.

Mine are planted in a border with rock mulch. I’m not sure how you’d mow around them if they were planted in turf.

Do you need to shield the entire back yard from the street? Or perhaps just the area you use?

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it could be that your privacy tree line is just a bunch of trunks.

This is what I want to avoid!!

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When we've planted a "medium" tree (like maybe a 36-inch box) we hired folks to bring it (flatbed truck), dig the hole (they have equipment) and plop it in the ground.

Do you remember about how much you paid for the work/planting?

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There are lots of privacy bushes that can reach over 6 feet that might be a reasonable alternative.

Yes, it doesn't have to be trees, I think I was sort of thinking of anything over 5 feet as a tree, but I guess that's not right. And since I don't want just trunks, I probably actually want bushes, not trees.

I was just looking at Google street view and I realized that what I want most is something that blocks the line of sight to/from the deck. And there are five arborvitae on the other side (neighbor side, not street side) sort of even with the deck. So maybe the first thing to do is to consider planting a similar line of arborvitae on the other side, close-ish to the house...

Mik, Steve, thanks for the comments!

Steve,

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Do you need to shield the entire back yard from the street? Or perhaps just the area you use?

Ideally I would love to have a line of arborvitae or a fence all along the backyard on the street side. In our last house, there was a line of bushes/shrubbery/overgrown junk all along the backyard blocking sight between the street and the yard. It made it sooo private. During the first summer of covid, I would go out to the backyard and walk laps, it was green and cool back there, I loved it.

So that's in my head as the ideal.

But that could be something we do little by little over a few years, if we can get a little privacy right around where the deck is. The area we'll use, as you say.

I would do both. Put in an inexpensive fence--t-posts and cattle panel or woven wire, for example, and then cover the wire with willow branch privacy screens. plant a hedge inside the fence (your yard side) and by the time the willow branch screen is starting to deteriorate, you'll have your green hedge taking over the job.

trees do not really afford much privacy. i would rather do a mixed border of faster and slower growing shrubs. for example: do a mix of lilacs, bridal veil, hedge rose, and mock orange. Will smell heavenly in the spring and early summer and does provide dense foliage for privacy. Also these are very hardy plants that are difficult to kill.

If you are unsure of your gardening skills, and want to make sure the plants get the best possible start, visit your local ag extension office to get advice on what plants to select for your area and how to plant and care for them.

Pique, thanks for these suggestions.

The fence/bush combo is an interesting idea.

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trees do not really afford much privacy.

Yeah, I think I want bushes. You can tell I'm new to this!

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mix of lilacs, bridal veil, hedge rose, and mock orange

How tall do these get? I think I want something 5-6 feet tall at least.

Privacy fences without any vegetation are pretty ugly. Im not sure I would do wood. (Had is several times, and it does require maintenance. I would suggest some nice big landscaping beds with bushes and maybe some trees. I do like arbor vitae. Unless you are actually trying to keep animals/people in/out, I would skip the fence. You might want to go to google earth and show us a photo of the side you are trying to screen. It’s a pretty big space if I remember correctly. But you are fairly far back from the road.

Ok, I just found the photo - looks like you already have a few bushes and trees on the side of the yard that faces the busier street - and your house is set at a slight angle to it too. I think I’d just be filling that side in with some more nice big bushes - lilacs, etc. like they do on farmsteads for windscreens.

And you can measure on google earth. Looks like it’s about 40 meters from the back corner of your house to the back of the lot. Maybe 54 from the big tree on the corner to the trees at the back. You can drop a pin by touching anywhere on the map, and then you click measure at the bottom and you can get a measurement.

Here's one shot



Here's a little more looking straight onto the deck. See those arborvitae on the far side? I was wondering if we could some how plant some on the other side, not along the road but close to the house, just so that when you're sitting on the deck, you are looking out onto the road....

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You can drop a pin by touching anywhere on the map, and then you click measure at the bottom and you can get a measurement.

I didn't know that, thanks!

So, 40 meters sounds like a pretty long fence...

But as you mention, there are already some things/trees growing there, so just adding a few might make a big difference....

Here's the neighbor's place. Re their fence... since their house is kind of raised up, that fence doesn't offer much privacy (although the do have those arborvitae along the fence as well)... Maybe they have a dog?

Anyway, we don't have that kind of rise, and I think a similar fence would offer a little more privacy... But I don't want to do that kind of a fence, not any time soon at least. If we get a dog, then we'll need it.

But in the meantime, I'd like to see what we can do with bushes etc.

oops forgot the photo.