Landscaping suggestions

[WRXtranceformed]

Sup MM homeowners, in need of some landscaping recommendations for those in the know.

We love our lot for the new home, it backs partially to trees and entirely to a stormwater retention area that is full of cattails and such so it looks kind of like wetlands. However beyond that a few hundred yards away are the outskirts of a new neighborhood section in which they are building townhomes. The townhomes are elevated above the level of our yard so it will hurt some of the privacy for our backyard / living room / kitchen. The townhomes are under construction now but they are rocking on them and they will probably all be moved in to that section within the next 10 months.

The plan is to plant a bunch of trees back there in an "L" shape, across the entire back property line and up our side property line a bit. Assuming whatever we planted grew that would pretty much entirely block them from view. What we need though are trees that are:
a. Non deciduous
b. Fast growing
c. Thick, down far enough to the ground to offer visual privacy

Any thoughts recommendations? How much realistically should I budget for trees+installation if I don't feel like digging up my yard myself? I have no clue exactly how many I will need but I am guessing somewhere between 12-15. Thanks!

[Senor_Taylor]

Paging Nate.

[WRXtranceformed]

Leland Cyprus seems like a pretty legit choice, although I don't know if I was thinking 100% visual blockage:

[SlimKlim]

Nathan is definitely the person you want to talk to, I just sent him this thread on FB so he can chime in with his expertise.

[WRXtranceformed]

Thank you sirs! I got spoiled at my last place because the HOA took care of all of the landscaping (albeit very shitty). Now I'm having to learn all about plants and stuff

[*insertusernamehere*]

What you need to do is cut all the lights on, grab your lady and give them a grand show. That'll either ensure they all come back or mind their own business. Worth a shot if you ask me.

[.RJ]

I deal with this stuff with my HOA. Make sure you use native, non-invasive plants. Check with your local town/county/whatever ordiances, there is likely a list of things you shouldnt be planting.

Mature plants cost a LOT more money. Find something somewhere around 4-6' tall now, that will grow at 1-1.5' per yer, if you can.

[WRXtranceformed]

I deal with this stuff with my HOA. Make sure you use native, non-invasive plants. Check with your local town/county/whatever ordiances, there is likely a list of things you shouldnt be planting.

Mature plants cost a LOT more money. Find something somewhere around 4-6' tall now, that will grow at 1-1.5' per yer, if you can.

So you're saying I shouldn't throw a bunch of bamboo and kudzu back there? :lol:

Good call on checking with our covenants, I figured no matter what I would have to get approval for what I plant but it's probably best to run it through the architecture committee.

(I MAY have to plant the trees slightly beyond my property line in the no-build area to keep my yard bigger )

[Nate the Great]

Lee this is Nate Miller from Simply Sustainable Landscaping LLC. Would you like me to set up a consultation? I am a professional landscape designer and can assess the situation on the ground, gis and satellite imagery to come up with a plan. You can contact me through Facebook if you want. Joey Klimchuk messaged me about this early this morning. Btw Leyland Cypresses are not worth the money they are non-native and susceptible to a disease which is killing them off all over the Southeast. I would definately go for a mostly native plant screen.

[JustinG]

I have heard these do well.
I am considering g having them plant a few to the side of our lot.

[WRXtranceformed]

Lee this is Nate Miller from Simply Sustainable Landscaping LLC. Would you like me to set up a consultation? I am a professional landscape designer and can assess the situation on the ground, gis and satellite imagery to come up with a plan. You can contact me through Facebook if you want. Joey Klimchuk messaged me about this early this morning. Btw Leyland Cypresses are not worth the money they are non-native and susceptible to a disease which is killing them off all over the Southeast. I would definately go for a mostly native plant screen.

Thanks buddy, sending you a PM :thumbup:

[CaptainHenreh]

What you need to do is cut all the lights on, grab your lady and give them a grand show. That'll either ensure they all come back or mind their own business. Worth a shot if you ask me.

:thumbup:

[davej]

Leland Cyprus seems like a pretty legit choice, although I don't know if I was thinking 100% visual blockage:

We threw some up on the edge of the yard a couple years ago, Costo sells 3-4' ones for like $17 a pop. Seems like they put on a foot and a half or better each year. Good visual blockage, but I don't know how the well the roots get in there for big wind storms.

[ScottyB]

true story



+10 for Nate, this is his bag

[WRXtranceformed]

Nate was super helpful via chat on this. Wifey was mostly decided on either all hollies or a mix of evergreens and hollies. We went to the only nearby nursery open yesterday to see some of what we had scoped out in person. Although he said there could be disease issues with them here, I am still heavily leaning toward the leland cypruses. They look awesome and from the hang tags on each tree type there leland cypruses seemed to be one of the only ones that grew fast, wide AND tall enough for our needs (100+ feet!). The challenge is that the back of our lot line starts to drop off toward a dry pond / wetland area and the townhouses around and behind that are elevated a good 10' above the grade of our backyard. To get good privacy we need something that will grow beyond 25'-30' tall. I think alternating between these and tall growing hollies should give us privacy, help prevent disease from spreading and still give us some visibility to the wetland.

This place was in bougie Ballantyne but man their prices were steep! The 6-7' ones were like $180 each. If they grow as fast as they say they do, I'm not opposed to getting some smaller ones and letting them do their thing. A lot of places here have lifetime warranties on their trees, so if they do get diseased or whatever I'll just have them replaced.