Tips / Suggestions for an Evergreen Screen / Windbreak

[almanac12]

I'm looking to plant a screen of evergreens. I am thinking spruce, haven't decided between white spruce, Colorado Blue, or Norway. I had previously planted 3 year old white pine from the WI DNR. They were deer candy, and every single one is gone now. I have not seen the deer go after spruce around my place yet.

Has anyone had trouble planting spruce? I am planting in an area where the weeds aren't too bad. It's an old field that was planted with perennial ryegrass about 20 years ago. There's some canada thistle that I am going to spray this fall and next June. Would weed control be a factor?

My understanding is that the Norway's grow faster but can be a bit picky about soils. I know that Colorado Blue and white spruce both do fine on my site. There's a guy in south central WI that sells both in a 2'-3' size for pretty reasonable prices. I have heard that the WI DNR white spruce can be a little slow.

 

[bueller]

Red pines won't be browsed by the deer and grow quicker than spruce. You can plant a row or two of them along with the spruce to get the screening effect sooner. Long term the spruce will hold the lower branches whole the red pines lose them.

 

[Tap]

Definitely consider a mix of species to guard against a total loss in the event of a pest or disease.
There are so many invaders attacking many different tree species.
Blue Spruce and Hemlock are a couple in our area that are under stress. Lots of blue spruce are dying.
I've lost some nice Douglas Fir for some unknown reason.
If you go with a mono culture and some new (yet unknown) pest shows up in 10 years, you could lose everything at the time the trees are just getting nice.
Plant a mix.
The conifers that I've had the least pest issues with, in order...
Norway Spruce...no disease and little deer damage. No die offs.
White Pine...no disease but major deer damage. They need protection for a few years.
White spruce...no disease, no damage, but slower growing. Same with blue spruce but I don't know when the disease will show up on my place.
Red Pine...a few die here and there and I don't know why. No deer damage. Ditto with Doug Fir.
Hemlock...no disease to mine YET, but the Woolie Adelgid could show up at any time. Hemlock is another deer target...major damage in the winter like White pine.
Scotch...Short lived and lots of die off.

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[g squared 23]

Deer usage of evergreens differs by region. I planted 50 norways and zero made it a year. I agree with planting a diversity expecting some die off. The deer will pick their favorites leaving you with hopefully the best bet in your area.

I personally had a smaller area to screen so chose to cage norways. For a large roadside screen, cages might not be practical.


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[Bill]

Depending on the height you need I'll throw my favorite out there. Miscanthus grass. If you only need 10 to 12 feet of height and don't live in the frozen tundra it will be mature and on duty in three years when your evergreens are just starting to rebound from the transplant.

 

[Tree Spud]

I'm looking to plant a screen of evergreens. I am thinking spruce, haven't decided between white spruce, Colorado Blue, or Norway. I had previously planted 3 year old white pine from the WI DNR. They were deer candy, and every single one is gone now. I have not seen the deer go after spruce around my place yet.

Has anyone had trouble planting spruce? I am planting in an area where the weeds aren't too bad. It's an old field that was planted with perennial ryegrass about 20 years ago. There's some canada thistle that I am going to spray this fall and next June. Would weed control be a factor?

My understanding is that the Norway's grow faster but can be a bit picky about soils. I know that Colorado Blue and white spruce both do fine on my site. There's a guy in south central WI that sells both in a 2'-3' size for pretty reasonable prices. I have heard that the WI DNR white spruce can be a little slow.

"I have heard that the WI DNR white spruce can be a little slow" ... A tree is a tree ... whoever gave you this advice is an intellectual moron ...

Its all about soil conditions, moisture, nutrients, & sunlight ...

First ... update your avatar with your location & USDA ... people commenting need to understand your zone as there are 3 major temperate zones in Wisconsin ... huge difference through the state ...

Describe the following ...

Soil type & geological description?
Soil chemistry?
Moisture level?
Sun availability?

Whatever your county extension sells ... most likely has reliable results ... then you have to evaluate your property characteristics ...

When you plant ... plant early in the season as conifers take up the bilk of their moisture early ... reduce competition ... and understand based on soil testing if you need to amend the soil ...

 

[JFK52]

I planted several evergreen screens on my land and used red pine for all of them. I mowed the sites the year before planting. I used three rows for some of the screening and 5-6 rows where I had more room. The red and white pines were purchased very locally from Laura's Lane nursery in Almond, WI. I bought 2S+2T trees for transplant. Two year old seedlings and two year old transplants, about 12 to 14 inches tall. So my trees were 4 years old when they were planted. They cost more, but I believe the head start they had worked to their advantage. I have the perfect Central WI sandy soil that red pines love. I did no soil tests at all, just planted the trees. All trees were planted with a single row DETCO tree planter pulled behind my L345DT 4x4 Kubota. Great piece of equipment for the job. The trees were planted on a 6' by 6' spacing so I could mow between the rows for the first few years. As they grew, mowing became impossible. I had a 98%+ survival rate. This planting had four inches of snow two days after it was planted. A great blessing. This was 22 years ago.
In the same year I planted 3K white pine and they also did quite well. Some of the white pine got browsed during a bad winter. They have the typical no branch "sandwich" look at the bottom of the tree. After a while the deer just left them alone.

 

[almanac12]

"I have heard that the WI DNR white spruce can be a little slow" ... A tree is a tree ... whoever gave you this advice is an intellectual moron ...

Its all about soil conditions, moisture, nutrients, & sunlight ...

First ... update your avatar with your location & USDA ... people commenting need to understand your zone as there are 3 major temperate zones in Wisconsin ... huge difference through the state ...

Describe the following ...

Soil type & geological description?
Soil chemistry?
Moisture level?
Sun availability?

Whatever your county extension sells ... most likely has reliable results ... then you have to evaluate your property characteristics ...

When you plant ... plant early in the season as conifers take up the bilk of their moisture early ... reduce competition ... and understand based on soil testing if you need to amend the soil ...

Zone 5a
Full sun
Soils are well drained, mesic. Nearly neutral pH. Silt loam over sand and gravel.

 

[Tree Spud]

Zone 5a
Full sun
Soils are well drained, mesic. Nearly neutral pH. Silt loam over sand and gravel.

I have similar soils. I have had good luck with norway & white spruce, but the biggest deterrent is weed/grass competition, browsing, and then rubbing. Rabbits will browse the tree buds & tops in winter.

Just started planting blue spruce this spring and so far looks like 80-90% are thriving.

I have gone to caging all of my conifers. I use a 6" earth auger to get the roots deep. For screening and to avoid lower branch die off, plant 2 rows with 12' spacing. They all need good sunlight exposure.

Good luck.

 

[ghilliehunter]

Almanac, 17 years ago I planted 100, 24" bare root white pines. All were staked and tree tubed. The deer stuck their muzzle in the tube top and pulled out and ate 99 of 100. Hard lesson learned.

 

[H20fwler]

I've had success with Norway's here, they don't grow as fast as white pine but don't get eaten as bad either. I planted for a road screen have some that are pushing seven feet now, only trouble with them I've had is bucks rubbing them during fall. That can be discouraged by driving in a metal post close to them and letting the weeds and grass grow up around them, I planted close around 8' in two staggered rows. I also started with larger tree's 3'-6' some bare root some potted so I could get a jump on the growing time.

I planted a bunch of 3'+ bare root white pines for screening too, bunnies and deer bother them by eating on them and they are a lot touchier in dry weather than Norway's.

 

[Bill]

Deer don't eat Miscanthus and it grows well in full sun, 5a

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

I planted a visual screen/ windbreak in rusk county Wisconsin 10 years ago. I went with trees from the wi dnr and they did very well. I planted a couple thousand white spruce, red pine and white pine and some random shrubs. The White spruce and red pine did the best and after 10 years they are both over 15' + tall. My white pines are doing ok, but seem to have frequent issues with the terminal buds which leads to multiple trunks. White spruce starts out slow for the first several years, but really takes off and can grow 2'+ per year once established. I would spray the future planting site this fall if possible to limit weed competition regardless of what you plant. Good luck

 

[almanac12]

This is all great advice. Sounds like white spruce or norway spruce with some mixed red pine are the way to go. 12' spacing sounds with multiple rows sounds like it might cause less issues with crowding. The previous owners of my property planted spruce with 8' spacing, and they're all growing together now.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Red Pine will out grow the spruce in height, so make sure you plant the red pine on the side of the screen away from the sun. That way the spruce won't get shaded out and remain stunted. We have the same problem with white pine here. White pine will outrace the spruce to the sky, so I plant the spruce on the sunnier side of the white pines. That way they ALL get ample sun.

MG looks like a perfect screen plant. It won't work at my camp along the mountain road due to thick woods and no sun ( north, shady side ). But I'd give MG a go if we had an open road edge with sun !!!

 

[Buckly]

Blue spruce when planted close to each other will lose their lower branches. Red pine once it matures won't have branches for 30 ft up if planted close. I like the diversity. one row Norway, One row white spruce and then either white or red pine behind makes a nice screen in about 5 years.

 

[j-bird]

With Bills help I hope to have a row of MG like he posted as well.......

I think MG could be a real asset in the short term especially, even if you pursue a conifer screen.....

 

[Tree Spud]

This is all great advice. Sounds like white spruce or norway spruce with some mixed red pine are the way to go. 12' spacing sounds with multiple rows sounds like it might cause less issues with crowding. The previous owners of my property planted spruce with 8' spacing, and they're all growing together now.

Red pine is usually only a good screen if you plant them 4-6' apart. As stated above, they will grow tall faster than the spruces. They will not spread out like spruces.

They will offer some screening if planted individually; howver, not a long term thick lower screen.

Spruces, if maintained and protected, will give you that 12-15' high lower thick screen that is 100% view blocking if planted at the right spacing. They also have 2-3 times the life of a red pine.