Choosing screen species

[Tap]

The question of what to plant for a screen comes up every now and then so I thought I'd share a couple pics.
My philosophy on what to plant is to never plant a mono culture...not for screening or any other purpose.
Here is an example of what happens when a disease or pest suddenly appears and wipes out years of development.
These were beautiful, thick, healthy blue spruce just 3 years ago. You could not see through them. It was a perfect screen... until they started looking sick 2 years ago as they died from them bottom up. I wish I had taken pics of the progression of their demise.
Here is what that once-wonderful screen looked like 2 days ago.
Today, they had a dozer take them all down. Looks like they may try to make lumber out of them.
Don't plant a monoculture.

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[wklman]

you think the electric company might have sprayed them or are you sure it was disease?

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[Tree Spud]

My guess might have been they sprayed. I know if our area power companies started spraying with Garlon based herbicides to reduce wear & tear on mowers. Your trees look to be well within their easement.

I also know there a lot of roadside conifers that are dying because of road deicing chemicals, etc.

 

[Tap]

My guess might have been they sprayed. I know if our area power companies started spraying with Garlon based herbicides to reduce wear & tear on mowers. Your trees look to be well within their easement.

I also know there a lot of roadside conifers that are dying because of road deicing chemicals, etc.

I'm positive that it was from a disease. There's something killing blue spruce in our region. I see hundreds when I drive thru the area each day that are dying. I've already lost a handful on my place and I have a few more that are sick. I do have a few that are still healthy but I assume that won't last.
I've also lost most of my douglas fir to something else.
The point of the thread was to show what can happen when a screen is planted in a mono culture.
BTW, the trees in the pic are not mine, but its a common sight in our area to see dead blue spruce.
Its more rare to see a healthy one than it is to see a sick one.

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[Bill]

Look for little holes going in circles around the trunk. Those darn southern Rebels sent us thier pine bark beetle and our winters don't get cold enough to slow them down anymore. Thier much worse in the lower north east than most people realize. NJ pine barrons are in deep do-do theses days.

 

[TreeDaddy]

Those darn southern Rebels sent us thier pine bark beetle

Little bastards are of the devil.........and so are pine bark beetles........

bill

 

[wiscwhip]

Don't plant a monoculture.

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Great advice ^^^ in almost every situation, whether that be screens, plots, bedding areas, orchards, whatever.

 

[j-bird]

Sorry about the loss of your trees Tap. My folks have a blue spruce that is slowly dying as well and like you say from the bottom up. I am not sure what the deal is, but it will eventually have to be removed.....it's in their front yard. With no obvious reason to be dying.

I also agree with not planting just one either. Something I have done is transplant eastern red cedar (I know about the CAR issues) as a screen but have also added a row of MG as well. Just in case one dies or the power company does something. I also have some vine honeysuckle growing on the woven wire fence as yet a third component as well.

Monoculture is for agriculture.......

 

[mikmaze]

quick screen trees would be leyland cypress, hybrids so the get the vigor, stagger in a few norway spruce....... white pine just plain suck in my opinion, by the time they get big and start to screen, the bottoms die out and you can look right through them. Not afraid of using the right bamboo, shorter varieties that only get half inch canes can be managed by mowing, sasa palmata to be specific. evergreen large green leaves, gets about 10 feet tall. stands up to snow better than MG grass.

 

[Tap]

Here's what the blue spruce screen looks like today. If they would have layered the screen with some norway or other conifers, they would still have a screen. Now, they have nothing.
I wonder if they will replant??

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