Our yard is narrow, only 200 feet across, but it feels secluded and private because of the big spruce trees planted all around the front and sides. This is what casual passersby see from the street: Spruce trees. Lots and lots of big beautiful spruce trees that the original owners planted 20 years ago.
Privacy! View from Street April, 2016
This shows the side yard looking from the street towards Dave’s studio. The little white poles are curled plastic strips meant to protect fruit trees, sadly these are all that are left after various critters’ banquets.
Spruce Trees Line the Front and Sides of Our Yard April 2016
Everyone does it. And the original owners did it too. They planted the trees right under the power lines.
Wires in the Spruce Trees April 2016
Here’s another view. We have two rows of trees, planted diagonally about 14 feet apart in the front. Consumers Power checked trees this spring and will prune any that are threats to the lines. Looks like both rows will get the hatchet job.
Spruce Trees Will Be Chopped April 2016
The power company said they would trim (drastically) the trees vs. cutting them down, faint solace since trees chopped like that don’t thrive. We decided to plant two rows in front of the tall rows now, hoping they will grow tall before the original ones die.
The nursery had five Black Hills Spruce in affordable – more or less – sizes. I marked two diagonal rows, with the same spacing as the big tall rows, and put stakes where we wanted trees. The nursery planted the five trees this week.
We also bought 14 small trees that are small enough that I can plant them. I put them in the daffodil bed to water and wait their turn for a new home.
New Little Black Hills Spruce Waiting for New Homes
Here we have the stakes and the five larger trees already planted.
New Spruce Trees in Front with Stakes for More
Here’s a good view of the planted trees.
Black Hills Spruce Planted April 15, 2016
The nursery recommended we avoid getting Colorado Blue Spruce, which is what we have now, because they are susceptible to a disease making the rounds. We think our trees are likely to get this if they don’t have it already. There is a spray but it is expensive and has to be done multiple times a year, plus your trees can still get infected by neighbors’ trees.
That means we need to start adding replacements to the sides too. We have a lot of trees along the sides.
So Many Trees April 2016
I don’t want to plant all the same type of tree, since that increases the odds that a new disease will wipe out our screen. But we haven’t decided what to do. I planted three little trees to flank a couple of the older spruces that aren’t doing well. We need to research what types grow well here and will give privacy and seclusion, then slowly replace what we have as the existing trees get sickly.
I love trees and it makes me sick to think of losing our trees in front to the power line clearing (although I’d not want to lose power in a bad windstorm) and even sadder to think of our beautiful trees succumbing to the spruce disease.
Leave a Reply