Top 5 Evergreens for Privacy Screening

Sean Barlette from Davey's Northwest Detroit office shares some low maintenance evergreens that are great for privacy screening, as well as some advice on fungal and pest problems that affect some evergreens. 

In this episode we cover:

• Low maintenance, privacy screening evergreens (0:43)
• Being home more and thinking about privacy (1:44)
• Eastern white pine (2:13)
• Spacing (3:29)
• Arborvitae (4:17)
• Deer (4:46)
• Smaller plants (5:38)
• Other privacy screening evergreens (6:39)
• Blue spruce and rhizosphaera (7:20)
• Serbian spruce (8:58)
• Hemlocks (9:32)
• Mite activity on hemlocks (10:39)
• How Sean found his way to his job and why he enjoys it (13:47)
• Signal tree (15:03)

To find your local Davey office, check out our find a local office page to search by zip code.

To learn more about other trees for privacy screening, read our blogs, Fast-Growing Trees for Privacy (By Zone) and Fast Growing Trees for Privacy: Leyland Cypress.
To learn more about rhizosphaera needle cast, read our blog, Blue Spruce Tree Needles Turning Yellow, Brown, then Dropping?  Check for...
To learn more about hemlock woolly adelgid, read our blog, What is this White Fuzz on Tree Branches? (And How to Treat).

Connect with Davey Tree on social media:
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Facebook: @DaveyTree
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LinkedIn: The Davey Tree Expert Company

Have topics you'd like us to cover on the podcast? Email us at podcasts@davey.com. We want to hear from you!

Transcript

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Doug Oster: Welcome to the Davey Tree Expert Company's podcast, Talking Trees. I'm your host, Doug Oster. Each week our, expert arborists share advice on seasonal tree care, how to make your trees thrive, arborists' favorite trees, and much, much more. Tune in every Thursday to learn more because here at the Talking Trees podcast, we know trees are the answer. This week, I'm joined by Sean Barlette. He's a district manager for the Davey Tree Expert Company in Northwest Detroit. Hey, we're both Ohio boys, Sean, right?

Sean Barlette: That's correct, yes.

Doug: I actually lived one town over from where Sean is from, so we've got something in common. Today, we're talking all about planting a little privacy and certainly, Sean, from doing the Talking Trees podcast for as long as we've been doing it, I know right tree, right place, but when you're thinking about that, what are you hearing from clients when they say, "Oh, I need to block out those neighbors." What are you telling them to plant?

Sean: As you mentioned, we talk about location, but if we go to more of instances of they want low maintenance, they don't want to be really involved from that standpoint, is where we lead that conversation and we will bring up varieties of evergreens. If it's instant screening that they want, we would go with the faster evergreen growing, and that would be the white pine. Norway spruce is more of my go-to because it has more of a natural look and very low maintenance, disease-resistant from that standpoint.

Doug: Since people have been home more, are they thinking more about privacy or you haven't seen that?

Sean: We've seen quite a bit.

Doug: Oh, really?

Sean: We run into the situations more of the subdivisions where they're not allowing fences to be put up in their HOA-type programs. We've got quite a few in the last couple of years of providing screen on properties.

Doug: With the white pine, is there just basically just one white pine that gets put in and it's a certain species or are there a bunch of different ones that you would choose from?

Sean: Just for the white pine, it'd be the Eastern white pine. Just the go-to over here close to the Midwest, East Coast, that type of thing.

Doug: Those get pretty big, right?

Sean: They do. We try to classify them as like a forest tree. 40, 60 feet tall. It could even get taller than that.

Doug: What space of time are we talking about there, 20 years or?

Sean: Depending on the size that you put in, yes. Proper spacing. The actual planting, we consider staggered method where they're alternated diagonally, doing it that way so they have more room to grow. Then there's the soldier course where they're straight across, and we do those with arborvitaes. You can trim those, and that's what I recommend to keep them at a certain height with the arborvitaes so you don't get a lot of-- over on the East Coast with the snow, you could get some peeling because they're multi-trunked, and with the heavy snows, that could be an issue.

Doug: I want to talk about spacing right off the bat because what I've seen is people want this instant screen. Talk a little bit about discussing with them, "Yes, we're putting some plants in, but it's going to take a little bit of time for them to grow together." Or when you put them in that staggered method, do you have an instant screen?

Sean: You have an instant screen because you're filling those voids from the soldier course going straight across. From my personal opinion, it looks a lot better than just a straight hedge look from that standpoint. I lean into that more, the beautification looking that way.

Doug: Yes, I agree. I really like that staggered method. When you put the soldiers, like in the case of arborvitae, is there any space between them or could they just be planted, and hey, you got your screen?

Sean: You can do them close together, and you can leave some gap there if that's what you wish. Again, we provide those options, and if I want it tight up against each other, as we mentioned, we can always trim those just like a hedge.

Doug: Do you deal with deer in your area?

Sean: Yes, we do.

Doug: Arborvitaes here, certain varieties, the deer eat them. We call it selective pruning. They're up to about 6 feet and then we got a nice-looking shrub. What are you doing about that?

Sean: We recommend a variety that came out a couple of years ago called the Green Giant Arborvitae. We saw great results of no activity of the deer, even nibbling or eating from that standpoint. We go to the Emerald Green, which is another variety of arborvitae, because it has a little bit different shape to it, and we like the tight growing of it, we will recommend doing some anti-Deer Pro on those for the customer.

Doug: Let's talk a little tree geek stuff here because I just came back from a trade show in Baltimore. There's a new one called Emerald Squeeze that is coming out, introduced this year, that stays smaller. It won't get as tall. Have you seen this trend to people wanting smaller plants in their yard?

Sean: I have not come across that much. It's really us selecting that low maintenance. That has become, in the last 8 to 10 years, has been a real common question coming from the client because we're more involved with activities outside the home, getting our children where they need to be. Sometimes we're not there on the weekends and we're able to do some trimming or whichever. That's a very top question coming from the client.

Doug: That makes sense. Anything else on your list of plants that you would think about putting in, depending on the situation to get some privacy?

Sean: Serbian spruces have a nice decorative shape to them. Again, we use those as accent points. We always like to come off the corners, like towards in the back. If we're coming from that standpoint just as a focal point, that would be more decorative. We do not go really towards the blue spruce unless we're going to come up with a PhD program for those because of the rhizosphere that has really taken hold throughout this area.

Doug: Talk a little bit about that because we have the same problem here in the East in Pittsburgh with blue spruce and boy, it's devastating. When did you start seeing it, what is it, and what can you do for it?

Sean: Yes, it's been around probably as long as I've worked for Davey. It's just become more remnant, a lot more areas because of the amount of trees that have been planted, and it's a fungus, it's going to spread. We do use different products that we're getting really good control at this point using copper-based products and fungicides from that standpoint. We try to look at it as our arsenal against certain things, and we're going back on these properties after a year or two and seeing what kind of results we are getting.

Doug: As a homeowner, if you've got a blue spruce, what would be an indication that we're having that kind of fungal issue?

Sean: There'd be discoloration on the needle. It'd be more like a purple casting that they refer to, and it's usually effective probably about the three to five year back from the actual terminal growth. If the interior is very bare, that's where your needle drop is going to be most affected from that standpoint.

Doug: It's always something, isn't it?

Sean: It is.

Doug: For all those years about blue spruce, it just did its thing. Now we're dealing with that fungus a lot down here, I guess for you too. Tell me a little bit about the Serbian spruce. What does it look like and how big does it get and why do you like it?

Sean: The actual growth habit of it, it has more swinging of the branches, more of an arc to them. They have a little bit of a blue tint to them, so if the customer likes that blue and we guide them away from the blue spruce that we venture into the Serbian and it's going to be a little bit more resistant than having to go to the constant PHC program to head off fungus and things like that.

Doug: What if I was thinking hemlocks? Would that be something you would think about, or does hemlock woolly adelgids scare you?

Sean: The adelgids do not scare us. More in a shaded environment is where the hemlock is going to be recommended.

Doug: Yes. As I often say, probably every podcast, I live in an oak forest, but I've got tons of hemlocks. I've been battling hemlock woolly adelgid. As we're talking today, we're in the East, we're in a cold snap, and for me, the cold snap always helps me with the hemlock woolly adelgid, knocks them back a little bit, and then when I get to them and spray in the spring, there is a silver lining for the real cold, Sean. Right?

Sean: Yes. We have more over towards Lake Michigan. We've always had Michigan State, they'll put out an alert that woolly adelgids are moving towards the East from that standpoint. We're more concentrated on mite activity on hemlocks.

Doug: Really?

Sean: Yes. That's been more the go-to in our direction, what we look for.

Doug: All right, I'm being selfish. School me on that because that's something I'm going to have to watch for now.

Sean: You're going to see the white stippling effect on the actual needles. If it's a high infestation, they're going to be almost shaded white. The adelgids, I understand, underneath the bark, that's where they're actually doing their damage. The mites are actually stippling the needle. You'll see, as I mentioned, with the high infestation, you'll know that it's taking place.

Doug: Oh, great. [laughs]

Sean: We always determine that we're going to the process that we're controlling. We're never going to rid any fungus, any insect, or anything like that. It's very important that we keep knocking these insects back so the infestations do not get to where they start really putting harm to the actual plant. That's where our programs--

Doug: In my case with the hemlock woolly adelgid, most of my hemlocks, I can reach most of the plant, and the infestation seems to be lower on the plant. I'm asking you, will they start to move up? Is that the idea?

Sean: Oh, yes.

Doug: Then I'm going to actually have to get my expert from Davey to get up in that tree because I can go so far with what I'm doing on them. What is the control for mites?

Sean: Very interesting, because we have cold season and warm season mites where they're actually active. The other interesting fact is, the mites will become immune if you keep on using the same product towards them. You have to alternate different products, and that's what we have to document when we're doing three visits a year or four visits. We document what was the last miticide product that we used. That's a very good training tool. We had to learn that the hard way. [laughs]

Doug: Sean, you're making me depressed.

[laughter]

Sean: I'm just trying to help.

Doug: You are helping for sure. I'm so glad that you told me that because that's something I can watch for. That's an important part of this, is actually spending some time with those trees to see how they're doing, right?

Sean: That's correct. Just walking around, if something doesn't look right-- "I see a lot more needles. I see a lot more leaves on the ground. Why are the leaves dropping at this time of year?" It's just what I'm accustomed to during 30 years in my own home, but as you walk in your own property on the weekend, you will notice something's a little off. That's when it's, pick up the phone and call Davey. They'll be able to diagnose it.

Doug: For sure. Let's talk a little bit about you finding your way to this job. How did you discover that it was right for you?

Sean: I tried the college path, wanted to be just like my father and be an accountant. Did not work out. I tried it, and then I ended up just getting in the door of Davey. Just started off as a landscaper, moved up to mowing. I ran my own mowing crew for a couple of years. Got into plant health care, it was the next step, then got into sales. Then I got an opportunity in 2014 to run a territory up here in Michigan.

Doug: Tell me a little bit about what you get out of that job. I always love picking the brain of an arborist who has the opportunity to go to a property, in some cases, ease the mind of the homeowner because we all love our trees. Talk a little bit about that.

Sean: The beautiful thing is you get to educate. You get to educate the homeowner, and you're providing steps to carry through to help their landscape. That's what the best thing that I look at it. There was one time I did a field trip to-- You're probably familiar with the Signal Tree in the national parks down there in Ohio Valley or whatever, Akron area. I did a field trip with my son when he was in grade school. We went to the Signal Tree, which is a bur oak that's close to 350 years old, and did a little demonstration because we take care of that tree. Davey Tree does.

We put lightning protection in it and everything, and get through my presentation, and a young gentleman, "Anybody got any questions?" He's like, "Yes. What do you love about your job?" I said, "Great question." I said, "Every day is different. I get to go look at beautiful landscapes every day. There's always different insects. There's always different fungus. There's always something happened. It's not every day where I'm in a cubicle every day. I get to go out and adventure." It was a great question I'll remember 20-plus years from now. It's pretty cool.

Doug: Talk about taking care of that tree. I didn't know you guys took care of that tree. That is really cool.

Sean: Yes. We do property visits on it, make sure it's in good health. We install lightning protection, we keep that up to speed, make sure everything's connected properly. We do annual fertilization for it and do some trimming on it every so often.

Doug: Isn't that a lot of pressure to deal with a tree that's that famous and that old or, I guess, if you just keep your eyes on it, you'll know?

Sean: Exactly. It's been many, many years. It's not pressure. I take it as an honor to be able to take care of something that valuable, of the history that it has. That's more important, I think.

Doug: Sean, I'm going to leave it right there. That's good stuff. I certainly appreciate all your schooling me on my hemlock issues and blue spruce, and giving us a little information about privacy screening too. Thanks for your time today.

Sean: I appreciate it. Thank you very much, Doug.

Doug: Well, you learn something every day. Don't you? Now I'll be watching out for those mites. I am glad we talked about that pest. Next week, let's talk about roots, removing them, and a very important topic, trees with non-invasive roots. Tune in every Thursday to the Talking Trees podcast from the Davey Tree Expert Company. I'm your host, Doug Oster. I'd love it if you'd subscribe to the podcast. We're having fun here, aren't we? As always, we'd like to remind you on the Talking Trees podcast, trees are the answer.

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