AboutMarc Chapelle, ASLA Expertise As a licensed Landscape Architect, I am available to answer general questions about style and design, ideas and suggestions for site amenities, larger site-planning issues, or recreational and park design. I prefer you ask somebody else why your petunias are not as perky as they should be...I'd LOVE to tell you how can use those petunias to increase your home's value!
Experience Member, American Society of Landscape Architects(ALSA); My clients are mostly contractors, developers and local civil engineering/architecture firms, plus the occasional homeowner. I am currently located in the dry Great Basin area (Reno/Sparks), so use of landscape materials OTHER than plants is emphasized. As a licensed Landscape Architect on the East and West Coasts, I have been in practice over 18 years. My website: DesertLA.com
Hi, I live in New York and my neighbor has a horse, their
property is close to mine. I dont want to put a fence up
but use plants instead. There are a number of trees so
I dont have tons of sun light. I also put up some Hemlocks
but this is not working. Is there anything that you could recommend that would help on giving me privicy without spending tons of money.
Please help
thanks
Ken
ANSWER: HEMLOCK is poisonous to horses!! It contains an alkaloid that attacks their nervous system. It can be fatal, so keep it away from your neighbor's horse(s) at all cost, unless you want to buy them new animal.
Are these "free range" horses? In older parts of the U.S. (the Commonwealths and colonial states), the property owner is sometimes responsible for keeping animals off his/her land (designated "fence out" or "fence in" communities; usually by county). Sounds like your situation. Here in Nevada, we have wandering wild Mustangs that are worse than slugs at killing gardens! In open country it is a challenge to keep them out.
I could give you lots of ideas - none that are cheap. If you want to use trees/shrubs, they simply are NOT going to keep a 1/2-ton animal out of your yard, unless you plant them thick and big - and I mean BIG. And if it is hungry for your petunias, a wimpy stick of a tree isn't going to slow it down.
What is a fence anyway, but a row of dead tree stumps and a bit of wire or boards? I would ask the neighbor to string up a "hot wire" or electric fence. They are not that expensive. If they refuse, it may be time for a fence. There are lots of attactive options that don't have to be the white-boarded "Derby Downs" look. Use black wooden posts & light gage wire, or a low ditch along the property with split-rail on top. Metal T-posts with wire can also be painted to match the local fauna (green or brown).
Add some trees & shrubs to these, and you won't notice them as much.
If you neighbor is such a stinker, give them the "ugly" side of the fence.
Sorry for being the bearer of bad news. ~M
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Marc
Hi, in a way you made me smile, no we dont have that much property here in New York, the horses are in corals and the Hemlocks are a number of yards away from them. Im talking about an area of say 100 yars maybe a little more or less.
I have 12 Hemlocks there now, it somewhat blocks the view of the barn and coral but not the smell. Im certain you would know what I could use as a plant / tree curtain.
Im looking for some very specific names that grow
fast, full and in semi shade and sun
thanks
Ken
Answer The Tsuga canadensis / Canadian or Eastern hemlock was the right choice as it will grow in Full Sun, Part Sun/shade, and Shade. And it will eventually get 50 - 75 feet tall by 25 – 35 feet wide.
For a full, evergreen screen I’d suggest the some fo the larger Holly tree/shrubs, like Ilex x attenuata / East Palatka holly (50’x15’wide) or Ilex opaca / American holly (50’ x 25’ wide).
For other evergreens, I’d suggest the Pinus strobus / Eastern White Pine (50’ +), Eastern Red Cedar/Juniperus virginiana, or the Atlantic White Cedar / Thuja occidentalis.
Beyond that, there are the deciduous trees and shrubs, but they’ll only screen the barn & horses for half of the year.
