Our new neighbors cut down the trees on the other side of the 4 board fence and put in lots of ugly stuff, pool is pretty but the solar panels, sheds, added screened porch, etc. The view from the barn has all of a sudden turned ugly.
What I would like to do is plant a row of evergreens on my side of the fence, which is in my pasture, so that it would be more pleasing to my eyes when I am down at the barn, and perhaps be a sound barrier too.
What type of evergreen is safe for the horses, one that they wonât eat so it will eventually grow. I would hate to have to put in another row of fencing to protect the evergreens and I know with pines I would have to, been there, done that, on other areas on the farm, and would rather not do that again.
I thought there was a new type of evergreen that is unattractive to all living things, but still provides a screen of privacy, a cedar perhaps?? anyone know???
This area of my pasture has 100 year old oaks who are showing their age and will eventually have to be taken down but the horses love the shade on the hot summer days.
Just throwing it out, looking for suggestions.
I canât suggest an evergreen for you but will caution you to make sure you plant them far enough from your fence because as they grow UP they also grow out and, if set too close to your fence, they will grow through it and take it down.
I just got a new neighbor last yr that decided to plant probably 15-20 blue spruce right up close to her post and rail fence on the outside. Those that have survived (6 dead already) will grow through the fence in a very short period of time.
I would plant the tall skinny kind that you see all over in our area - I think they are a type of cedar. They do not get very wide at all and their leaves start relatively close to the ground so they are good for use as a screen. And they are very inexpensive and grow quickly (in fact in Loudoun the county ag extension office will give you young ones for free). The only problem with them is that their trunks are not that strong and they can topple in a very bad storm (that said, in 5 years we have only lost one and it was about 18 ft tall so presumably it had been there for a while).
Yankee Lawyer, are you talking about Arbovitae by any chance? They are lovely but as you said have a weak trunk. We had a huge ice storm in March of '91 and I lost 5, all tall ones. But the good news about them is that you can prune them to keep the height under control. And when you trim them, the âleavesâ or whatever itâs called, smell so wonderful. 
msj, do the horses eat the Arbovitae? Is it safe for them?? I surely wouldnât mind trimming the tops of whatever I plant since height isnât necessary for the privacy barrier I am seeking. But I donât want to fence these âtreesâ off again from the other fence, would rather have the horses be free to be around them. Sound crazy?
I planted leland cypress along my fence line. I put them about 6 ft from the fence line. Theyâve been there about 10 years now, theyâre maybe 40 Ft. tall and look great! I wish theyâd all lived, but they completely hide the house next door and part of their yard. Horses never bothered them at all.
tweeter!! thank you!! That is what I was thinking would be perfect. Did you fence the new plantings off from the horses at all and if so with what? If they worked for you they should work for me, since it appears we have the same problem!!:lol:
Iâve planted leyland cypress too and the horses think theyâre absolutely great to snack on and keep them extremely well trimmed throughout the winter. Fortunately, theyâre on the OTHER side of the fence, so thereâs only so much they can chew off!
A friend planted austrees for a fence line, wind and sight protection from his neighbors and they seem to have grown 10 feet every year.:eek:
He didnât put them where horses could eat them, I donât know what horses would do to them.
Could you run a hot wire to protect the trees while young?
[QUOTE=talloaks;4309740]
msj, do the horses eat the Arbovitae? Is it safe for them?? I surely wouldnât mind trimming the tops of whatever I plant since height isnât necessary for the privacy barrier I am seeking. But I donât want to fence these âtreesâ off again from the other fence, would rather have the horses be free to be around them. Sound crazy?[/QUOTE]
I donât know if the horses would try to eat the Arbovitae or not as they werenât near their pasture area.
I have either Scotch Pines or Austrian Pines (heard them called both) in 2 pastures and the horses donât use them for anything but shade. No sign that they eat them. BUT you donât want them as a privacy fencing as the bottom limbs lose their needles and they get a boar (bore?) beatle infestation. I just lost 12 trees to the beetles about a month ago. 
So far most of the trees that are in their pastures are OK. Also, my horses arenât out in the large pastures much after November and before mid April so I donât know if they would be tempted to eat them.
Sorry Iâm not more help.
You need to know what grows best in you areaâŠDONOT plant any type of cedar( waste of money) Horses LOVE to chew on cedarâŠThey will not touch Doud FirâŠBut Doug Fir grows slowâŠWhat about a fast growing hedge of some kingâŠComplet covereag, you can plant those close to the fence line so you donât lose any pasture, and horses wonât eat them.
what about those tall skinny Italian cypress trees a la Tuscany?
whatever you do, donât plant walnut trees!
I wonder if the leland cypress fall into the cedar category??? I was told that nothing ate them and nothing would nest in them, they were strickly for privacy fencing. Wonder who would know.
We planted Leland and Thugas in the pastures for wind breaks and it was a WASTE! Horses eat Thuga apparently and the ponies walk over the trees to scratch their bellies. We ended up moving the pathetic remnants outside the fence and they are struggling along.
Oh darn! I donât think the new neighbors who had the trees cut and removed would be willing to plant a privacy hedge for me!!:lol: They all love to watch the horses, but I donât like to look at all their treasures whch to me is junky!!:lol:
Mine have never snacked on the lelands. They were about a 12" tall when I stuck them in the ground and left them to survive on their own. Didnât fence them off, hoped it rained enoughâŠand I think they grew about 3 or 4 ft a year! The ones that didnât make it were at the bottom on the pasture, and it tends to stay kinda swampy.
My old guy has been know to kill small trees doing the belly scratching thing, but for some reason he never bothered them at all.
Talloaks - my horses donât snack on these trees. I am honestly not sure what kind they are (I was told they were some kind of cedar when we moved here) but they are the tall skinny kind that you see everywhere in NOVA - they grow very well in this area. Be sure to pick a species of tree that will do well in this region. The former owners of my farm also insisted on planting sugar maples despite the fact that they do not thrive in VA and they took forever to grow. I almost had them removed but by the time I started focusing on them they finally had almost reached a decent size, so they got a reprieve. But they do look as though they are 3-4 years old, when in fact they are about 12 years old.
I planted Lelands and its one of the few plants I have not managed to kill. They grow about 2 ft a year with no care and much faster if you actually feed them and water them.
Fast growing trees for privacy is one of the most frequent topics on forums such as garden webâs landscape design forum.
The most frequent response is, donât plant something at the property line in an attempt to hide your neighbors; instead plant something close to your house (or in this case, your barn) to screen yourself from them. If the trees or shrubs are closer to you, they neednât be as tall or as quick growing.
Do you want privacy and to hide the uglies while you are out in the pasture, or primarily while youâre at the barn? If itâs mainly while youâre at the barn, your task is much simpler and your neighbors can still enjoy the pastoral scene of your horses grazing. (Good public relations for you.)
Another thought would be to consider your lines of sight. Do you want to block out the neighboring property entirely, or just block your view of their screened porch and pool? If the latter, you could plant smaller âgrovesâ of trees and shrubs of various heights to mask the specific eyesores. Also, with this approach, if one tree is lost you donât have a hole in your privacy âwall.â
there are many choices other than a straight row of trees along the fenceline.
Another vote for Leyland Cypress. I planted them as a privacy screen when a house was built right next to my pasture 10 years ago. Those trees grow like weeds, provide year-round coverage and look great! My horses have never tried to eat them.
A bonus is that they thrive even more with horse poop/pine shavings mulch.
