Planting for Screening

So, the spruce that lived between us and the neighbors came down this year.  It's a tight long space to fill under power lines between two driveways in full sun.  It's called The Hell Strip.  We love our neighbors, but we don't necessarily want to see them constantly, so trees to the rescue!  After a lot of thinking...I went with Hetz juniper (Juniperus chinensis 'Hetzii Columnar').  Junipers are tough, tolerant plants and Hetz is green, feathery, and a heavy berry setter.  They shouldn't get much taller than the bottom power line and be around five to six feet wide at maturity.  I also added a Sensation lilac (Syringa vulgaris 'Sensation') for a splash of color and because my husband's grandmother had one at her house in New Hampshire.  Yes, I'm a sentimental gardener.

Laying out the plants.

Tools for the job - the hatchet is for tree roots.

This is my soil.  The spade goes through it like butter!  I am spoiled.

These are pretty root bound, so I made four cuts to encourage the roots to grow out, not around.

And with a little digging (and maneuvering around tree roots) they are in!

And Molly the cat supervised.

Everything managed to survive the hot summer and the dry fall.  There's an extra heavy crop of berries on the junipers!