I am about to plant several 6ft. cedars along a fence for privacy and want to be sure of the spacing between trees, and distance from fence. High sun, Port Moody, 600 ft. elevation Suggestions? Sincere thanks from a white thumber who aspires to become green. Don
Plant in offset stagger, like the English hedgers. This will give each young tree better light and air in the early years and give you better quality privacy and infilling over time. They will grow faster in in offset stagger than in a straight line. Spend the money to do it right and get a lot of them. If you do a straight line, it will take a long time for the infilling especially since many nursery hedges are typically root bound. You need to get a hedge right the first time. 10-15 years can pass and you can still have no infilling if you do it wrong. Start with a good stagger and you'll be infilled in up to 5 years, contingent on light, food, and soil quality. Make sure you massage out the root ball and give it some good quality soil to start. Massging out the rootlball will give you 2-3 growing seasons of a head start. All over this city you'll see great hedges and crappy hedges that were planted from the same stock in the same soil, at the same time. The difference? The way in which the roots were managed and the way in which they were physically planted to maximize light and air.
Thanks and as a supplement and further clarification request, how close to the fence should the hedge be planted. My cedar hedge is green on the one side and dead on the fence side - about 2 feet away - and one section is about 4 feet from a high garage of which this side is also dead.
