Hello, I want to plant trees in our back yard, in southern connecticut. it is very sunny. the yard is only 50" across. i am contemplating Hemlocks as a natural fence. what kind of care do they need the first year? and is this a good choice for my area? I hear about mites and blight but can't seem to get any details. One gardener said ivory soap and water on a hemlock clears away and blight? please fill me in. thank you, Lou

Reply to post by lou, on March 18, 2000 at 16:12:06:

I goofed ,the area is 50 feet across.

Reply to post by lou, on March 18, 2000 at 16:12:06:

Hemlock prefer shadey protected areas, they are understory plants. In full sun yew, juniper and arborvitae work better (at least here in S/E WI).

Reply to post by lou, on March 18, 2000 at 16:12:06:

Lou, I suggest you consider something besides hemlocks. The problem is hemlock woolly adelges, a tiny insect that looks like miniature cotton balls on the twigs. They suck sap from the twigs, weakening the trees and causing dieback. Although the trees can be sprayed (don't use Ivory soap!), this can get very expensive to maintain the trees as they get larger. This pest is quite serious in CT now.

Can you give us a better description of the area? What do you use it for? Do you want evergreens? Will they be for background or screening, or just ornamental accents? Do you want tall-growing trees, medium or small?

There are a lot of species to choose from, so expect more than one good suggestioin.

Reply to post by jps, on March 18, 2000 at 16:13:13:

An interesting regional difference. Here in CT our hemlocks get to be 80-100' tall, though there are fewer and fewer of the big ones left. So at 40-60 feet they are really just getting wound up for full, mature growth. They will survive as understory - Shigo showed us some in the woods behind his house in NH that were 60 years old and about 6' tall! - but tend to take off when "released" and given adequate light.

Reply to post by lou, on March 18, 2000 at 16:12:06:

Contact Dr. Mark McClure at the CT Agricultural Experiment Station at 123 Huntington Street in New Haven for the biology and control of Hemlock Wooly Adelgid. It is a real problem, particularly on larger trees.

Hemlocks do want to get big, and if you plant them as a boundary hedge the branches will spread into the neighboring yard and also your side yard.... 50' sounds like a lot, but if you have a typical side yard set back to the house of 15-20' the hemlocks will encroach on the house pretty quickly. Even if the HWA was not a chore, you'd need to shear them regularly to keep them in bounds.