Leyland Cypress and Eastern Red Cedar? (growing, Arborvitae, trees, back yard)

[dgz]

Does anyone know what the root systems are like for these trees? What would be the closest that someone could plant these trees relative to an in-ground pool? 15 ft away? 20 ft? I don't have a lot of space to work with but I want some privacy between me and my next door neighbor. Currently, my neighbor's window is about 16 ft from the ground and looks right down on my pool.

[OhZone]

I can tell you that the E.Red Cedar takes up a lot of room, but I don't know about the root system. Isn't there some "rule of thumb" about being at least as wide as the spread of the tree"
I have 3 of them out back (I have an acre). They are about 15 years old, and have a spread of at least 10' each.

Personally, I don't think the Red Cedar is the tree for a small yard.

The Leyland is pretty, but I have not had luck with them.
They die. I have no idea why. Also seems they are pyramidal shape, which I wouldn't think would do much for privacy.

Can you use Canadian Hemlock?
Do a search on them They can be trimmed like a hedge.
They are a fast growing evergreen.
If you can't get them locally, you can order them ..like from Burgess. They are 6 for $12 for 15 to 20" plants. Zones 3 to7.

You could ask your nurseryman what would be good.

[mdawg]

I would go with the Leyland. I'm not sure what the root system is like but a lot of people around here plant them around their pools. They don't take ice too well so if you get a lot of ice storms you may want to look at another tree. Red Cedars are nice, but they grow EVERYWHERE around here and not many people want them in their yards, I just don't think they look as nice as the Leyland Cypress. They also break pretty easily during ice storms or heavy snow. We've lost a few branches on ours in the past few years because of that. Also, the berries get everywhere in the fall/winter. We have mature Red Cedars in our back yard that are probably 30-40 years old. I can't wait to get rid of them. I think Leylands grow faster too. Have you thought about Arborvitae? VERY fast growing, they fill in quickly and will get pretty tall. Some of my friends have those next to their pools as well, so I don't think they cause any problems with their root system.

[cdelena]

I had very good luck with Leyland when I lived in North Texas. I used them as a tall privacy break and the new owner put in a pool without removing them. Last I looked they still looked good after 15 years of amatuer hack/pruning.

[dgz]

Thanks for the feedback! I'll look at the Leyland Cypress... and the Arborvitae (I had totally forgotten about that one.)

And OhZone, I spoke with someone at a nursery recently who said that the Leyland Cypress likes lots of sun and would do well if it's planted in an area of the yard that gets a lot of sun from the south.

[MediaElements]

I read the Leyland Cypress has a shallow root system.