north perimeter ideas?

Hi, all. I'm looking for some ideas for my north perimeter.

My house is on an oversized 1/4 acre lot and the "front yard" is at least 30' from front door to the street. I'm in a rural community with dirt roads, on the cusp of zone 5/6 so I'm looking for trees and/or bushes for the north side perimeter that are zone 4/5. I do get some gnarly north winds and snow so looking for something hardy, just in case.

I'm already going to be putting some of the more hardy elderberry one portion on the side of the house. Looking for something else for the Northside front. Tall bushes and deciduous trees are what I'm thinking.

My neighbors tell me that there are no deer and heavy deer so I'm unclear what the critter pressure will actually be. I'm in the desert plains of SE CO so I'm a little annoyed that there are any deer, but anyway... it's a consideration, but not a deal breaker as I learned many ways to deal with deer when I lived in the black hills of SD with heavy deer pressure.

Thanks for your thoughts! 🙏🏻

I always like to recommend native trees.

Maybe some aspens or gambel oaks.

Here are some threads that might give you or others some ideas:

https://permies.com/t/102126/Selecting-tree-species-changing-climate

https://permies.com/t/28462/Pecans-Zone-Colorado

Anne Miller wrote:I always like to recommend native trees.

Maybe some aspens or gambel oaks.

Here are some threads that might give you or others some ideas:

https://permies.com/t/102126/Selecting-tree-species-changing-climate

https://permies.com/t/28462/Pecans-Zone-Colorado

Hi!

Thanks... yes, I'm going to plant aspens with elderberries on a portion of the perimeter that is a little more moist. Plus aspens... I just love them so great choice.

Since originally writing this I realized that I really need to create a secure hedge on the perimeters due to neighbor dogs running around and probable deer issues. (Hence, intermixing the aspen with elderberries on one section of the perimeter.)

I will check out the tree lists, but really need tall shrubs that can grow under any trees I plant, or a succession of things...

Andria Wood wrote:
Since originally writing this I realized that I really need to create a secure hedge on the perimeters due to neighbor dogs running around and probable deer issues. (Hence, intermixing the aspen with elderberries on one section of the perimeter.)

I will check out the tree lists, but really need tall shrubs that can grow under any trees I plant, or a succession of things...

I'm in a similar boat, so I hope you don't mind me joining the conversation! But for me it's not dogs. I need to keep out people on 4-wheelers! I'm taking possession of my dad's hunting cabin with lots of acreage, and in the last 5 or so years of my dad's life, when he barely went up there, people have been trespassing, hunting poaching, stealing trees (yes!), and breaking & entering. Maybe I'll post this issue in another area.

But for this part of the topic, I want to plant things that will grow into a hedge that small vehicles can't easily get through. There are lots of places a person can walk through; I'll never prevent that, but there are a couple areas along the border that are just grassy, and I'd like something people can't drive through.

I like the elderberry idea! Thanks to you I just read up on it and apparently it sends up lots of suckers that can make more & more "prison bars" as time goes on, lol. I was already thinking of various berry bushes, or forsythia because a family member has tons overgrowing and I could try digging it up and moving it. I don't want anything tall because I want to see the fields beyond; over the top of the shrubs.

Does anyone know anything that can grow fast from seed (for economic reasons; the area is very long), even if it's just visually temporary while sturdier stuff grows in?
Ooh, how about corn? Haha! Fast thick stalks to confound the dogs or people for a while? What if we plant corn really close together, putting the seeds in a staggering pattern, so the dogs could barely see through it a couple months from now? And leave the stalks standing through fall & winter? Maybe we could do this for a few years until permanent shrubs get established.
Is that whacky?

Kim Wills wrote:

Andria Wood wrote:
Since originally writing this I realized that I really need to create a secure hedge on the perimeters due to neighbor dogs running around and probable deer issues. (Hence, intermixing the aspen with elderberries on one section of the perimeter.)

I will check out the tree lists, but really need tall shrubs that can grow under any trees I plant, or a succession of things...

I'm in a similar boat, so I hope you don't mind me joining the conversation! But for me it's not dogs. I need to keep out people on 4-wheelers! I'm taking possession of my dad's hunting cabin with lots of acreage, and in the last 5 or so years of my dad's life, when he barely went up there, people have been trespassing, hunting poaching, stealing trees (yes!), and breaking & entering. Maybe I'll post this issue in another area.

But for this part of the topic, I want to plant things that will grow into a hedge that small vehicles can't easily get through. There are lots of places a person can walk through; I'll never prevent that, but there are a couple areas along the border that are just grassy, and I'd like something people can't drive through.

I like the elderberry idea! Thanks to you I just read up on it and apparently it sends up lots of suckers that can make more & more "prison bars" as time goes on, lol. I was already thinking of various berry bushes, or forsythia because a family member has tons overgrowing and I could try digging it up and moving it. I don't want anything tall because I want to see the fields beyond; over the top of the shrubs.

Does anyone know anything that can grow fast from seed (for economic reasons; the area is very long), even if it's just visually temporary while sturdier stuff grows in?
Ooh, how about corn? Haha! Fast thick stalks to confound the dogs or people for a while? What if we plant corn really close together, putting the seeds in a staggering pattern, so the dogs could barely see through it a couple months from now? And leave the stalks standing through fall & winter? Maybe we could do this for a few years until permanent shrubs get established.
Is that whacky?

Ooof. That's an even stickier situation, I would think... more perimeter to cover, plus people are more aggressive and less easy to tame than deer.

The first thing that came to mind was sea buckthorn... throws off large thorns that could put a hole in a tire (according to some guy I watched on YouTube years ago). I do believe you can start it from seed, but I do not know how quickly it grows.

I wish you the best!

I have a hardy orange tree that would make hell of a hedge, but they grow pretty slowly.
How about sea buckthorn?