Fast Growing Evergreen Trees

Evergreen trees are those trees which feature leaves all year round. Evergreen trees gradually replace their leaves throughout the year, with newer leaves replacing the older ones. These trees grow wide and thick and can be the best means of enhancing privacy in the neighborhood. They can also be used to build fences and walls around your place. Besides this, these trees also muffle noises and provide ample amount of shade in your compound. However, there are quite a few evergreens that take a long time to grow, and waiting for the tree to grow can be quite cumbersome. The best way to achieve quick privacy is by planting fast growing evergreen trees around the house.

Some of the fast growing evergreen trees that you could plant are:

Norway Spruce (Picea abies)
These large evergreen coniferous tree grows throughout Europe and is widely grown for its uses in forestry for timber and paper. It also grown as an ornamental tree in parks. These trees grow to a height of 35-55 m (to a height of a Christmas tree within 2 years) with a trunk diameter of 1-1½ m. The shoots of these trees are orange-brown and the leaves are dark green and needle-like. These trees are conical when young and grow columnar as they mature. This species can withstand cold climates and thus a favorite evergreen tree grown in cold regions.

Leyland Cypress
These fast-growing evergreen trees are quite popular in the US, and are known for their thickness and dense nature. Since these trees grow so thick, they are popularly grown to build fences, hedges, screens and walls (best for privacy). The tree grows to a height of 3-4 ft a year and has leaves which are feathery and soft to touch. These trees are easy to prune, however, the sap of this tree can cause skin irritation. Hence, it is best to wear protective clothing before pruning them. Leyland Cypress is drought-resistant and can grow on less nutritious soil too.

Douglas Fir
These trees range from medium, large to very large size and grow to 20-120 m in height with flat and linear leaves. The cones of these trees feature persistent scales and distinctive tridentine (three pointed) bracts that protrude from each scale. Douglas Fir trees are most commonly grown, trimmed into a conical shape and then sold as Christmas trees in the US. The wood of this tree is widely used for structural applications as they have the capacity to withstand heavy loads. These trees can grow to a height of 300 feet, however, they can withstand extensive pruning.

Scotch Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.)
Scotch Pine or Scots Pine is a coniferous evergreen tree that grows to a height of 25-45 m with a diameter ranging from 1-1.7 m. The distinctive feature of this tree is its bright orange scaly bark that is found mostly on the upper trunk and branches. On the lower portion of the trunk, the bark features a more brownish, dark and hard appearance. The leaves are needle-like, grouped into pairs and blue-green in color. The cones of these trees are hard and dry with scales that feature end wings. The lifespan of these trees range from 150-300 years. However, the oldest Scotch Pine (in Sweden) is recorded to be around 700 years old.

Gold Medallion Tree (Cassia leptophylla)
These fast growing semi-evergreen Brazilian trees are loved for their bright yellow flowers that appear in summer. This subtropical tree attains a height of 20 ft and spread to 15-25 ft in width. These trees have low water requirement and are heat and drought resistant. They grow best under the full sun and need well-drained soil. They are often planted as shade trees or street trees and their bright yellow flower clusters make them wonderful to look at.

Western White Pine (Pinus monticola)
The Western White Pine is a huge tree which grows in closed groups and open crowns and can reach a height of 60 m. The needle-like slender, straight leaves occur in bunches of five and are soft to touch. These trees are mostly found on low elevations, mostly on the drier parts of Vancouver Island. Western White Pines thrive in all sorts of environments. However, they grow best on well-drained and nutritious soil. A fact to remember is that these trees are susceptible to white pine blister rust, which is a disease that causes various portions of the bark to turn orange and die.

Planting these evergreen trees in your backyard will beautify the surroundings of your house, garden or yard. That awesome landscaped look can be achieved by just planting these trees, and since these are fast growing, you wouldn't have to wait so long to enjoy the scenic beauty.