ideas for small backyard patio

We live next to a busy street where our very small backyard patio is located. The 11 blue spruces that we have are lined up behind everything and they are great for privacy, etc....the problem is that about 5 of them were planted too close to the patio by the original owner and now they are starting to grow into our patio. Our soil is rocky so a tree spade would get damaged. My concern is how it will look 5-10 years from now.

We did alot to make this area look better, but I need some advice on how to make it look even better. Our neighbors are great so we don't really need any privacy screens or arborvitaes. Overall any suggestions are appreciated.

 

I think the area looks quite nice now. Simplest would be to start an annual routine of pruning the trees. Don't butcher them in one swoop but if you prune properly the trees will fill in on the patio side. They'll just have a flat side facing the patio which may look unnatural but would preserve your privacy and patio space.

If you really want work you could remove the trees. A saw and shovel could do it if you are really up for the task but if going to that extent I would have someone come in with a backhoe or trackhoe and remove the trees & stumps and fill in the holes with topsoil so you can have a nice lawn and maybe some smaller landscaping to match the rest.

 

The problem with pruning spruces on the patio side is that they are getting too thin. If I keep doing that I'll have nothing left to prune.

 

They are far to close together and will continue become thinner as they edge out toward the house.

Spruce like space and air around them to grow properly. If an adjacent tree is to close the spruce will grow away and be sparse near the other tree. I have a 25' spruce about 30' away from a 40' green ash and the truck of the spruce has grown away from the ash and it thinner on the side of the ash. I have trimmed back the ash to give it more room and healthier for both.

I would go for eliminating the 5 close spruce and evaluating the remaining spruce trees as far as condition and location and then come up with a long term plan including the possible removal of the other 6 spruce in the future. Trees go slow and take proper locating relative to a long term plan.

A few years ago, it would have been possible to remove 2 or 3 of the offending spruce to improve the life length and quality of the remaining spruce. - I assume that was not possible, but some thing like that could work now for a few years.

I inherited a collection of 3 different spruce trees that were "kidnapped" from nature when very small and just stuck in the ground (fortunately far enough apart considering the height now). They are a Blue Spruce, a common Spruce, and a Norwegian Spruce. The ugliest and most popular (birds and squirrels) is the Norwegian because of the of the cones. Very interesting to look at.

Dick

 

Since I live next to a busy street I really didn't want to cut them down. Our master bedroom is right there. Digging them out wasn't an option an option since we have rocky soil. If I leave them as is and just prune them....let's say in 5-10 years how big will these guys get?

 

We have a single blue spruce that was planted in our front yard 39 years ago. That's according to the guy who lived here at the time, who just recently came by to look at it and the property, reliving old memories. He said he was 10 years old when his dad planted it when it was just 4' tall, after using it as a living Christmas tree in the house that year. As best I can tell, it's now at least 45' tall.

Meaning that they are somewhat of a slow-grower, at a rate of about 1' per year. Most of our taller Doug firs are growing at 2'+ per year, with a few of the older ones pushing 150' tall.

 

Did you ever have to prune it?

 

I've wanted to, several times, but the wife throws a hissy-fit when I come near any living plant/bush/tree/shrub with my pruning shears. She thinks I go way over-board, removing too much material. Our former 12' driveway is now just barely 9' wide, with all the junipers crowding it. The spruce stands out in the middle of the front yard, and although showing some awkward growth in a few places, looks good enough to draw positive comments from visitors.

The trees in your photos look plenty thick, meaning I wouldn't be afraid to trim them a bit. Just don't tell anyone (especially my bride) I said so.

 

You can't prune and don't want to remove the trees. So, you've pretty much said you are going to leave things the way they are.

Well you say you can't prune and I agree that pruning is something best started early and maintained yearly. The trees will not like being severely pruned down and may never fill back out as well as they would have had pruning been done earlier in their life. At this point though it's worth a try since they seem to be getting unlivable. Worst case you remove them later if you don't like the look.

You don't want to remove the trees because of the road and rocky soil. Believe me a trackhoe or larger backhoe can remove anything. You do have the option of removing them and planting something else or a fence in their place. There will be an expense because it will require equipment and possibly bringing in some soil.

 

Here is the latest image. It really shows how much the spruces are thinning out.