Shade tolerant road screen

weekender21

Well-Known Member
Is there such a thing as a shade tolerant screen? I purchased ~100 acres in NW North Carolina this year. The roughly 700 yards of gravel state road frontage is a creek bottom that's loaded with apple trees. Obviously the bottom is a deer magnet, unfortunately allot of those deer are visible from the road as they feed.

Some of the creek is thick enough not to worry about but there are a few areas that would greatly benefit from a good screen. The areas that need to be planted are shaded by trees on my side of the road and the property on the opposite side of the road that I don't own (yet).

Is there anything I could plant that will tolerate shade and provide a decent screen?
 
Southern wax myrtle grows in the understory of my creek bottom

Im giving it a try as a road screen in a similar situation here in east texas

bill
 
I dont know about planting it, but rhodedendron are thicket forming and grow well in the shade in that part of the state. Could probably find some to transplant nearby.
 
Honeysuckle does great in shade, grows like a weed, and is good for wildlife. But it can become a pest and take over your whole property if you don't keep it in control.
 
Eastern hemlock
Years ago this would have been my choice too, but Hemlocks are being wiped out on the east coast by an insect pest. Native to Asia, the hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae) is a small, aphidlike insect that is threatening the health and sustainability of carolina and eastern hemlock stands, and is killing them all around here. This may not be a good choice of screen planting.
 
A berm may be the best alternative. All plants I am familiar with need sun to get the thickness needed to screen close to a road.
 
Thanks for the help. I may try planting a few different trees to find one that works. A berm is unfortunately not an option. The road is on the edge of a ~10 foot drop to the creek bottom. Having the road on the "high ground" really complicates the problem.


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Thanks for the help. I may try planting a few different trees to find one that works. A berm is unfortunately not an option. The road is on the edge of a ~10 foot drop to the creek bottom. Having the road on the "high ground" really complicates the problem.


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I get the picture now- the view of the deer is actually looking down on them from the road; I'm a little slow sometimes! That is a challenge to screen. Here we have apple trees close to the road in spots but there are also apple trees far off the road and in between. The deer usually feed in the away from the road apple trees until dark and thus are very seldom seen in the apples close to the road. If your apples by the road can't be screened then planting additional apple trees or finding and releasing apple trees away from the road may work to the same effect it does here.
 
That's a good idea. I planted 65 Chestnuts, pears, and persimmons a few weeks ago in an attempt to offer something that wasn't already there. I can definitely see the benefit of adding apple trees in more secure areas in an attempt to keep them away from the road until dark.


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