I am building a cabin on my 42 acre property in Waelder, TX (Gonzales County). The build site is visible from the county road, and I would like to shield the cabin from the road. I would like to plant trees that look natural on the property that would provide privacy. My property is mostly mesquite, hackberry, cedar elm and some oaks.

Do you have a suggestion for an evergreen that would be wide enough and tall enough to provide good privacy as well as fast growing and low maintenance?

Also, I have a 15 acre pasture that borders the county road. I would like to plant something along the fence line for privacy and cover for the wildlife. Do you have suggestions for that?

Live oaks should do the trick

I have one of these at my house

It's not a real fast grower, but not excessively slow either

If left alone, it will get pretty darn big. I have mine planted in a small area by the garage so I always have to trim it.

Arborvitae - Little Giant

Id say cedar but how tall are you talking?

Thuja Green Giant?

The cabin will have a second story loft, so taller than a normal one story.

forget the trees
look at:
pineapple guaba
wax myrtle
cherry laurels
or
red cedars

pm me if yu need to

I like the look of the Live Oaks and the fact that they produce acorns for deer, but I do not know if they would be cost effective for the 200 yards that I would need to cover along the fence line.

I definitely want to plant some live oaks on the property, but I do not want to spend a fortune doing it.

Cedar may be a better option for me.

Leyland Cypress.

Depending where you are, you could go with Eastern Red Cedars, Yaupon Holly, Cherry Laurel,
Crab Apples, pines Oaks- Red, Live and Lacey

Eastern red cedar all the way. Fast growing native that looks great. Don't plant liveoaks. Too slow growing and require a more alkaline soil than what you've got. Sounds like you need a real privacy screen, something the cedars will do just fine.

Wax myrtle is gonna be your best bet...i own a landscaping company and we use these because there evergreen, will grow 3-4' per year, and they will get wide as well as tall, they will need water the first year but after that are fairly drought tolerant. Live Oaks are nice if you want to wait 10 yrs. for coverage.

I started planting monterrey oaks(think theyre also called Mexican white oaks) they grow like weeds... planted 2 in 2008 in my backyard at about 7-8 ft tall....we moved 3 yrs later and they were at least 15 ft tall.

planted 5 more at new place 1-1.5 years ago and all but 1 is going nuts!

Thanks for all the feedback. I am leaning towards the red cedar for cost reasons and because I think they will provide the screen that I need. I will probably plant some live oaks around the property and let them mature but not for the screen.

I wouldn't mind planting a stand of pine, but I do not see any in the area. There are some in Flatonia but none in my area in Waelder.

Do any of you know if Pine will grow in this area? Is the soil wrong for them there? Is it too dry?