Looking over the fence

We were looking over the fence into the neighbors backyard, my client, her neighbor and I.

"So what would you suggest for along my back fence line?"

"Well," I said, "to screen your neighbors view on to your deck you could use some type of maple. That would get you plenty of thick foliage. See that tree over there? That's a maple and would get you what you need. Or you could use a flowering pear. They stay pretty columnar, which is what you need, but they are not as dense as a maple. But there are columnar maples. You could use three - probably. You should consider what color of fall foliage you value most. Now - your house and your fence are not parallel. So do you want to follow the line of the fence, or follow the line of the house? ...or...you could group the trees into a triangle position and not worry about the orientation of the house in relation to the fence line. It really depends on what look you are going for. And maybe you really only need one tree. You really should spend some time out on your deck to help make this decision. Then you could see exactly where to position the tree or trees."

I looked over at the neighbor, then back at his fence line in curiosity. "Hmmm."

A blank stare.

"How does your husband manage to deal with you?"

"I don't have a husband."

"Ahh," The neighbor said, nodding his head as if he had just come to some great conclusion.

[by the end of the evening we were good friends, and he even wanted to set me up with his step-sons best friend. He said if he had a son available, he would love to have me as his daughter. Hmmm, I think maybe he was looking for free yard advice to last a life-time.]