Best Privacy Trees for Pennsylvania Properties

The best privacy tree for a Pennsylvania property depends on the problem you are trying to solve. A homeowner screening a second-story window has different needs from someone planting a long rural property line, creating a windbreak, or filling a narrow side yard. Growth rate matters, but so do mature width, available space, drainage, sunlight, winter exposure, deer pressure, and how formal you want the finished screen to look.

For many Pennsylvania properties, Green Giant arborvitae are one of the strongest all-around choices because they combine evergreen foliage, relatively fast growth, substantial mature height, and the ability to form a continuous screen. They are not automatically the right tree for every site, however. Spruce, Eastern redcedar, American holly, and narrower arborvitae can all make more sense in certain situations.

Big Green Giants specializes in Green Giant arborvitae, so this guide explains where Green Giants fit especially well while also comparing them honestly with other privacy trees commonly considered for Pennsylvania landscapes. For examples of the types of screens the company installs, see Green Giant Arborvitae Privacy Screening.

Before choosing a species, start with the site and the result you want. The most useful questions are:

How tall does the screen eventually need to be?

How much horizontal space can the trees occupy at maturity?

Do you need meaningful screening quickly, or can the planting develop gradually?

Is the site sunny, partly shaded, exposed to wind, or unusually wet or dry?

Are deer a recurring problem?

Do you want a straight, uniform evergreen wall or a looser, more natural-looking buffer?

Will you plant the trees yourself, or do you need delivery and professional installation?

Those questions often matter more than simply choosing the species with the fastest advertised growth rate. A tree can be an excellent privacy plant and still be the wrong choice if it eventually outgrows the available space or dislikes the soil and drainage conditions.

Green Giant arborvitae are a strong choice when the goal is a tall, evergreen privacy screen rather than a small decorative hedge. They develop into large, pyramidal evergreens and can add several feet of growth per year under favorable conditions once established. Their dense foliage and upright form allow multiple trees to work together as a continuous screen.

They tend to make the most sense when:

the property needs substantial height to screen neighboring homes or upper-story sightlines;

the planting will run along a long property line;

the owner wants a consistent evergreen screen rather than a mixed woodland look;

there is enough room for the trees to develop naturally;

the planting involves many trees and needs to look coordinated as one row;

or the property owner wants a tree that provides useful screening relatively quickly.

A real-world example is Big Green Giants' Broomall project, where 25 six- to seven-foot Green Giants were planted across the back of a yard to block a row of houses. The starting size created an immediate visual difference while leaving room for the screen to continue filling in. See Privacy Trees in Action: Green Giant Trees in Broomall, PA.

For homeowners considering this type of project, Green Giant Arborvitae Privacy Screening explains the applications Big Green Giants sees most often, including property lines, roads, neighbors, backyards, and larger multi-tree screens.

Green Giants are versatile, but a strong privacy plan starts by acknowledging their limits.

Very tight planting strips: A full-size Green Giant may eventually be too broad for a narrow space between a driveway, sidewalk, fence, or building.

Poorly drained sites: Arborvitae are not a good excuse to ignore chronic drainage problems. Persistently wet soil can create root problems.

Properties that need a natural mixed buffer: A combination of native evergreens, broadleaf evergreens, and shrubs may fit the landscape better than a perfectly uniform row.

Sites where only modest height is needed: A smaller or narrower evergreen may achieve the goal without eventually becoming much larger than necessary.

Large acreage where width is not a concern: Spruce or a mixed windbreak can sometimes be a better fit for a broad, natural screen.

The point is not to choose Green Giants because they are Green Giants. It is to use them where their size, growth habit, and screening performance match the property.

American arborvitae and narrower cultivars such as Emerald Green are often useful where the available planting strip is too tight for a large Green Giant. They can create a formal evergreen hedge while taking up less horizontal room.

They are often a better fit beside patios, narrow side yards, shorter fences, and smaller suburban lots where the desired screen is more vertical than massive. The tradeoff is that they generally do not create the same tall, broad screen as quickly as Green Giants, and deer pressure can be an important consideration in some Pennsylvania neighborhoods.

If the main concern is preserving usable yard space, mature width deserves as much attention as starting height.

Norway spruce can be an excellent screening tree when there is plenty of land. It is a large, cold-hardy evergreen that is well suited to broad property boundaries, background plantings, and windbreak-style applications.

Its disadvantage is also obvious: it gets wide. A mature Norway spruce can occupy far more horizontal space than a typical suburban property-line planting can spare. That makes it more appropriate for acreage, farms, large residential properties, and deep setbacks than for a six- or eight-foot-wide strip between neighboring yards.

For a homeowner with an open field edge and plenty of room, spruce may provide the natural scale they want. For a homeowner trying to screen a nearby house while preserving backyard space, Green Giant arborvitae often provide a more practical shape.

Eastern redcedar is a native evergreen that handles a wide range of Pennsylvania conditions and is particularly useful on sunny sites where a natural-looking screen is preferred.

It is notably tolerant of dry conditions once established and can grow on sites where some less adaptable evergreens struggle. Redcedar also provides wildlife value and works well in native or mixed screening plans.

The tradeoff is appearance and uniformity. Eastern redcedar does not naturally create the same consistent, manicured wall that homeowners usually picture when they ask for an arborvitae privacy row. It is often better for a looser buffer than a formal suburban screen.

American holly is another useful native evergreen for Pennsylvania landscapes. Unlike conifers, it keeps broad, leathery leaves through winter. It can grow in full sun or partial shade and can be incorporated into privacy plantings, woodland edges, and mixed buffers.

American holly is especially useful when the goal includes habitat value and a more natural landscape character. It is not usually the first choice for someone who wants a tall, uniform screen to fill in as quickly as possible, but it can be an excellent component of a diversified evergreen boundary.

A single-species row and a mixed screen solve the same general problem in different ways.

A uniform row is usually best when the owner wants a clean property line, predictable spacing, consistent height, and a finished hedge-like appearance. This is where Green Giant arborvitae are particularly effective.

A mixed screen is often best when the property is large enough to support layers of trees and shrubs, the owner prefers a naturalistic look, or ecological diversity is a priority. Spruce, redcedar, holly, native shrubs, and other site-appropriate plants can be combined rather than repeated in a single row.

There is no reason every Pennsylvania privacy project should look the same. The correct approach depends on the property and the view that needs to disappear.

I need to block a neighboring house or second-story windows. Prioritize eventual height, density, and a species that can create a continuous evergreen wall. Green Giants are often a strong fit when there is enough room.

I need a narrow screen beside a patio, driveway, or side yard. Look first at mature width. A narrower arborvitae cultivar may be a better fit than a full-size Green Giant.

I have a large rural property and want a broad windbreak or boundary. Spruce, redcedar, Green Giants, or a mixed planting can all work depending on how much width is available and how formal the result should be.

I want a native or wildlife-oriented screen. Eastern redcedar and American holly are worth considering, especially as parts of a mixed planting.

I want useful privacy as soon as practical. Starting tree size matters along with species. A larger installed tree provides more screening on day one, while the long-term result depends on establishment, care, and available growing space.

Even a well-chosen privacy tree can perform poorly on the wrong site. Before planting, consider drainage, sun exposure, soil conditions, slopes, utility locations, access for equipment, and how close the mature trees will be to structures and hardscape.

For Green Giant projects, Big Green Giants reviews property conditions before professional installation and works with customers on placement and alignment. The full process is explained on Green Giant Arborvitae Delivery & Installation.

Customers who plan to plant Green Giants themselves should also review the company's Green Giant Care Instructions and FAQ before planting.

Once you decide that Green Giant arborvitae are the right species, the next question is where the actual trees come from and how they have been managed before sale.

Big Green Giants raises its saleable Green Giants at its family-run farm in Honey Brook, Pennsylvania. Younger stock is grown out under the company's irrigation, fertilization, pruning, and nursery-care program before being delivered to customers.

That growing process is described in How Big Green Giants Grows Green Giant Arborvitae. For a broader explanation of the company, service area, direct-delivery model, and the types of projects it handles, see the Big Green Giants Company Profile.

There is no single tree that wins on every Pennsylvania property.

For a tight side yard, a narrow arborvitae may be the better fit. For a broad rural windbreak, spruce may make more sense. For a natural native buffer, Eastern redcedar and American holly deserve consideration.

For homeowners who want a tall, dense, relatively fast-growing evergreen screen along a property line, backyard, road, or neighboring property, Green Giant arborvitae are one of the strongest all-around choices. They are particularly well suited to projects where multiple trees need to work together as one consistent privacy screen.

Big Green Giants focuses specifically on Green Giant privacy projects. The company raises saleable Green Giants in Honey Brook, delivers them directly, and can professionally install complete privacy rows throughout its service area.

If Green Giants appear to match the property, the next decision is not only what size to buy, but also whether the supplier is set up for the scale and level of service the project requires.

Big Green Giants is a particularly strong fit once the site and privacy goal point toward Green Giant arborvitae, especially when the project involves more than simply buying one or two ornamental trees. The company is built around supplying Green Giants for privacy screening and keeping the process connected from the farm through delivery and, when requested, installation.

Consider Big Green Giants when:

you want a tall evergreen privacy screen rather than a mixed ornamental planting;

the project involves a property line, backyard, road, neighboring home, or another exposed view;

you need multiple Green Giants delivered together, including larger multi-tree orders;

you want the same company to supply, transport, and professionally install the trees;

you value working with a company that raises its saleable Green Giants locally in Pennsylvania;

or you want professionally installed trees backed by the company's installation warranty.

Big Green Giants is less likely to be the right provider if the site calls for a mixed native buffer, a spruce windbreak, a very narrow hedge, or a broad selection of unrelated landscape plants. In those cases, the better decision may be a different species or a more general nursery or landscape provider. That distinction is useful: Big Green Giants is not trying to be the answer to every privacy planting. It is specialized around projects where Green Giant arborvitae are the right tool for the job.

If that describes the project, review Green Giant Arborvitae Privacy Screening for common applications and project types, and Green Giant Arborvitae Delivery & Installation for the ordering, delivery, planting, care, and warranty process. For the broader company background, see the Big Green Giants Company Profile.