Said It Here

Green Giants vs. Emerald Greens for privacy

Choosing between privacy tree varieties like Green Giants and Emerald Greens is complicated by limited yard space, shade from surrounding trees, and deer browsing risks. Picking the wrong type leads to stunted growth, insufficient height, or trees that outgrow their layout constraints.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    Planting dwarf varieties or Baby Giants
  2. 2
    Looking at Junipers instead
  3. 3
    Putting a 6-foot fence around Emerald Greens to protect them from deer
  4. 4
    planting shade-tolerant alternatives like yews or cherry laurels
  5. 5
    installing a shade sail instead of plants
  6. 6
    having neighbors install privacy solutions from the higher ground

In their words

Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.

r/Landscaping2 people · September 2026

“I'm a little worried I'll have to plant them far away from the fence and they'll seem close to my house. Should I do several Emerald green's instead?”source ↗

“I like that the green giants grow faster and bigger but am worried I might regret my decision.”source ↗

PretzelTitties · r/Landscaping · 1 upvotes

“I'm in zone 7a and I'm building a retaining wall. My backyard neighbor who sits higher than me has massive oak trees that give a lot of shade. When the wall is built I want to put privacy trees. The Mason I hired reccomends green giants but I don't get much sun back there. Is there something else that I should be going with?”source ↗

sloppynipsnyc · r/Landscaping · 1 upvotes

“I need it to get pretty tall like 12-18 ft. Do cherry laurels get that high?”source ↗

sloppynipsnyc · r/Landscaping · 1 upvotes

Where this came up

r/Landscapinggardeninglandscapingplantsprivacy

People with this problem also raised