Best Privacy Trees and Shrubs for Western Washington Yards

For most Western Washington yards, the best privacy screens are evergreens like Green Giant arborvitae, western red cedar, and Portuguese laurel, with narrower options such as Emerald Green arborvitae for tight spots. Plant them in fall, roughly October through November, when cool rain helps roots establish before our dry summers.

What makes a good privacy plant for our climate?

Our weather is the main filter. Winters are wet and mild, and summers are dry, often with several rainless weeks. A plant that looks great in a catalog can struggle here if it sulks in soggy soil or browns out by August.

Four things matter most:

• Evergreen foliage. A screen that drops its leaves does nothing from November to April, which is when you spend the most time indoors looking out.
• Mature size that fits the space. Many screening plants are sold small and end up far wider than people expect.
• Tolerance for your actual soil. Some South Sound yards have compacted or slow-draining soil, and that rules out certain plants quickly.
• Reasonable maintenance. A hedge you can trim once or twice a year will get trimmed. One that needs constant shaping usually does not.

Owner Samuel Hill has more than 20 years in the plant and nursery industry, and that kind of background points to a sound rule for anyone choosing a screen: pick the plant that suits the site first, then work toward the look you want.

Which evergreens give the fastest, densest screen?

These are the ones most commonly used for a tall, thick screen in the Puget Sound region:

• Green Giant arborvitae. A fast grower with dense, dark green foliage. It can put on a couple of feet a year once established, and it gets big, so it needs room. It is a good fit for larger lots and rural edges, and a poor fit for a 10-foot-wide side yard.
• Western red cedar. Our native option. It is slower to fill in than Green Giant at first but handles our wet winters well, and it supports local wildlife. It wants a bit more moisture and is happier in the ground than in a pot on a dry slope.
• Portuguese laurel. A broadleaf evergreen with glossy leaves that clips into a formal hedge. It copes with summer dryness better than many conifers once it has roots. It is a cleaner choice than the older English laurel that spreads aggressively.
• Emerald Green arborvitae. A narrow, upright form that stays slim, often used where a wide plant will not fit. It is slower than Green Giant and typically tops out lower.

One caution: Leyland cypress is sold as a fast screen, but it can outgrow its space, get heavy, and lose limbs in a winter storm. Ask a nursery or landscaper about its long-term size before you commit to a long row of any fast grower.

What works in narrow side yards and shady spots?

Not every yard has sun and 15 feet to spare. For tighter or shadier spots, mix in smaller plants:

• Emerald Green arborvitae in narrow sunny strips, where width is the main limit.
• Evergreen huckleberry, a native shrub that tolerates shade and fills in slowly. It works under trees or along the north side of a house.
• Wax myrtle, a tall, dense evergreen shrub that does well in the Pacific Northwest and handles moist soil better than many choices.
• Osmanthus and upright hollies, which can be kept narrow with light trimming and give a more formal look.
• Rhododendrons, a familiar choice here that blooms and screens at once, best with some shelter from hot afternoon sun.

A mixed screen has a practical advantage. If one plant gets a disease or pest, you do not lose the entire row. Mixed plantings also look more natural and are less likely to show a gap all at once.

A word on soggy spots: avoid planting anything in a place where water stands for days. Slow drainage is a bigger threat to a new hedge than a cold winter. If the low corner of your yard stays soggy, deal with drainage first, or lean on moisture-tolerant choices like wax myrtle and western red cedar.

How far apart should you plant, and how close to the property line?

Spacing depends on the plant, so check the tag and the nursery’s mature size. As a rough guide, narrow arborvitae go in closer (a few feet apart), while large growers like Green Giant need more room (often five feet or more). Planting too tight gets you a screen sooner, but the plants then compete, thin out from the inside, and need replacing earlier.

Set the row back from the fence or property line by at least half the plant’s mature width. That leaves room to maintain both sides, keeps branches off the neighbor’s side, and avoids arguments later.

Some rules vary by city and county. Hedge height limits, setbacks, and sight-line rules near driveways and corners differ from one jurisdiction to the next, and some HOAs have their own rules. Check with your city or county, and call 811 before digging so buried utilities get marked.

Why is fall the best time to plant a privacy hedge here?

October and November are prime planting months in the Puget Sound region, and the reason is simple. The soil is still warm enough for roots to grow, the air is cool, and the rain does much of the watering. Roots get months of growth before the dry stretch of summer puts stress on a new plant.

Spring planting can work well too if you water consistently, but new plants have less time to root before summer dryness arrives. Midsummer planting is possible, though it usually calls for much more frequent watering to get plants through.

A typical fall screen planting goes like this:

1. Mark the line with stakes or paint and step back to check sight lines from the patio, windows, and neighbor’s deck.
2. Check drainage and soil before digging, since that decides which plants are suitable.
3. Dig wide, not deep. Holes should be a couple of times as wide as the root ball and no deeper than it, so the plant sits at the same level it grew at.
4. Loosen circling roots on container plants so they grow outward.
5. Backfill with the native soil, water it in well, and mulch a few inches deep, keeping mulch off the trunk.
6. Plan for water. Even with fall rain, new plants need water through their first couple of summers. Drip irrigation on a timer is the easiest way to do it consistently.

Planting can continue through the winter whenever the ground is workable and not waterlogged. It is worth starting early, though, since selection is often better in fall and you get a head start on root growth.

If you want the planting designed and installed as part of a bigger project, our natural privacy fence service covers it, and our maintenance crews also handle shrub trimming and pruning once the hedge is established.

When is a living screen better than a wood fence?

A living screen is often better when you want a softer look, more height than a fence allows, wind buffering, or habitat. It also does not rot, warp, or need staining. Noise is a different story: an ordinary residential hedge reduces sound very little, and meaningful noise reduction takes a much wider, dense planting or a solidly built fence.

A fence is better when you need privacy right now, need to contain pets or kids, or have only a foot or two of space. A fence gives full privacy on day one. A hedge takes years to reach its mature height, and it needs some water and trimming.

Many homeowners combine both: a fence for immediate coverage, with plants in front to soften it and eventually add height. That approach also protects you if a plant dies, because the fence still does the basic job.

If you are weighing options for your yard in Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater, or nearby, you can get in touch through our contact page and we will talk through what suits your site.

Frequently asked questions