Motorway Trees

At the moment it's absolutely silent here in the garden. So much so the dawn chorus wakes me up. In front there are just fields. Inside the house, I can hear every bird, every leaf rustle in the wind. I moved here from the city 'cos I'm very sensitive to noise. They're planning to build a two-lane motorway access road about half a mile from our house (there, where that bank of trees is in the distance). The traffic will be heavy and constant and there are only fields between me and the proposed route. Not to mention the noise they make building it. I guess I've got three years before it gets close.

So, what trees would you arborealists recommend to lessen the noise?

I've got a chest-high fence/wall (concrete foundation, brick supports with wooden infills) on the northern side facing the proposed abomination. It's heavy clay soil but draining is not such a problem. As long as I dig deep holes, deciduous trees do well here: evergreens too if I pamper them in their first years. There are heavy frosts in the winter. The front fence is about eight yards from the house at its closest point and twenty at its furthest.



I could maybe plant trees on the outside, north side, of the fence as well as on the inside: when small they'd get light in the mornings and evenings but a lot less of course. So two rows are a possibility. Any good ideas? And how old should the plantings be to get the best trees later?
.

 

I found: leylandii,taxus baccata canadensia Thuja Thuja plicata chinensia tuisa cryptomeria japonica or the Blustar, Tuscan cypress trees, but you can also make a mixture. The hedge should not be a perfect semicircle (it would amplify sounds) but an elliptical shape. Or you can use camouflaged architectonic barriers.

 

Are they required to plant any screening as part of the construction works? This should help if so as it would be closer to the traffic. I think you are right to be thinking about planting now to give the trees you decide on a head start. What direction is the new road? I would consider how much you will put your house and garden in shade and for how much of the day.

I can't help with suggestions of which species of trees muffle noise best but maybe you could research that. Someone probably has studied that.

 

We've been planting Holly bushes as a noise barrier, the National Trust garden where I work is right next to the A35, the main South coast road. Must admit I don't really notice the traffic noise anymore, apart from the sirens.

 

Thank you for the list. I'll look them up.

Because the road will be a distance away, I'd need them tall - but not so tall the roots could damage the house.

I'm tempted by Leylandii because it is dense. But as it'll grow fast (3ft a year?) and much higher than the 24' distance to my house, I suppose that means three trims a year and a lot of clippings. Sounds like a lot of work.

I wonder which trees are as dense but require less clipping?

Thuja Occidentalis (white cedar) is dense. But it can reach 98'. So that's a regular trim too.

Incidentally, I found the following. And Leylandii is, of course, a Cupressus.

High water demand trees (that have to be planted at least as far from buildings as their height) include; [broadleaved] Eucalyptus, Populus, Quercus, Salix, [conifers] Cupressus, Chamaecyparis and xCuprocyparis. Quercus (oak) accounts for the highest number of subsidence cases in the UK
Low water demand trees (can be planted closer) include; [broadleaved] Catalpa, Corylus, Liquidambar, Liriodendron, Magnolia,Morus, Sambucus, [conifers] Abies, Araucaria, Ginkgo, Larix, Picea and Pinus.

What about laural? That only reaches 20 foot tall, and would be OK 24' from the house.

By 'ellittical', do you mean 'elliptical'; egg-shaped? But wouldn't I either let it go or trim it to a rectangle?

 

Thanks,

I think the houses are too far away to qualify for them to have to arrange screening. The road will be parallel to our front fence and to our north. So no shade worries.

 

Do you think holly is easy to trim?

 

It is with a good pair of gloves on, seen topiary done with Holly.

You'll need to fill your ears with wax to get past the sirens though, have you got a mast?

 

yes I meant elliptical, sorry. I dont think it is referred to the shape of the plant itself, but the the shape of the edge lenght/perimeter.