Best Privacy Trees for Pennsylvania Yards

If you’re tired of making eye contact with your neighbor every time you walk outside, you’re not alone. Privacy trees are one of the most searched landscaping topics in Pennsylvania — and for good reason. Between suburban lot sizes getting smaller and new developments popping up everywhere, creating a natural screen is one of the best investments you can make in your yard.

I’ve helped neighbors and friends pick privacy trees across central PA, and the same mistake comes up constantly: people buy whatever’s cheapest at the big box store, plant it too close together, and end up ripping it all out five years later. The right tree in the right spot saves you money, time, and a lot of frustration.

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What Makes a Good Privacy Tree in PA?

Before we get to specific trees, here’s what you’re actually looking for in a PA privacy screen:

• Year-round coverage — deciduous trees give you privacy in summer but leave you exposed all winter. For most privacy needs, evergreens are the right call.
• Zone-appropriate hardiness — a tree that’s marginal in your zone will struggle, look bad, and eventually fail. Always confirm the USDA zone rating before buying.
• Deer resistance — PA deer populations are significant, especially in suburban and rural areas. A non-deer-resistant arborvitae in Chester County is a meal, not a screen.
• Mature size that fits your space — the most common planning mistake is buying a tree without thinking about its mature spread. A 15-foot-wide tree planted 4 feet from a fence is a future problem.
• Disease resistance — Pennsylvania’s wet springs and humid summers create conditions for fungal diseases. Some trees (looking at you, Leyland cypress) are beautiful until year 8, then collapse.

Best Evergreen Privacy Trees for Pennsylvania

Green Giant Arborvitae

This is the gold standard privacy tree in PA, and it deserves to be. Green Giant (Thuja standishii × plicata) grows 3–5 feet per year once established, reaches 40–60 feet tall and 12–18 feet wide, and maintains dense foliage from the ground up without much pruning.

It handles PA’s clay soil better than most evergreens, tolerates both full sun and partial shade, and is hardy to zone 5a. It’s also deer-resistant — a huge deal in Pennsylvania where deer browsing destroys thousands of arborvitaes every winter. (Emerald Green arborvitae, by contrast, is essentially a deer buffet.)

Spacing: Plant 5–6 feet apart for a solid screen within 3–4 years. If you’re not in a rush, 8–10 feet gives each tree room to develop its natural shape.

Drawbacks: Green Giants get big. If your yard is small or the screen is close to a property line, they may overwhelm the space within 10–15 years. For small yards, consider Emerald Green arborvitae or Skip Laurel instead.

American Holly

American holly (Ilex opaca) is one of the best-looking native screening trees for PA — a slow-to-medium grower (1–2 feet per year) with a naturally pyramidal, dense form. The glossy dark leaves and red winter berries make it one of the most attractive screening options year-round.

Hardy through zone 5b, American holly handles clay soil, partial shade, and wet conditions — all common in PA. You’ll need both male and female plants for berries (one male per 5–6 females is enough).

Spacing: 6–8 feet for a filled-in screen. It’s slower to close gaps than Green Giant, but the result is lower maintenance because it doesn’t need constant size management.

Drawbacks: Slow growth means 5–7 years to full coverage. The leaves have spines, so avoid planting next to walkways or play areas.

Eastern White Pine

If you want height fast and don’t mind a more natural, open look, white pine (Pinus strobus) grows 2–3 feet per year and can reach 50–80 feet tall. It’s native to PA, thrives in zones 3–8, and does well even in poor, acidic soils.

White pine works best where you need a windbreak or tall canopy screen rather than a dense ground-level barrier. Lower branches thin naturally with age, so it won’t give you a solid screen from the ground up the way arborvitae does — but for blocking an upper-story view or creating a windbreak along a rural property line, it’s hard to beat for the price.

Spacing: 8–10 feet for a windbreak; 6 feet if you want a denser screen. Avoid exposed hilltops where ice and wind can break the crown.

Norway Spruce

Norway spruce (Picea abies) is among the fastest-growing conifers available in PA — 2–3 feet per year — and one of the most wind-resistant. Its strongly pyramidal shape and dense, downward-sweeping branches create a classic formal screen that holds its form without pruning.

Hardy to zone 3, it thrives across all PA zones including the coldest mountain areas where Green Giant may struggle with deer or ice damage. Mature trees reach 60–80 feet, so give them room.

Spacing: 10–12 feet for a naturalistic screen; 6–8 feet if you want faster closure. Good choice for large rural properties where mature scale isn’t a concern.

Eastern Red Cedar

Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) is a PA native that deserves far more credit than it gets. Growth rate is modest (1–2 feet per year), but it thrives in conditions that would kill most other screening trees: dry, poor soils, full sun, exposed ridges, road salt spray.

Its dense, columnar form provides solid year-round coverage. The blue-gray berries attract cedar waxwings and other birds. Hardy through zone 2, it’s essentially indestructible in PA conditions.

Best use case: Difficult sites where other evergreens won’t establish — rocky, dry slopes, roadside plantings, clay-heavy fields. Not the right choice for a manicured suburban yard.

Best Privacy Trees for Small PA Yards

Not everyone has room for a row of 60-foot spruces. Here are options that top out under 20 feet and fit typical suburban lots.

Skip Laurel

Skip laurel (Prunus laurocerasus ‘Schipkaensis’) is a broadleaf evergreen that grows 10–18 feet tall and 5–7 feet wide. It’s one of the best choices for small-to-medium yards in zones 6a–7a. The glossy, dark green leaves are attractive year-round and the form stays dense without heavy pruning.

Spacing: 3–5 feet apart for a filled screen. Can be maintained as a hedge with annual trimming.

Drawbacks: Borderline hardy in zone 5b — protect with burlap the first few winters if you’re in the northern tier. All parts of the plant are toxic to dogs and horses, so plan accordingly if you have pets that browse plants.

Emerald Green Arborvitae

The most commonly sold privacy tree at garden centers. Emerald Green (Thuja occidentalis ‘Smaragd’) stays a manageable 10–15 feet tall and 3–4 feet wide, making it a good fit for tight spaces and foundation plantings. It’s also cheaper than most alternatives.

The problem: deer absolutely love it. In most of suburban PA, an unprotected row of Emerald Green arborvitae will be browsed to sticks by February. If you’re in a low-deer-pressure area or plan to use repellent consistently, it works. Otherwise, consider Green Giant or Skip Laurel instead.

Spacing: 3–4 feet for a tight, formal hedge. Needs full sun — shaded specimens get thin and lose their form.

Nellie Stevens Holly

Nellie Stevens holly is a hybrid evergreen holly (Ilex cornuta × Ilex aquifolium) that grows faster than American holly — about 2–3 feet per year — and reaches 15–25 feet tall. It holds a naturally pyramidal form, has attractive glossy leaves, and produces red berries without needing a separate male plant (it’s self-pollinating).

Hardy to zone 6a, it works across most of PA and is significantly more deer-resistant than arborvitaes. One of the better all-around small-yard privacy trees for central and southern PA.

Spacing: 5–6 feet for a solid screen. Tolerates partial shade, though it’s denser and faster in full sun.

Privacy Trees to Avoid in PA

Some trees are heavily marketed for privacy screens but perform poorly in Pennsylvania’s conditions:

Leyland Cypress

This is the #1 tree I’d steer people away from in PA. Leyland cypress grows incredibly fast (3–4 feet per year) and looks gorgeous for 5–8 years — then the problems start. It’s marginally hardy in zones 6a and above, susceptible to bagworms, Seiridium canker, and root rot in PA’s wet clay soil, and often starts dying from the inside out once it reaches 15–20 feet.

In the mid-Atlantic, Leyland cypress is basically a disposable tree with a 10–15 year lifespan. Green Giant arborvitae gives you the same growth rate with dramatically better longevity and disease resistance.

Privet

Fast-growing and cheap, but privet is semi-deciduous in most of PA — it drops its leaves during cold winters, giving you zero privacy when you need it most. It also spreads aggressively and has been flagged as invasive in some PA counties. Skip it.

Bradford Pear

Bradford pear has become essentially prohibited in Pennsylvania — it’s invasive, the branches break catastrophically in ice storms, and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has been working to phase them out. Don’t plant one.

How to Design Your Privacy Screen

Row Layout

A single row is the simplest approach: one species, evenly spaced, straight line. This works well for defined property lines and is the easiest to maintain.

For wider spaces, a staggered double row provides thicker coverage and a more natural look. Offset the second row so each tree fills the gap between two trees in the front row. This approach blocks sightlines faster and creates better wind protection.

Mixing Species

A mixed-species screen — for example, alternating Green Giant arborvitae with American holly — looks more natural and provides insurance against species-specific diseases. If one species gets hit by a pest or disease, you don’t lose your entire screen.

The trade-off is that different species grow at different rates and have different mature sizes, so the screen will look uneven until everything fills in. For most homeowners, a single-species screen is easier to manage and still looks great.

Setback From Property Lines

Check your local ordinances before planting — many PA municipalities have setback requirements for trees and hedges. A common rule is 3–5 feet from the property line, but this varies significantly by township.

Also think about mature spread. A Green Giant planted 2 feet from the fence line will eventually hang over your neighbor’s yard, which creates ongoing friction. Plant at least half the mature spread distance away from the property line — for Green Giant, that means 6–8 feet minimum.

Planting and Establishing Your Screen

The best time to plant a privacy screen in PA is early spring (March–April) or early fall (September–October). For detailed zone-specific timing, see our guide to when to plant trees in Pennsylvania.

At planting:

• Dig each hole twice as wide and the same depth as the root ball. Don’t dig deeper — settled soil beneath the tree causes sinking and root flare burial.
• Don’t amend the backfill soil. Roots need to grow into your native clay, not stay in a pocket of nice potting mix.
• Water deeply at planting — fill the hole with water, let it drain, set the tree, backfill, then water again.
• Mulch 2–3 inches around each tree, keeping mulch away from the trunk. No mulch volcanoes.
• For the first year, water deeply once per week during dry stretches. After that, established evergreens are largely self-sufficient in PA’s rainfall.

Spacing is the other critical variable. Resist the urge to plant too close — it feels like it’ll give faster coverage, but crowded trees develop poor form, compete for resources, and often require removal within 10 years. Follow the species-specific spacing recommendations above.

Cost Comparison

Privacy trees vary widely in price depending on size and species. Here’s a rough guide for 5–6 foot nursery stock (the most common size for screening projects):

Eastern White Pine and Norway Spruce offer the lowest cost per linear foot of coverage for large properties. For smaller yards where mature size matters, Skip Laurel or Nellie Stevens Holly often provides the best value over a 10-year horizon — no removal cost when they outgrow the space.

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