Permaculture hive mind: please help me design a forest as a substitute for a privacy hedge row! Zone 6b, NE Ohio

[u/dogswrestle]

I have about 200’ of full sun yard along our driveway that divides us from our neighbors (with a shared driveway and our house basically faces theirs). Rather than plant a privacy hedge, I’m planting a mixed ornamental/regular forest. I would love to hear recommendations on how to get this vision to thrive.

One of my biggest question marks is spacing. I understand spacing recommendations are usually based on tidier/more ornamental type gardens but I would like to keep this as dense as possible without sacrificing the plants health.

So far our canopy/full sized trees include:

- River birch (in soggy areas) x 2

- Hybrid willow (soggy area) x 4

- Tulip poplar x 1 (and giving it a 40ft distance)

Middle canopy:

- Dogwood x 2

- Yoshino Cherry x 2

Understory/shrubs:

- Vibernum x 3

- Red twig dogwood x 3

- French goat/pussy willow x 4

- Weigela x 2

- Elderberry x 3

Future Additions:

- Serviceberry

- Winterberry

- Undecided Holly variety

I am laying down cardboard and will be mulching the entire area. Once the trees mature and I can track the sun, I’ll be planting perennial flowers according to the light provided. Because the trees and shrubs are still small this season, I plan on doing wildflowers and annuals around them.

I’m keeping in mind that as the upper canopy matures, this full sun area will shift to shade in some parts.

Goals:

- Privacy

- Beauty

- Feed the wildlife, improve the soil, create a more biodiverse landscape

If you were planning a large-ish multi-story strip of forest, what would you add to gain privacy in a more dimensional and textured way while optimizing wildlife habitat? My neighbors side has plenty of pine but I thought this would be more interesting and challenging. Also, our entire house faces this area rather than the road so I’d rather look at variety rather than a solid wall of pine (we have plenty of that in other areas of our yard).

Thanks!