I am one of those people that can build things but never seem to have
any luck growing things, so I need some expert help here.

The new neighbors next door (adjoining 5-acre plots) recently built
their church (oops, I mean house) and we cannot go out our backdoor
now without feeling that their house is going to sit on top of us and
cannot enjoy backyard privacy while they are in the lawn chairs
watching our every move. (The terrain slopes sharply upward toward
them so their front deck is about 20' higher than our back deck).

Local codes do not permit a giant wall or 15-20' fence but do allow
trees and there is no "view protection" so it really doesn't matter
how tall the trees grow.

We have lots of water (a well producing 33 gallons per minute) and I
have lots of time to drown those new trees in all the water they want.

My choices have been narrowed down to Nor'easter Poplar or Lombardy
Poplar. I've heard stories about both. I plan on planting the 10'
trees about 10' apart to form a veritable wall to block out the view
of the new neighbors. I would like the trees to grow at least 4' per
year and have a width of at least 10' so the line of trees would touch
one another.

Of those two, which would be my best choice? There are no pipes,
drains, etc. anywhere near where the trees will be planted. In fact,
there is nothing man-made anywhere with 75' of where they will be
planted.

We also have numerous deer in the area ( I believe we're in either
zone 3 or 4) so I would encircle the new trees with some sort of
guard.

Of the two mentioned, which would give the best privacy, would be the
least disease and pest resistant and would be the best bang for the
buck?

I have had the Nor'easter poplar quoted as $15 for a 4 footer and the
Lombardy $39 for a 10 footer.

Thanks for any advice.

-The Guy With The Brown Thumb

(I'm using a friend's computer so please excuse the email
address...lol)