I had to remove 150 40 feet tall hybrid willow trees because the electric company Ameren "mis-surveyed". I have 60 feet between the Department of Transportation Right of Way and the Ameren easement. The Ameren easement line is about 40 feet from my pond. We hate each other. I'm scared to plant more trees. So, I'm thinking hedges or shrubs like burning bushes or forsythia. I can't stand the sound of the cars going by on the highway and I need wind protection as I live in flatland corn country Illinois. I don't care about price. The stretch of land is about 700 feet. Thanks!

Consider hiring a landscape architect. Our place is on the prairie and the winds are constant. He drew up a great windbreak for us.

What did you plant?

You might want to consider Green Giant arborvitae although they are trees. Fast growing and evergreen.

I looked at those. Do you have any experience with those vs. Thuja green giant? It says those may grow 50-60 feet. I'm not sure Ameren will allow those even if it's on my property and not their easement.

What did you plant?

Thuja Green Giant and Green Giant Arborvitae are the same thing. We have panted a few hundred bare root seedlings around our place as conservation plantings. They seem somewhat deer resistant and mostly have survived with no care. Of course, under these conditions, growth is slow.

Just a thought....Lombardy Hybrid poplars might be an option for you. They grow extremely fast and are "skinny" trees so you could stay out from under the wires. They can get quite tall though....

How many feet per year do they grow? I can't find that information anywhere.

I think I saw 3 feet per year?

Do you know anything about the Screen Hybrid Poplar?

Hybrid poplars tend to be short lived and drop branches (mine are all dying after 20 years). To get 3' per year out of Green Giant, you need to take care of the trees (weeds and fertilizer). We do neither.

The Lombardy poplars I'm suggesting are advertised as growing to 100 feet and living 80 years or longer. They are often used as wind blocks and privacy fences.

http://www.cdr3.com/lombardy/

This web site matches my experience:

"Lombardy poplars are fast-growing trees, growing as much as 6 feet per year. This makes them a popular choice when people want "living wall" privacy screens or windbreaks in a hurry. To serve this function, they are planted in a row, and spaced about 8 feet apart. However, they should be considered only as a stop-gap measure for privacy screens and windbreaks, as they are short-lived, being susceptible to a number of pests and diseases, as mentioned above."

http://landscaping.about.com/od/landscapedesignprivacy/p/lombardy_poplar.htm