OGG's Screen Height Calculator

Garden Math for the Masses!

The height of the screen D equals the ratio of C to B, applied to the length of E.  This is the old "hypotenuse is equal to the square root of the sum of the squares of the two other sides of the triangle" stuff from high school geometry.  Figuring out the screen height is like working with a set of triangles.  If you know 2 of the 3 dimensions of the triangle, you can calculate the third one.

Step one:

A² plus B² = E² - Where A is the height of the eyesore, B is the distance to the eyesore, and E is the required height to effectively screen out the eyesore - if it was to be planted right in front of it.

Let's say the eyesore you want to screen is 30 feet high (A), and its distance from your patio table is 100 feet (B).

• A (30x30) + B (100x100)=ExE

• 900+10,000= ExE

• 10,900= ExE

Now use your calculator to find the square root of 10,900 (104.4 feet for this example) and that equals E - the height required to screen out the eyesore IF you could plant the tree right in front of it.

Step Two

Since you probably can't plant a 104 foot tree in front of an eyesore on your neighbor's property, you'll have to determine where on your property you can plant your screening tree or shrub.  So now, find the ratio of C (the distance between where you will be standing or sitting when viewing the eyesore and the location at which you will be planting the screen - let's say it's 50 feet apart) to B (100 feet - the total distance to the eyesore for our example).

• the eyesore is 100 feet away from your patio table which is the spot from which you DON'T want to see that eyesore (B)

• the area you will plant the screen in is 50 feet away (C)

• the ratio is 100:50 - or 2:1

• round up or down to the nearest foot or meter when you don't get an even figure

Now apply the ratio to the length of E - that's one of the hypotenuses (or is that hypotenusi?) in our example.

• E=1/2 of 104.4

• E=57.4

Step Three:

To determine how high the screen D must be, you have to go back to the triangle business again.  This time, we know what the hypotenuse is - E=57.4 feet.  We know what the distance to the screen is - C=50 feet.  So lets plug the new figures into the revised formula from step one and calculate this new smaller triangle's missing dimension.

C² (50²) + D² = E² (57.2²)

Now let's get D over by itself.  If we Subtract C² from both sides of the equal sign, that will do it.

• D² = E² (57.2²) - C² (50²)

• D² = 3272.84 + 2500

• D² = 771.84

Now, get out the calculator again to find the square root of 771.84 (27.78) and that equals D - the height of the screen.  Now you can go search out shrubs or trees that will grow to that height.

There!  You did it!  Sweat with pride!

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