In addition to adding quick height and sometimes ameliorating the soil conditions, a very important function of the berm is sound reduction, which is why you often see it along roadways.

People frequently plant trees thinking they will cut down noise. From both my sound engineer present and from my past in landscape architecture, it doesn't work that way. Even a fairly dense planting only stops the highest frequencies; to really stop broad range noise you need mass and complete coverage.

For visual privacy, though, trees are a lot more attractive!

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