Thanks again for very good advice. I will definitely try to be patient. I think just having any sort of greenery in there will help a lot. Now it just seems like a mass amount of wood. I think we will be okay if we plant it now, like War Eagle said. We had a nasty winter and the ground is finally thawed enough to dig. So long as we don't let them dry out back there, but in general, it is always moist and we will keep them watered generously over the summer. I have one more question - rather than extend our line of trees all the way across the back to the corner, i'm thinking of ending it at the corner of the pool, right before the waterfall that goes into the pool (which, right now, is a few two-by-fours that look like a football goal. We will eventually build a stone wall below it on that angle of the pool for visual interest.) That corner behind the waterfall is where we keep the pool's electrical box and heater. There is about a 5x5 foot space back there in that corner in front of the equipment. (see photo below). I wanted to plant something different that will contrast the Degroots Spire and be larger and grow above the waterfall. Could even be something deciduous as long as it's not messy over the summer when the pool is uncovered. We generally close our pool at the end of September before the leaves fall. Keeping in mind that back corner is moist, can you suggest something that can go back there (and that the root system won't mess with the pool's underground pipes too much? Or should i just run the Degroots all the way to the corner? Thanks again in advance! Denise

thank you for the replies. I like the cocoplum, but I am worried it will die back every year. I am leaning towards the fakahatchee grass. I hope I can find it for relatively cheap. I will be getting some orange jessamine for accents along my privacy fence and some sweet viburnum for other areas. I think the fakahatchee grass will give the pool area a nice tropical look. I am still open to more suggestions so keep them coming. Thank you all!

The sail shade is tricky - but they are effective! You may want to look around and see if you can find a size that would fit - or if you can extend the connection line on a side or two to make it longer. They look great overlapping or layered too. I considered hopseed bushes as well - they look really nice, grow quickly and don't litter much at all. The only thing is they can get wide, so you'd need to stay on top of them in terms of trimming for your narrow space. I ended up deciding on the bamboo because I didn't want a bush look and we have a fairly long space. And the price for the bamboo you were quoted is a good one! We paid $150 each and I think they were 15 gallons and were about 5' tall. Also find out about delivery and planting. You may be better off with large planters or troughs and put whatever you like that will grow tall and reasonably dense in there - you'd get more height immediately and it would look good too.

floral_uk, the goats will be well fenced away from the plants like they are now. I just dont want to plant any more toxic stuff at the new place and stick to non toxic things for landscaping, going forward :) Floral & Ken, that makes sense. Good point on not planting a monoculture. Hoping to find mostly stuff that is evergreen (keeping its leaves over the winter). I will be planting an orchard of sorts, so there will be different kinds of plants there. So far, I found a huge Pecan Tree, a Crab Apple, and a Blackberry (that doesnt look like our scraggly wild ones), planted on the property. Everytime I go out there I find something new. We havent even went into the wooded part yet because its too overgrown to get into 😅 Jay, thank you for those suggestions. I will look them up! DM , I have found the Camellias to be drought tolerant once established here. I also have some banana shrubs (Michelia/Magnolia figo) but I dont know how tall they would get in the ground. I have had 2 in pots for about 12 yrs and they are about 7ft tall. They get bare legs but it might because they are potted. They smell so good. Gardenias do well up there too because there is a huge lovely one by the back deck that has managed to survive on its own for a year while the place was in foreclosure. Another question... I found one website that said you must buy a male & female Wax Myrtle plant to get the berries. Is that true? I didnt know there were female and male wax myrtles, I thought they all just made berries..never had Wax Myrtles before lol. Our local nursery just has them in different sizes not labeled by sex!