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

Thanks for the responses. Ken. I did post previously about a single dwarf conifer specimen for the front yard. Im in the burbs north of Detroit. And yes, I have no plan to buy anything I don't see with my own eyes. Which is why I initially limited my selections for blue spruces to varieties such as bakeri or fat albert that are available at Bordines or any of the many nurseries in Romeo Plank area especially since I want to start with sizeable specimens. Dax, thanks for the suggestions. Will look for these in local nurseries. The reason I intially started with arborvitae was the small footprint which would allow planting in groupings of three. Somehow that sounded better than individual plants at intervals but I might be wrong. Do you feel I am being over-ambitious with the number of evergreens? The current trees belong to the neighbour and unfortunately I don't know what they are. In 5 years perhaps, they may provide the coverage I want now but considering they are without leaves half the year, don't feel thats enough. I work all day in a windowless office, would like to come home (esp in winter) and look at my slice of nature. The burning bush while on my property is maintained by the neighbour as per prior agreement (he was worried we would chop it down) so I have little control over its shape. Agree that lack of privacy is the price to pay for living in suburbia. One could argue that I should have thought of this when purchasing the property but other factors came into play, namely proximity to the in-laws for baby sitting support................. Right now I'm more focussed on picking the evergreens for the spine. Have some ideas for the plantings in between but that will come later. It will give me room to plant shrubs/conifers that I would not have had the space for otherwise, Deutzia, pinus strobus nana, hydrangeas, viburnums etc etc What I don't want is a solid wall of green which might be somewhat claustrophobic and somewhat dull. I also realize I need to worry about how big these may get 10 years from now which is why I would never plant a colorado blue spruce but rather one of the "dwarf" varieties

Hi, Thanks for your message, Firefighter. You're not late to the party, I was late getting into the discussion with my question and similar problem I love Tsuga canadensis ( Eastern Hemlock.) Sadly here in New England, the wooly adelgid is killing all of the Eastern Hemlocks. There are forests of these once beautiful trees denuded and dead from these nasty things. I have an Eastern Hemlock on our lot,right now. We're fighting the horrible adelgids with horticultural oil, but we're losing. The arborist from Arnold Arboretum has suggested injecting Merit into the tree to save it. We'll have to go with something else for a privacy screen to remedy the problem spot on other side of the lot. I'm still thinking. The weed maples are coming down in two weeks no matter what! Any suggestions welcome for a slender strip 5' wide, between two driveways, between two houses that are only 20' feet apart, and is: Evergreen Able to withstand ice and snow, Tops out at ~20-30' max Narrow Tolerates part shade. This is sounding like a tall slender yew. Is there one that will grow fast? It's a lot to ask of a plant.

I just had time to check out your "Inferno Strip Garden," and I think you're going to like what you get! I absolutely LOVE Artemisia versicolor 'Seafoam'--it's the only Artemisia I grow right now. I've never seen mine bloom since I keep pinching it to keep it round and bushy, but Artemisia flowers are usually pretty ugly, so you may want to cut it back when it starts to bloom. And I'm absolutely certain you'll love the Callirhoe. Give it as much room as you can. It dies back to the center of the plant over winter, but it will spread out 3 or 4 feet in every direction over the growing season. It's great next to a wall or anywhere you may have for it to drape down over---or just spread out on the ground if not. I'd add some Russian sage (Perovskia) to the area--P. 'Longin' is the most upright one, and my favorite. It would go well with the others and blooms pretty long in mid-late summer. Also, to add a couple bright spots of yellow, consider some Achillea 'Moonshine' (bright yellow), or A. 'Anthea' (soft yellow). They, too, bloom for quite a while and you can leave the flowers dry on the plants for winter interest for as long as they look good. I checked out G. saundersii too, and it looks great. They're kind of pricey, but I just might have to try one! If Alcea rosea 'Nigra' is the hollyhock you're looking at, I'd be glad to send you some seed for a SASE. They're a beautiful dark, dark, dark red, and they're real pretty up close, but since they're so-o-o dark, they really don't show up much from a distance. Last fall I planted some other mixed colors near them for more of a display from the distance. They're getting close to blooming and I am anxiously waiting to see what colors they'll be. (The black ones are blooming already!) Still, in my opinion, they are not especially xeric---certainly not as much as perovskia, agastache, some of the penstemons, and artemisia. I could also send some Aquilegia chrysantha seed (a Colorado native). It's a VERY fragrant yellow columbine that comes true from seed. It will reseed easily in the garden and if you have room to let a large patch grow it will actually scent the whole area. Again, it's not considered especially xeric, but once it's well established I don't think it would need a lot of water. I don't think you'd be happy at all with creeping phlox planted in the cracks in your walk, and I think it would be far more difficult to try to grow in such a situation. If you decide to try some, I recommend putting it out in one of the main garden areas. Also, while it doesn't like to stay wet all the time, I've never know it to be considered xeric. If you do decide to grow some, I recommend you look for Phlox douglasii rather than the more standard P. subulata. It's a much more compact growing plant that requires less care. If you do get P. s., to stay looking good over the years it will need to be cut back severely--1/2 or more--after it blooms each year. Otherwise the individual stems can get long and really ratty looking after a couple years. If you let it grow without cutting it back until it gets ratty, it's very hard to cut it back far enough to get it looking good again without killing it. Salvia 'May Night' ('Mainacht') is a really good choice and I bet you'd love it. If you cut it back promptly when the first flowers start looking "tired," it will easily bloom a second time, and, depending on the summer, might bloom a third time if cut back promptly after the second bloom. Don't worry too much about what's going to look good with what when you're planning your garden! Remember that perennials bloom at different times, so they won't all be blooming at the same time. That's one of the wonderful things about a perennial garden---it's constantly changing. Pick whatever you like best. If you decide you don't like it next to something, you can always move it. That's also part of perennial gardening! Tulips and daffodils (and crocus, hyacinths and any of the other spring blooming bulbs) will be blooming when your perennials are just starting to come up. Also check out the ornamental grasses. They're wonderful for adding movement to the garden and the foliage and seedheads are usually left on all winter for winter interest. One of my favorites is Panicum 'Heavy Metal' (switch grass). It has steel blue foliage with delicate, airy seed heads. I also love the miscanthuses (sp???) (maiden grass) which come in heights from 3' to 6' or more and have beautiful arching foliage with tassel-like seedheads that look Egyptian to me! Just one more thing for you to consider! Happy gardening, Skybird P.S. If you'd like the seed, email me privately via GW and I'll send you my address.