Thanks for all the replies so far on this thread. Spruce: Somehow I knew you were going to recommend the Norway spruce! =) We have several mature NS on our property and they do well. The local farm market has several small potted (2 gallon?) NS trees on sale so I might check them out. smivies: Thanks for the ideas. We do have a couple of mature Douglas firs as well. They're fast growing for sure, but our particular specimens don't look all that great. Ours are not very dense, and you can see through them easily, so I neve really considered them as a possibility. We've never had any A. cephalonica so I'll ahve to do some research. Our white pines are quite drought tolerant but as you say, the soft wood makes for a poor windbreak. Our white pines, though beautiful, quite often drop branches during winds and storms. I'm growing several P. strobiformis from seed and they did very well this season (their first year). We'll see how they do this winter. The blue-green color is great! scotjute: Thanks for suggesting the Eastern Red Cedar. I'll take a look at that as well. We don'thave any of them so that might be interesting as well. Thanks again! We're open to suggestions =) Dave

That's odd, I have Cincinnati, OH listed as Zone 6a/6b (you're right on the border). Regardless, Ohio is completely compatible with bluegrass if that's what you want. You may or may not. Personally, I consider bluegrass to be the grass against which all others are measured--and found deeply wanting. But that's because I'm willing to put in the time and effort to optimize performance. And money, let's not forget the money. Bluegrass has absolutely terrible drought resistance, but phenomenal drought tolerance. Or, it wilts quickly and has to be watered, but survives drought very well by going dormant and simply waiting it out. It's the most demanding of the northern grasses in terms of feeding, and really objects if you give it less than 4 pounds of nitrogen per thousand square feet per year, delivered just the way it likes it (small amounts in late spring, large amounts in fall). In terms of disease and insect resistance, it's about average. However, planted as a single species (a monoculture), any disease it's susceptible to will run rampant. That's why we suggest multiple cultivars with different resistances to counter that. Planting a single cultivar (a monostand) is asking for trouble (but it can be done). Properly managed, it's an intense green with blue overtones (mine throws blue topaz highlights in sun that, regrettably, don't photograph at all well), a strong grower, and capable of filling in any holes without much additional encouragement. It feels like carpet underfoot. Improperly managed, it's a sickly yellow-green, grows weakly, and gets patchy. Just like any other neglected grass. Plantings are slower to develop than other species, and sprout far slower than most others, so you have to keep after the watering on the seed bed for far longer. If that's what you want, and you're willing to put in the effort, I'd suggest Midnight II, Prosperity, and Moonlight SLT cultivars for you if you want the darkest colors and excellent performance. Award and Bedazzled are two other suggestions, but the Bedazzled won't be quite as dark a green. If the idea is kind of daunting, fescue and ryegrasses are easier to manage but do require occasional overseeding in fall.

For reference, a typical rainbird spray head is going to have a precipitation rate of around 3"/hour and the reference ET for SF in the month of June is around 4.6". If you run a zone with a precip rate of 3 for 5 minutes a day (35min./wk) you will be applying 1.75"/wk and 7"/month which is about 150% ET0. Now I don't know where you are and what your reference ET is, but you probably want to keep it below 100%. If you are trying to keep the surface damp, try setting the controller to water twice a day for short amounts of time.

Here are a couple of links that have recommendations for Clematis that do well in part shade. clematis tolerant of shade Clematis varieties that tend to do well in more shady spots What will do well in how much shade will vary some depending on where you are, so you might want to add that info to your profile so it comes up in your posts. (I've given directions below.) Edging plants for part shade that I've grown in my acid sandy loam: -Veronica Georgia Blue is low with tidy foliage, but wanders a bit nonaggressively in the garden so it may need occasional trimming back from the walk way. -Campanula 'Blue Clips' or 'White Clips' Any of the Hostas with Mouse Ears in their name Alyssum, a self-seeding annual Sunpatiens annual Begonia - in the shadier spots; nonhardy perennial, so you can dig or take cuttings to overwinter indoors. If you are going to widen the bed, I'd also either cut a V edge or bury to the very rim (so the grass will hide it) some of the black plastic rolled rim edging. Otherwise you will be fighting to keep the grass out. (Actually, I'd do this regardless of whether you widen it or not. Life's too short to fight grass in the garden!) Here are the directions for adding zone/location information: Go to Your Houzz in upper right of every page, click Edit Profile, and on the left side click advanced settings. Well down the advanced settings page is a blank labeled Climate Zone for Garden Forums along with a link to find your zone. If you add info on your state or the nearest large city you will get even better information since zone only relates to average coldest winter temperatures. Then return to the top of the page and click Done Editing.