Thank you all for your suggestions. I really appreciate getting some good ideas. This spot has been a problem for a few years and as I mentioned is getting worse. I have to be very careful what I plant however. DH just last year pulled out all of the vinca ground cover I had around part of the back and the north side of our house due it being too hardy and covering over the bushes and sidewalk. lol He has spotted a few trying to come back and he has already said he is going after them so I know whatever I plant must not vine. I like the Asian Jasmine very much and I believe the right color variety would look good with the photinias. If we could do as Dawn mentioned and just mow them to keep them off the bushes it might work and they might be able to withstand the late sun they will get. I also love thrift. I have had it as mixed ground cover in front of my house for years and it was just breath taking many springs and falls as well. But something happened to it in the last year or so...either the floods or the ice storms. It is trying to make a come back but is pretty sparse as of now. I know it can take sun since my house faces west and gets intense heat. It has been a challenge to find one which meets all my needs in this spot and is something DH will tolerate as well.....lol. Oh and BTW I forgot to mention it will have to be able to endure being trampled when DH prunes the photinias...lol. I think Ajuga is very nice ground cover but I really don't think it would survive the conditions I have. The purple heart I know to be a very hardy and pretty plant and low maintance but I agree Dawn it might look a little like overkill with the photinias. I find a twig of it in some of my beds around here occasionally so I am sure some of my neighbors must have it. Speaking of plants coming from neighbors...I had a battle last summer with the green variety of "jew" coming up EVERYWHERE around here. I didn't think I would ever get rid of it. Apparently seed must have washed through the yard during all the flooding rains. From the plants you all have mentioned I think the only two which might work are the Asian Jasmine or the thrift. I wonder if the thrift will have too much roots for me with all those power lines? I know the ones I planted in front came in half gallon pots. Yikes! But perhaps we could have the electric company come out and mark the lines so we can avoid them....it is pretty scary. Since this spot of my yard is in perfect view from my patio I need to do something with it. It looks pretty ugly right now with so much bare soil showing. Even thought DH gives the photinias a severe pruning pretty often and tries to keep them from being too tall still the bare spot is growing larger each year. Thank you all for your helpful suggestions and I will let you know what I end up doing. I have had so much else going on lately I have given little thought to any kind of gardening. After last year I am pretty disgusted with it to tell you the truth. It was THE WORST season for me EVER. And Dawn...no we have not been traveling. We have kept busy with going through our entire property and doing a massive clean out. I hope to have a huge garage sale and cut way down on things around here. I just want to SIMPLIFY. We finally redecorated our master bedroom and bathroom too....so we have kept very busy all winter. Now I am just ready for WARMTH. Lots of sunshine and WARMTH! Thank ya'll! G.M.

There's lots of edible plants that would grow on a pallet fence. Some of them will climb on their own, and others will need for you to get them started climbing and then they'll do fine on their own after that. Any vegetable that vines would work. This includes: Pole snap beans Pole runner beans Half-Runner Beans (my White Half Runners climbed 8' high this year) Edible podded peas like Sugar Snap or Super Sugar Snap or Snow Peas (plant in cool season only cause heat kills them) Pole cucumbers (bush cukes don't climb) Malabar spinach (a warm weather spinach substitute; the red-stemmed version is gorgeous) Muskmelons and cantaloupes as well as some winter melons (you grow winter melons in summer, but they will store for a long time, hence the nickname winter melons) Winter Squash plants that produce smallish sized squash (some produce huge squash that might or might not tolerate having no ground underneath to support them as they hang on the fence) Mini Pumpkins like Jack-Be-Little or Baby Boo that are grown as ornamentals, not edibles Small Pumpkins like Sugar Pie or Seminole. I grow Seminole pumpkins every year and they climb my 8' tall garden fence and then climb up into the trees. Southern Peas, which includes blackeyed peas, pinkeye purple hull peas, lady, zipper, crowder and cream peas. Some are vining, some are bush and some are like half-runner beans--they stay bushy if there's nothing to climb, but if there is something to climb, they will climb. If you want something that will cover the fence quickly and that has flowers, annual vines like morning glories, moonvines (bloom at night), black-eyed susan vines, cypress vine and cardinal climber vine all grow fast and look great. In my garden, they all reseed vigorously and become weeds, so think long and hard before you plant them because once you have them, you'll likely have them forever. Dawn

Kiwi is a very vigorous, lush, robust vine. It is quite deciduous. Unfortunately, it is not the least bit deer resistant. You will also need but male and female vines if you want fruit. Nice plant but it is bit like kudzu in the right climate. You might also consider grape, jasmine or passion vines (some of which are quite cold hardy). You might also consider Pyrocantha, which while not actually a vine is ofter espaliered. It is evergreen and cold hardy to about zone 6b and has red berries in the Winter.

apple_pie_order: You are correct, my explanation wasn't the best. Basically the situation is, as the sun passes in front of the building throughout the day, my Bedroom is significantly brighter than my living room. Accordingly, the transom is intended to improve the space in three ways: 1) Allow afternoon sun from the bedroom to lightly emanate into the living room. Conversely, also allowing the morning sun from the living room to emanate into the bedroom (which has blackout blinds). 2) I have top-down bottom-up blinds. Because I spend most of my time in the living room (to which the kitchen is attached), I prefer to have my living room blinds half up/half down to provide privacy. I do not mind keeping my brighter bedroom blinds wide open and the transom allows me to take advantage of this light in my primary living area. 3) Help bring light into the front of the suite, where the entrance and kitchen are. Although it is a modest effect, psychologically it is slightly better. The dark cavernous living room has been plaguing me since I moved in. Although I am a novice renovator and am certainly not a designer, while I've got the place ripped apart (no floors, site protection up, etc.), I figured i'd seize the opportunity and give the transom a go. Olychick: I suppose I am not hell-set on reducing the height. However, my reasoning was two fold: 1) at the current height, you can see through to the light in the bedroom, or the fan in the living room. If the height is reduced, the angle of viewing for most people will be cut off. Similarly, you could look the transom on the wall, into the one over the bedroom door. 2) Although the ceilings are 8.5', I feel like with reduced height, the wall space will still feel ample and will be able to accommodate a shelf above the TV without feeling cramped. >Can you just enclose/cover the two center windows and have the 3 on each side? Yes, definitely possible, and not actually an option I had considered. I am unsure if I want to build between the studs. They are 16" on centre so roughly 15" opening, after adding finishing material they will be maybe 14" at the widest. I am having a hard time visualizing what 6 or 7x 14" windows would like compared with two long boxes. I was thinking of cutting the studs and building 2 boxes flush to the conduit. One would be 70" long, and the other would be ~55" long. I may tack in a piece of a drywall to get a feel for the "between the studs" configuration.