Hi everyone! Regardeng BLACKBERRIES, we, on the opposie side of the pool, have the same problems of OVERWINTERING the canes and the flower buds. Admittedly I yet have no own experience as I got interested in blackberries only this fall when discovered the existance of the new thornles and prolific varieties. So I read all that was worth reading in the Russian and US internet, especially the rather high-profile specialised forums of our blackberry enthusiasts.. I discovered that throughout Russia and Kazakhstan which both have areas with very serious frosts blackberry growing in those is nevertheless quite successful. Maybe someone here would benefit from their experience same as e.g. you grow plums of Russian origin such as ptitsin and fofanoff. Apparently Blackberries can bring huge yealds in climates with very low winter temps, even downing to -40C for rather ptolonged periods. The TECHNIQUE below allows overwintering without much problem. Plus some easy principles to follow. 1. All blackberries need to be laid down and covered for the winter, preferably after the first frost when the land is frozen. To ensure that this task is easy and hassle free: 2. Choose thornless varieties only. Those with thorns are said to be hell to lay and cover. 3. In early summer watch for the new canes (primocanes) to emerge. As soon as a shoot reaches 15-20cm carefully bend it 90 degrees and secure with a metal peg. When the cane grows another 40-60cm, secure it parallel to the ground with yet another peg. After it reaches 1 m let it grow as it will but better tie to the lowest string of the trellis Which gets them out of the way. Do not tip the ends as this would increase the leaf mass. Do the bending for all the emerging primocanes. 4. In autumn at the time of first frosts when all the fruiting canes have long been cut down lay the primocanes in lines stretched along one side of the trellis. Peg them to the ground, cover with two layers of 60g/m2 thick white non-woven fabric and secure all sides to the ground with no holes. This is said to help greatly even if serious frosts come before the snow. In milder and wetter climates they also put a plastic film layer on top of the fabric, leaving however the end bits open so there is always air circulation. The advice here is to experiment as all natural circumstaces differ. 5. Take off the cover layers gradually, and completely only after all danger of frost is over. By then the canes are likely to bear some yourg leaves and side shoots, but this is ok. Raise them carefully as the canes of come varieties are brittle, and tie to the trellis. 5. Winer frosts may not be a problem for blackberries, but summers need to be warm or hot. The shorter and milder/cooler the summers, the earlier fruiting varieties should be chosen. 6. Floricane varieties like PA Freedom in cooler and shorter summer climates may very sucessfully fruit if treated in the same way as other primocanes, i.e. as above, in a two-year culture. They would be one of the earliest to perform. If you have any questions do feel free to write me, I will try to help with more information. cathpetro at gmail dot com.

Spruce can be pruned into a hedge. If you go with colorado spruce get a named culivar. The color varies enormously. A hedge made from genetically diverse specimens will look blotchy and sick. I've heard that larch, and white pine can both be pruned into hedges. If you have room for a double hedge, plant two rows of shrub type willows. Get two varieties that have contrasting winter stem color. On alternate years you cut one row to the ground in early spring. This keeps them producing lots of colorful stems. If you are worried about willow roots invasiveness, you could use one of the dogwoods, or get willows that are water lovers, sculpt a swale into the spot where you will ahve the hedge, and flod irrigate it. I would expect that the willows would keep their roots wehre the water is.

Although I'm in z5a/b, I'm looking at a similar project. Avoid yews; they are deer magnets. Some of the more cold-tolerant evergreens are the spruces ~ picea abies, glauca and pungens. I think these are native to the Northeast. (I see you live in NH) The Cary Award evergreen winner this year is Abies koreana; check it out. And at the top of my list will be red cedar ~ juniperis virginiana, "Emerald Sentinel". Hardy Z3-9, 15'-20'tall by 5'-8' wide. Oh, and there's a japanese black pine that's a fairly fast grower. Don't forget to consider scale; many of the generic forms of these trees can get well in excess of 50' tall by 20+' wide; I know I don't have that kind of space! I got a lot of my information from an article on deer-resistant plants I found on Twombly's website, and the Weston Nurseries site has good info as well. One of my favorite sites for all things plant-related is http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ldplants/ - It's an encyclopedia with pix of all. I'll be watching this post for more ideas myself! Here is a link that might be useful: Good hedges article

igolfchip, you said originally that you're "not the biggest fan of evergreens." I take it from the context of the rest of your messages that you meant that you don't especially like conifers, i.e. needle- or scale-leaved evergreens. Obviously, if you do want to make sure your plants have leaves year-round, then what you want are evergreens. But it sounds like you prefer broadleaf evergreens, rather than coniferous ones. That's fine. There are lots of great broadleaf evergreen plants that grow well in our area and make terrific privacy screens. Frankly, though, if you have a sunny, dry-ish area and want a plant to grow quickly and densely to 10 to 30 feet but only encroach 3 or 4 feet into the yard, that mostly means conifers. There are a number of species and varieties of cypress, arborvitae, cryptomeria, and others that work really well at doing exactly what you're looking for. If you really insist on using broadleaves, though, realistically you'll probably have to accept a good deal of maintenance in the future in the form of trimming and pruning to keep them within four feet of the fence. bumblebeez suggested the 'Chindo' viburnum, which is definitely a beautiful plant and a tough, hardy, vigorous screening plant, but keeping it as narrow as you need it to may be a considerable challenge. At least, though, Chindos have a generally upright growth habit, so they can be pruned heavily to keep them from getting too wide without disrupting their natural form. That's not as true of some of the other popular broadleaved evergreen screening plants used around here, like ligustrums, waxmyrtles, and various hollies. But, unless you're committed to regular and frequent trimming to control breadth of spread, you maybe should really consider conifers. If your apprehension is based on over-exposure to junipers, leyland cypresses, and the ubiquitous loblolly pines around here, maybe you'd like cryptomerias better. I think they're really pretty, and they definitely have a different "look" than some of the other conifers mentioned above. Two cryotomeria varieties: 'Yoshino' and 'Radicans' are commonly available around here as screening plants, and should fit your site needs quite well. One other thing I'd like to mention: if you're willing to do a little hunting, you might be able to find another excellent broadleaf evergreen screening plant, which is the 'Carolina Sentinel' holly. It's got the typical lush, prickly evergreen holly foliage and bright red berries in the winter, but it naturally grows in a distinctly narrow, vertical, upright form that might work well in your situation. Unfortunately, though, it's not a very common plant yet, and finding some to plant in your yardÂespecially in a size larger than a 3-gallonÂmay be very difficult. Good luck. Anyway, I hope this helps. If you have any further thoughts, please share them. Thanks.