Shrubs that flower on overwintering buds at stem ends in the manner of rhododendrons and azaleas will become a problem when you start wanting to prune the outsides off at frequent intervals, in order to control size. If site conditions (including winter climate) are suitable and you are not averse to the foliage odor and other traits the obvious candidate for this situation is Buxus sempervirens 'Suffruticosa'. It is true that you can shear evergreen azaleas and have them still bloom heavily just inside the zone of shearing. So if you wouldn't mind have a flowerless outermost layer of growth on these they might work for you. The problem is liable to be worse with larger parted kinds of rhododendrons. This will also still flower to some extent inside where not being sheared, but you will not be able to cut new growth off each year and get a full bud set. This post was edited by bboy on Wed, Apr 9, 14 at 17:17

Sometimes on forums like this, people seem not to post if they have nothing nice to say. If you search the archives you will see that almost no one here has a high opinion of Leylands. Please, spare future generations the same problems you're having now by not planting any more that will just blow over in the next Sandy 30 years later, or decline from disease sooner. It's particularly funny to see attempts at creating an "estate" feeling by surrounding the house w/hideous walls of leylandii, which look particularly comical when a few of them topple over. At the very least, plant Thuja 'Green Giant' instead, it is more disease resistant. And because it grows slower, less likely to outgrow its roots. Among other things - put some spruces and pines in there if you must stick to cheap conifers. A screen planting should have a variety of plants so that if one becomes prone to a disease you don't lose the entire effect. I think hollies are undervalued as screening plants. Nurseries don't push them because they are more expensive to produce as salable plants than most [screening] conifers. You do have to wait longer though, they are definitely slower than leylands. They don't get as much love here because they aren't conifers. Nellie Stevens is ok but the very large growing hybrid I X koehneana would be even more useful for your lot size. Sadly it's almost unavailable in the trade. McLean Nursery in Balto., MD, has small plants for a reasonable price but they don't ship. The grow about 1' a year for the first 5 years, but then speed up to about 2' a year. As people have posted here previously, the real solution to quick screening is to think about what you are really trying to achieve. Are you trying to entirely block the view from anywhere in your yard to anywhere beyond it? Or do you have an area where you sit that you'd like privacy. In that case build a small screened area with some trellis lathes and grow some annual vines on it.

My name isn’t Justin and I don’t work for Costa Farms, but I will try to help you Camille:). Your cactus is Mammillaria vetula subs. gracilis cv. Arizona Snowcap, but if you‘re ever looking for more info you can easily type in Mammillaria ‘Arizona Snowcap’ instead of the long name I gave you in green, which is a link that will give you info on your cactus. Idk if you know this, but the new spines won’t be blue or yellow, they will be white. This cactus is a slowww grower. I personally think the first thing with any plant growing is knowing what plant you have and a little bit about the plant. If these were mine I would unpot, gently remove as much of the old soil off the roots as you can , and repot in a better faster draining mix like a perlite and or pumice mixed with cheap cactus soil. The pots look like the right size, if they’re root bound you can go up one pot size. After repotting cactus I wait about a week or two and then water them. It’s the start of the growin season so now is a great time to do this. If you live on the Northern Hemisphere of course. During the winter this cactus should be kept totally dry. I know that may sound nuts, but it’s normal when growing cactus. Many of my cactus got their first drink of water since late October a few days ago. Like my Mammillaria duwei Before After Any pieces that have fallen off set on top of the mix and they’ll root eventually. It could take months for this process so be patient and leave them be. Any rootless pieces should be kept in bright filtered sun, especially when it starts to get hot because the rootless little pieces will fry. Lastly, during the growing season your cactus may need to more sun than what’s being provided, so slowly acclimating it to more sun is probably in its future.

If that is the landscaper's handiwork then I'd say he specializes in the Levittown Look for housing additions that are all planted consistently the same including the mandatory tree in the front yard as a hard rule, no exceptions allowed. Its your house, not his so don't feel stuck with it. Get online and start looking at all the hundreds of better choices out there and find what you like. If your soil is unimproved clay, this fall would be an excellent time to work in some amendments and then do some fall planting, that will pay off in the long run. You could dig up the existing Shasta Daisy if you wanted and then replant them but I know you could do much better than this composition--ordinary and perfectly spaced out shasta daisy surrounded by boring mulch. One flush of bloom and then zippo for the rest of the year. Carex likes consistently moist soil. The only place I can grow it well is where the air-conditioner drain keeps the (very good, well worked) soil damp, mine are bright yellowish-- Prairie Fire but I have other plants worked in for contrast and interest. I wouldn't try them in clay where its hot and will get dry. I have crap dirt elsewhere but thats what I want, its good for certain natives.