After establishment, Barb, leave the pi�on alone. No water. Probably the same with the peashrub. Sadly, the lilacs will need some water. Try not to water the others when watering the lilacs. Other than that, should be a fun mix and hopefully will take and work.

Dan

Thanks, Dan! I run a few soaker hoses along the fence to water the lilacs and another row for the junipers, one advantage to planting in rows. In 2 or 3 years I'll just keep the soaker hoses on the lilacs and leave the rest be.
I was considering White firs and Southwest white pines, but they would ultimately overwhelm the small space. The house being so close to the ditch really eliminates the ability to build a proper windbreak, so I'm just going to piece it in.
What I'd really like is to build a 10 foot high stone wall, the entire length of the property, but I don't see that happening.;)

White fir aren't adapted Barb. They are from the wet western slope of the Sierra and parts of the Cascades where there is ~25-60 inches of water equivalent snow most years (less lately with climate change). Where it is drier the pine take over. The white pine may work, but they are big and susceptible these days in urbanized areas to beetle attack. As long as you can keep the shrubs going, you should be OK with your trees for a windbreak. Fun!

Dan

another point to remember is caragana is a legume and fixes it's own nitrogen and is quite drought resistant after established....a nearly indestructible plant caragana.... but not a beauty and very likely to out compete lilacs if infilling as discribed .... and relativily short lived, it often benefits from some rejuvenating/harsh pruning after establishment to remove oldest woodiest trunks...evergreens to consider for that application perhaps scotch pine( keep your eye on pine bark beatles in area . ..it is vulnerable) ....definatly tolerant of your conditions....mugo pine also would work as well as the black hills spruce all of which exhibit good growth charicteristics for windbreaks....cotoneaster would also be a possability a rapid grower with nice autumn color and ginnala maple....way underutilized... very hardy in prairies would also be an option

Dan, thanks for the words of wisdom. So, I actually did the right thing staying away from the firs, just for the wrong reason!
Mtny, I appreciate your thoughts. I do admire the Scotch Pine. but the planting area is 30ft wide and already has a row of lilac and a 2nd row of RMJs. There's not enough space for large trees. Well, unless I chose to ignore proper spacing. Some neighbors a mile down the road built a killer windbreak I really admired. 5 years later they had to rip 2/3rds of it out, because of spacing and disease. Then the lunkheads limbed up the trees about a third of the way up. It looks ridiculous!
Aesthetics are not an issue, just screening.
Thanks again for the feedback!
Barb