Thanks for the suggestion, reyes. I assume you mean the sand Cherries instead of the miscanthus, correct? I definitely like the color contrast these would provide, but am hesitant for the same reason I'm considering relocating the forsythia...that being very little contrast/variation in the foliage shape itself, which was one reason I thought an ornamental grass could be nice. Thoughts? Also...is it possible to prune the cherries so they remain as a shrub...I'm not familiar with them at all. Thanks!!

Pitcom, I could only find one online resource that mentioned this, and it really gives no explanation. I will include the link anyway. The only other sources I have are word of mouth from farmers, in my area and the area my parents live in as well as up in Maine. Explanations have included thinning of the cell walls, loss of the antifreezing properties of their tissues due to heat exposure, or just general tenderness of the rapidly formed new growth. Again, this seems to be something that doesn't normally happen, so I guess it hasn't really been studied. At the risk of being obvious,something is happening this year that seems to be so far outside the norm that the various weather predictors are off, sometimes by by a considerable amount (my personal record here was 18 degrees off from predicted to recorded). It's like Mother Nature is saying "put this in your simulations and model it!" Normally, and I mean for many years, I have found my local weather to be consistently accurate within 5 degrees... Anyway, we seem to be heading into a stretch of weather that looks normal, so maybe it is all settling down? Sorry for your losses, it is really frustrating. Here's the link, the mention is right in the first paragraph. Here is a link that might be useful: Freeze after heat

Hi Kimberly, I am just north of you. I have a half acre, very wooded subivision lot that is crammed with all the fruit my husband will let me plant. (Most of my landscaping is getting replaced with ornamental bushes that fruit!) One suggestion that I would have for you is to pick very disease resistant, low-care trees/bushes/plants. My friend who lives around the corner from me has a large planting of apples, pears, cheries, etc., but has a lot of trouble with insects and disease. There are definitely varieties of apples and pears that are easier to grow than others due to disease resistance. Sweet cherries are going to be tough without a lot of spraying. I have two Carmine Jewel cherry bushes that are more like pie cherries but only get 6 feet tall, so they can be netted. Birds and especially squirrels are a big problem here. If I had your space, I would definitely do the cane fruits - Navaho and Triple Crown blackberries, Caroline red raspberries, Jewell black raspberries, etc. Easy - and if you net them, you will get to eat them. Some unusual and low care fruit trees you might consider are American Persimmon - Yates is supposed to be delicious and productive without a male. I am going to plant a Nikita's Gift hybrid persimmon in the spring. Also, an Illinois Everbearing mulberry gets lots of good reviews on this forum. The animals are the only thing you will have to fight for those trees. Both persimmons and mulberries are extremely nutritious, too. Good luck and have fun! Mary Kay

As I see it your problem has already solved. The city has planted what will become a complete and total screen from the road. All you have to do is wait for it to grow. Which won't be that long actually. Cities have a way of planting trees and then ignoring that they need water. If your city does this, you could supplement the water so that the trees live and grow faster. As you have a wooded area next to the new blue spruce screen, it's possible that it may produce shade on the new plants. If this happens, they're not going to like it and that side of the screen (that faces you) may become thin of foliage and not look all that great. If it was me, I would be appreciate the new screen to much that I would remove any of my saplings that caused conflict with light. Only the ones that caused conflict. In the end, looking through your woods to that nice backdrop could be quite a pleasing picture. Not sure of how you envision adding in "a variety of trees / bushes / shrubs / grasses," but if it was me, I would want to maximize my view INTO the woods to that nice new backdrop (that I know some day will come) instead of filling the woods with a clutter of various plants, some of which will end up not looking all that great because of the shade of the woods. What the wooded area could benefit by is a groundcover that unifies the whole area. It could be allowed to spread all the way to the backdrop (which I notice since it in only mulch will at some point become bare. The city is going to give up on mulching what to them is the back side.) I'm not saying there couldn't be some shrubs at the back side of the woods, but where and what they are should be approached strategically. Not just filling it up. There is no need for anything at the foreground of this area but groundcover. BTW, excellent job on providing photographs. Wish everyone would be so thoughtful.