Hi, Rhonda, I remember you most for the meeting at Roses Unlimited when you shared your source for very reasonably priced statuary (near Greenville). Way back when. I'm sorry I didn't see this earlier. Hughes net had us on punishment Friday because a computer here had downloaded updates Thursday and then we were gone three days without internet and I came back home with a touch of food poisoning. I worry about your hillside because is is downwind from predominant breezes, and that is the ideal situation for the vector mites to drop out of the air as it is stilled by the fence. Your garden might benefit from spraying with wiltpruf to confuse the mites. I do disagree with Karl about rapid replanting. His growing season is a lot shorter than ours and our roots really never go dormant; that makes for a lot longer possible exposure. At a very minimum, I wouldn't replant with roses on the same rootstock as those would more readily root to root graft. (There is a paper in press from California on the speed of root to root grafting happening in rose heaven-California.) I'm not sure why the disease has become so very visible so fast throughout the southeast this year. This horrifically hot summer may have something to do with it. From my garden I can report that one really bad RRD year is not necessarily followed by another bad year. My worse year hasn't been repeated, knock on wood. Roses really are worth having, even if they have to be replaced every so often. Looking at other plants, there just aren't alternatives to roses for beauty and for fragrance. Ann

Wow - you dug up a seriously old post! So I did end up planting a very long screen -- basically the entire length of the property line -- and I'm actually really happy with how it turned out. We used Thuja Green Giant arborvitae in the center where the tallest part of the house we are trying to block out is -- we planted them a decent distance apart, not all jammed up like I see people do for a property line screen. They have grown fast, widened out, and are basically almost up to the roof of the house we are trying to hide. I think they should cap out right about 35 feet or so, which won't block the view. We planted a few during our initial planting then filled in with a few more a couple years later -- those later plantings are a bit stunted - not sure if it's because we squeezed them into less space or they were just inferior to begin with (originals came from a nursery and were planted by a landscaper, later ones from Home Depot and we DIYed them). But they are all growing well and healthy, and seem impervious to deer, wind, cold, snow, etc. To the sides of the arborvitate, we used Nellie Stevens hollies. They too have grown fast. They don't much care for the wind -- they ended up looking pretty bad by the end of the last two winters (which were brutally cold and windy) but they filled in with new leaves in the spring. The deer don't seem to eat them either. And again, I think they cap out at 20 feet or so. To the sides of that (which is getting away from blocking the house and now just screening their yard from ours) we used forsythias planted very close together that we let grow wild into a thick hedge -- mainly because I love forsythia. It's not evergreeen but the hedge is so thick and branches are so close together that it does a decent job of screening even in winter. And in spring when it is in bloom, it is an absolutely stunning wall of yellow. Again the deer don't bother them and they seem to grow well without much care. And finally at the very end of the property lines, we used sea green junipers -- again, we were looking for something evergreen but it didn't need to be tall - we were only trying to hide the neighbor's "junk pile" which was unfortunately located so that it was the first thing you saw when you pulled into our driveway. Those are the plants that look the sickliest -- there's always big brown patches in them and the snow breaks the branches. But they are farthest from the house and from far away they look ok, so I don't mind them. I think if I had to do it over again, I'd have used all forsythia instead of also using juniper -- the forsythia are just so amazingly gorgeous when they are in bloom. I would take a picture for you but we are in the middle of a storm right now -- if I remember, I will get one tomorrow. Here's a link to a pic of what it looked like when we first planted itin 2009: Newly planted And here's a shot from the summer of 2012 (sorry for lousy pic -- best I could find): Three years old I would say that this year it really started to look good since the green giants are basically touching now.

This is appalling, but it's all too obvious any enthusiastic gardener could be targeted in FL. Believe it or not, much of the rest of the nation lives, and lives well, without homeowners' associations. We've lived all over the US, and only in FL do these parasitic entities exist. Right now we're living in an area with one, and a very ineffective one also. Due to placing a phone call to them about the abandoned property next door (it appears squatters have moved in)-a property complete with original landscaping that wasn't even visible for all the overgrowth, I was advised they don't handle those types of 'problems'. Many neighbors were using the yard for a garbage dump for compostable materials from their own yards. Two weeks after my pleasant phone inquiry, we received a letter that there is a certain standard for the neighborhood, and that we need to have the roof, front walk, driveway, and front storm gutter pressure washed to avoid financial penalty. Of course, our landlord immediately arranged for the work, but it sure seemed to be a retaliatory notice from the association. So, it's OK to have a weedy, overgrown mess with broken booze bottles and cans thrown into it (not food and medicinal plants, but simply non-native ornamentals and grass for original plantings). But the appearance of the hardscape is very important to the association. Might they be referring people to a pressure-washer contractor who gives somebody a kickback, when they send out these letters? Sorry, but that's the way those of us feel, who never had to live with the association plague. Without these entities, homeowners would have close to enough funds in the family budget to pay for a whole lot of pressure-washing, gutter and roof maintenance, outside painting, etc, which are really what are needed to keep homes up, not the 'overhead' of homeowners' associations. This same association neglects to remove coconuts from the palms they planted in the common areas prior to hurricane season, nor do they repair or replace loose, broken, or rotted fence boards in the common areas. Both could be said to be hazardous, and I'd venture to say, if found on a private property within their jurisdiction, would generate fines for the association coffers. And of course, the hardscape materials on the common areas are not pressure-washed, nor appear to ever have been cleaned. And, should anybody think these association entities are needed, all communities have more than enough laws on the books to enforce most anything somebody else could find offensive, from overgrowth, to peeling paint, to dilapidated fencing. Just call code enforcement and save the money for your own repairs rather than give it to an association. Now that I've been on my soapbox, please forgive. I'll get back off and just say that law enforcement needs to keep us healthy and safe and cease upholding wacky peoples' rights to overrule those few who dare to live a bit differently by growing their own food and medicinal plants. For shame! Just to clarify, we are renting from friends, which is a good deal for all concerned; a homeowners' association happens to be part of the deal, or we wouldn't be having any of that nonsense. girlsaylor

Thanks for the support! There are laws here wrt accessibility of schools and other public buildings, but not sure if they extend to compelling schools to ensure disabled students are included in activities which are not, strictly speaking, in the school premises. If not I think this is a major failing but even worse that the schools wouldn't just automatically ensure this happens, without having to be compelled to. Australia is still not as litigious as the US and as this boy's parents are not well off I imagine they're not even considering going down the litigation path as it could turn out to be expensive and also take up a lot of time they could otherwise be spending with their son. In addition it's been a hard journey for them since this diagnosis and it may well be they don't have the fight in them at the moment and are just holding on for the next couple of months when the school year will finish and he'll change to a hopefully better school. I agree, Linda, inclusion would have been good for all concerned. As I said in my original post I think it an opportunity for teaching compassion and consideration passed over. I also doubt they would appreciate the fight going to the media, the boy already feels like a freak and the media spotlight would intensify it in the mood he's in. I just wish I had a magic wand.....