It sounds as though you should plant whatever you want to look at, while at the same time, being mindful of what could have an impact on your yard, as far as future shade, blocking your views, re-seeding, etc.. I would certainly go for shade from the SW for her, a mix of low growing shrubs and small trees, maybe evergreen, with flowers and fruits, and fall color, that won't block views for the property lines, and things that enhance the view from both your yard and her house. I am thinking of things like magnolia species, bald cypress, beech (purple or green), a grouping of deciduous magnolias, deciduous hollies, various spring flowering understory trees and shrubs such as Juneberry, fringe tree, itea, calycanthus or redbud, the more rare species dogwoods (pagoda, gray, red- or yellow-twig), various viburnums, summer to fall flowering plants such as vitex, franklinia, stewartia, gordonia, sourwood, abelias, caryopteris, clethra, bottlebrush buckeye, woody sages, camellias, witch hazel or native azaleas, etc.. I could go on, but.... Keep in mind that someone will have to water things, whether her or you. Setting up an easy watering system of temporary drip hoses around trees (for 2-3 years) might be a time and effort saver for all concerned, as connecting a hose, or two, to the end of a run of drip hose is relatively easy, while dragging hoses from tree to tree and spot to spot is a pain! Making beds or berms, and groups of trees, which you mulch, will both pull the look together and unify the yard, and make watering issues simpler. As I am sure you have already thought of...

Amber's Jack Russell has seizures and they are pretty frequent. He has been to Purdue for treatment and to so many vet's. He is on I think 3 medications and an herbal something she got from the vet. The herbal stuff has helped but he may have a seizure once a week. You never know when it will happen. It is bad to see and I have seen him have terrible ones and one right after another. I have held him while he was having them and we are hurrying to the vet's. Sometimes it is weather related, like a storm moving in. Your little Gracie is so sweet I wish the best for her. Sue

Nice, The glass I got for her was from Cooltiles.com. It came on that mesh. The colors so far are Kona (darkest) Ceylon and lemon. I love the stuff they have there. They sell it by the sqaure foot for backsplashes and showers/etc. I didn't get anything done this weekend. DD had a slumber party, and the house was full of 14 year olds most of the weekend. So I'm off to make up for lost time! Hazie

What a sweet looking dog. They are both adorable, but there is something extra special about Endora.