I agree, you need shrubs, vines or upright growing trees that grow well in more of an alkaline type soil, since so much lime will be leaching from the driveway and retaining wall. I have seen it reported that some people have gotten a Climbing Fig (Ficus Pumila) to grow in USDA Zone 5. That is hard for me believe, since most sites list it as a 10-11 zone vine. But since the reports are not consistant, you might research your area to see if they would grow in your zone 8. They are reported to do fine in moist well draining organic soils with PH level ranges from 5.5 to 7.5 You could also consider growing the evergreen twining vine, Coral or Red honey suckle (Lonicera sempervirens)that blooms in late summer. It is a fast grower, but not as vigorus of a grower as the the common honeysuckle; thus, it is not a pest. If you desire to plant a row of small trees, You could consider planting the Wax Myrtle (myrica cerifera)evergreen trees. This tree is a fast grower that you could prune to form leggy trunks. Then you could underplant them with ground covers like the evergreen creeping phlox cultivars, or underplant them with a ground coverage planting of Liriope Muscari.

Yes, a few look like they are pure C. japonica and others a few others may or may not be hybrids. Can't really get very far without the flowers.

I have the beautiful with double Nuccio's Gem, the pink and white swirled (huge flowers) Frankie Wynn just declining, and a mystery double red. The red is really cool, as the inner petals are shorter and more dense like a pom pom. There is also a small flowered, single pink with yellow stamens blooming. Again, unsure of it's name. All of these were given to me by Girlsaylor who used to be on this forum but moved to WA state. This is their regular bloom time. I am thinking they may rely more on light hours than on temps to regulate bloom time? I have photos of the first three if you are interested in seeing them, please just email. GGG

Gosh, Google does not have a lot on Camellia Hedges! I went to Camellia Forest in Chapel Hill the other day and was in awe of the beautiful camellia's they keep! As far as hedges go, I'm also looking for a hedge...they suggested High Fragrance or Early Autumn - for the "look I was going for" (ie. dense). I walked out with their personal fav - Autumn Spirit. I'm probably going to do Early Autumn just so I can catch those blooms before the frost hits (hopefully) in one area and High Fragrance in another. As a side note, I did plan a hedge of C.S. Sergeant and it's looking fabulous - after just 2 months! I've not seen it bloom, yet, but the habit (as I'm learning to call it) is very dense with beautiful deep green leaves - which I love! My small area of Kramer's Supreme is coming along, too. It's habit seems to be much more "upright" in comparison to Sergant which has both upright and outward growth occurring (which I like). I also have a hedge of Alabama Beauties I'm going to plant. Cam Forest liked it's habit; however, it has seed pods, which I'm not sure I'm a huge fan of ;) buuuut it likes sun and they suggested it, so I went with it. :) I'm pondering using Kanjiro, instead, but I really appreciated his input. In early spring, I planted 3 Holly's to mask my neighbor's garage and, thus far, the bunnies have delighted in the bottom halves. So, I'll probably replace those with Camellia's too...next year ;) In the meantime, I'll grab pics of the progress I'm making. :)