of course that's not your house ... otherwise your gardener would know what to plant.. lol ... do you understand how often these will need to be sheared.. to maintain the perfection ... maybe 3 times per year ... you up for that struggle???? ... call that 3 Saturdays a year .... maybe 4 in your zone ... i grew up having to maintain mom and dads privets ... i swore.. never again... just want you to understand what you are signing up for ... spacing would be to budget.. and necessity of speed in creating the look ... it means addressing your expectations .... fast means lots of plants close together ... high budget ... cheaper is spacing them out and letting them fill in .. i usually say.. i have more time than money.. .. all these considerations need to be decided.. then you worry about the plant itself ... [of course, you may have already done so] good luck ... and come back if you need planting help ... ken ps: privet.. boxwood.. equivalence as to the need to be sheared ...

you dont much describe your property .... but there can be significant cost reduction if you are physically able to do any of the work yourself ... e.g. if you can use a chainsaw.. and if you can burn on your property ... you could pay to make them fall down ... and remove only the huge trunk ... and you do all scrub cleanup ... you can also have them cut them flush to the ground.. and skip the stump grinding .... etc ... you might also get some ideas by contacting your county extension office ... or using google to find any state publications relating to such ... you county soil conservation district office.. might also be able to help you in regard to the soil erosion ... but that is all based on your willingness to invite the gubment to your property ... ken

romeisburning 16 years ago (I was 57 then) I purchased a home in a retirement community - I KNOW I KNOW but it is lovely. The property had some crepe myrtle, some overgrown evergreen shrubs. I got rid of those overgrowns. Hard work but rewarding. Patience can be your best friend. I really do love the idea of a boardwalk path. You just blow or sweep the leaves off onto your plants and it is free food for them. I saw a picture not too long go of Annabelle hydrangea in a woodland area - beautiful -- I would stick with your landscaping friend. On this property, there was a beautiful rhododendron just outside my sunroom - I had trees removed and you know what happened to that rhodo? big mistake. Now I have two rhodos under the 8 long needled pines and they are very happy there. Deer - oh yes they usually leave rhodos alone but they ate the BUDS. Grass in the pine barons is possible.. Just some advice. I paid lawn service to help me with my grass - feeding the grass just made happier weeds in the grass. So much for that. I told myself I can learn how to combat my grass problems - and here goes, Had great success with fertilizer coated grass seeds - then covered the seeds with a little topping of compost with manure on the seeds - and watered between rains -.came up in one week and still going strong.. Also compost all your new plantings you will be amazed at the results. I would forgo any hosta because the deer love them. But check with your friend he/she would know. Oh yes on youtube ther is a great deer inhibiter - fishing line on small posts surrounding your garden attached to empty cat food cans on top of a bucket. When the deer trip the line the can fall off the bucket with a racket and scare the deer off. Check that one out - I am trying it - saves money for more plants and is harmless to deer. Good luck. When I learn how to upload a picture I will upload one.

Potential Pests of Buxus: Canker, blight, leaf spots, root rot, winter injury and sun scald (physiological injury), mealybugs, scales, boxwood psyllid, boxwood leaf miner, giant hornet, boxwood webworm, nematodes and boxwood mite. Landscape value: excellent as a hedge plant, for foundations, edging situations, parterres, formal gardens; too often pruned into a green meatball and allowed to haunt a foundation planting. if used properly, can be superb. has been used for every imaginable landscape purpose. the above comes from an author currently in print. There's always something that's a potential problem. Often, a list that appears quite daunting. Sometimes these problems are more severe, sometimes, less so. The more common a plant, the more potentially threatening any issue can be. How do I know boxwood blight is not a major issue? Let's play a game of word association, starting with elm. I've sold trees long enough to tell you that's an uphill battle, even if the customer is the one who asks. Pictures have a place, but are sometimes relied upon where not necessary. We have a description, but no way of evaluating the condition of the plants in question, so everyone is kinda letting their own motivations color the way they see it. You're the person thinking about doing this, so you have to do the evaluation yourself.