hi all thanks for the feedback. im feeling much better about this today. first, i switched out the purple geme rhodys for a lighter colored shrub and it helped 100%. i think those rhos were just too dark for the area. second, i understand what has been said about the pieris...but going around my neighborhood, and around my parents neighborhood (where people drop 20k on their gardens easy) i really dont see a difference in terms of the distance away from the foundation. i have even measured and its just the same for shrubs of the same size! 3) now that i have lived in the condo for a while, i realize that i dont really need privacy in terms of blocking the windows...its more that i just didnt want that lawn that was so easy to walk on (plus people let their dogs go on it and never picked up). if someone wants to peer in your windows, there isnt much you can do. but at least some bushes/plants is a bit more of a deterrent than nothing. 4) all the plants i have planted have been labeled as either shade or partial shade. including the blue fescue. its been there for a month and a half and seems to be doing ok. what will happen if it doesnt get enough sun? the area gets sun in the morning for a few hours, then dappled sun in the late afternoon as well. id stick to only pure shade plants, but in the winter they get a whole bunch of sun, and in the summer they get the sun as mentioned above. the longer i live here the more i see what the light is like. 5) i have been trying to stagger the plants, and will be adding more in groupings that are staggered too. i understand what peopel say about the lining up thing and i am trying to take care of that. most of it may be that it is in progress and i am kind of startign with planting annuals in the middle and then will be moving out towards the edges as i plant more. any more advice is much appreciated.

The Bradford Pear would look a whole lot better if you really thinned the hell out of it to open it up and see through it abit. Keeping the majority of the shrubs you have, but widening the shrub beds another 4 feet out into the front lawn would allow you to plants flowering perennials in front to "face down" the taller shrubs beyond. Grasses or flowering shrubs would work well. It may be too "southern" for you, but lining the walk with grassy clumpers like one of the Liriopes, Acorus or dwarf daylilies to contrast in foliage color and texture against the Ilex against the house would give a better year round appearance than the Gladiolus. Bedding dahlias could also give you quite abit of color in this same location, over a much longer season of bloom. Underneath the tree, I would suggest uniting the area with a dense groundcover with some massed groupings of foliage or color that will take the shade and root competition. Clumps of Dwarf Heavenly Bamboo, Acanthus mollis, Star Jasmine might be good, and Pachysandra or Dwarf Mondo Grass would certainly look better than that coarse mulch. If you want to mass bulbs in this area, I'd suggest using white Paperwhite Narcissus to play off the white bloom of the Bradford Pear. You might also consider adding a grouping of smaller Natchez Crape Myrtles to the left of the house to help balance the view from the street, and give you some summer bloom as well.

jugglerguy: Either way the maple leaves around here aren't ready to use as mulch in spring. Shredded they take less room & do compost faster. Left whole whether in large wire bins or plastic bags rolled around now & then they're not ready until at least 2 years. Have you heard of chop & drop a term by Ann Lovejoy, a Pacific Northwest garden writer? As you cut back spent perennials just chop them up & drop in place as your bottom layer of mulch, then top those with the shredded leaves as you acquire them in the fall for your uniform look. This way you only move them once letting them compost in place. In spring you could lightly rake through them a bit to freshen up the beds at the time you've usually applied the leaves. Sometimes, I pile it on thicker in places especially with perennials that don't mind mulch over the crown & come spring can spread it out a bit more after I pull it back from the crowns. Slug bait is a must in my climate all year round! Maybe you want to try a longer lasting mulch such as arborist wood chips if you can get them delivered to you. They last much longer here than leaves & the combo works to enrich the soil. Sometimes, I mix up a batch of mulch to top off the beds to include used coffee grounds along with leaves & wood chips. Once they're spread on the soil & we've had a few rains you really can't tell what the dark stuff is there.

Dirtygardener, Your Pond Branch Community that you left is exactly like it is here, same miles, I'm 7 driving miles from Floral City (lots closer as the crow flies) and 15 miles plus from everything else. All the neighbor land plots are 5, 10, 15, & 20 acres or more. There are a few grandfathered 2.5 acre lots, but very few. I bought my 10 acres back in the 70's thinking to retire here. We had a Doublewide MFG. Home put in here as most of the area is MFG. Homes. We also have a house in Apopka on a postage stamp lot which was my wife's daddy's home. She inherited it when he passed a few years back. There is no way I could live there in a HMO with no yard whatever and nosy neighbors. When I go to check up on the house they descend like mocking birds all squawking at the same time at my minimal maintenance. They just fuel my rage for HMO's. Amberroses, I'm finding 10 acres is a heck of a lot of land to manage for an old guy in his 70's. It seems to be taking forever to accomplish what I have in my mind for here. I cut a few trees and clean undergrowth each winter and push the jungle back a bit each year but it's taking longer than expected because I cannot work in the summer's heat. I haven't even started with floral plants as yet due to their maintenance would cut into my land clearing time. The only plants I've put in is my orchard trees as they need time to grow and fruit. Corar, I hear you on the economy keeping us limited on our endeavors. I wanted to build a real house here but settled for a MFG. Home because of the cost difference and I was able to build my barn with the savings. I also bought a leftover 2 year old unused FEMA trailer for very cheap from the Govt. and I use it as guest house for when the kids come to visit. The grand-kids love it and think they are camping at grandpa's farm. Lou