I have a chainlink too. It is what it is. I agree with NWrose, while I don't love the fence, I love what I've planted in front of it, so I "have better things to see!" A couple of folks in my neighborhood have the green colored chainlink, definately an improvement but I don't know about painting the fence, that might work or it might be a maintenance issue. Here's some plants that I have in front of my fence that I really enjoy: Shasta dasies Fireglow japanese maple (there are so many goregous small japanese maples to choose from, like "Full Moon" and "Autumn Moon" which both need shade to do well. Not big acid fans though). Another gorgeous maple that I would have planted if I had shade is striped maple, sometimes called mosewood maple or mountain maple, Acer pennsylvanicum. Blueberries (love acid soil) Gold flame spirea or something like that Miss Kim lilac (not a fan of acid soil though) Rose (I planted a wild rose, Rosa viginiana, but if I had to do it again I'd do a repeat bloomer) Many folks in my neighborhood have roses against chainlink, they look great, also I like them mixed with conifers. They don't like acid soil though, but own rootstock shrub roses are remarkably hardy. Mint Raspberries Ironwood, Carpinus carolinia Peonies Ostrich fern Sweetfern, (not really a fern, this can survive acid soil if it's well drained) Dwarf weeping hemlock (acid loving) Mountain laurel (cousin of rhodies, loves shade) Clethera is another acid soil tolerant nice shrub. One other small tree that is on my list to buy is Sweetbay magnolia. This is rather hard to come by but I have a lovely native plant nursery that I frequent. That reminds me, there are tons of lovely viburnums you could plant, and also Fothergilla. I've also heard of a dogwood that likes shade, Pagoda dogwood, Cornus alternifolia. It tolerates acid soil. But it is an eastern species and I don't know if it grows well in the PNW. Many plants, while not overly thriving on acid soil, will tolerate it and do reasonably well. I found that out when I lived once on the edge of a pine plantation.

Hi, I have chain link around the slope in the back yard. Although it's not finished yet (will post pics when it is), I collected dog ear fence boards that were being thrown away. 2x4s, also from the curb, will be attached to the chain link, then the boards will be attached to them. I'm sanding, priming and painting them. Five gallon buckets of mis-mixed paint (good brands) at HD or L*we's are just $15. Our L*we's even had a dented gallon of Zinsser primer, my favorite, for $5. You can cover chain link on the cheap if you watch for fences being torn down. I'm covering about 120 feet of 6 foot tall chain link and it will be well below $200 when finished, probably closer to $100. It doesn't even require much skill, just a lot of time. When I was looking for ways to cover this thing, this seemed to be the cheapest way, and won't require much maintenance. I'm in zone 9, so don't know what you can grow in your zone. Lots of plants that will cover fences are rampant. All those materials made to weave through them don't look good to me. If you email me, I'll send you pics of how mine looks so far, even though it has a long way to go. Hope that helps. Linda

I was thinking more about Isabellas comment that the garden looked plain on the drawing and it dawned on me that she probably meant that there didnt appear to be anything on the drawing other than perhaps perennials in the beds. There are two reasons for that. The simple answer is that if I attempted to draw all the pretty symbols for trees and shrubs a la Booth and Hiss, all Im likely to produce is a confused mess! But the more important answer, from my perspective, is that when I look at my (and others) garden, I mentally edit out all but the patterns on the ground to decide whether the garden appeals to me or not. By patterns on the ground I mean the shape of the beds, the lawn, the paths, patios etc. If the shape doesnt feel right to me then the plantings, no matter how nice they are, wont totally take away the feeling that the garden needs to be changed somehow. What Ive shown in the drawing of my woodland area is the patterns on the ground as they are now with the proposed/possible changes. The tree and shrub layers have been edited out, other than an indication of where some of the tree trunks are. Im largely satisfied with the plantings I have in the woodland (although changes and additions are made on an on-going basis) but Im not satisfied with the overall pattern. That is what Im wrestling with changing come spring. The Booth and Hiss book is interesting but I find Im doing the same thing when I look at the drawings in it particularly with the masterplan drawings. I find them very busy and have to mentally edit out all the plant symbols and just look at the patterns on the ground before I can conclude whether I like the plan or not. I suspect that, since I have previously stated my strong liking for flowers and colors, I am perhaps viewed as having little interest in real design issues. Certainly I feel that painting the patterns with plants (particularly flowering ones!) is very important to add color, vibrancy and emotion to bring the garden to life. Plus its lots of fun to play with color and plant combinations! But a very important part of what I have been doing over the past 8 years as weve been developing the garden is trying to get the patterns on the ground to look and feel right. Getting the woodland patterns fixed is top of my to do list for 2008 And just to show that there are trees in the woodland :-) here are two of my favorites: The oak tree as viewed from the living room window in mid-November: (The sun was so bright that day that I had to adjust the color a bit or the LR would just appear black the shed is gray, not blue) The white redbud in late May (its bigger now this picture is 2006 as I didnt take a picture in 2007 You can see a bit of the old shed in this picture - it did blend more inconspicuously with the trees but was otherwise decrepit, ugly and impractical and had to go!) I just realized in my previous post with the sightlines on it... I usually look at the drawing the opposite way around - so I really meant that it looks like the shed should be shifted a few feet to the north - left - in that view, not right....

Morning Glories. Plant 'em once and your job is done -- they reseed like crazy. (assuming you don't get a sterile hybrid) This is the privacy fence along our pool, the first year that I planted MGs along it. As you can see, the privacy fence has disappeared!