Thank you, Ken. I have seen Degroot's Spire and considered it also but was worried about snow. Would that not be a problem given its extremely narrow form? I did notice a review on Dave's Garden from someone in zone 5 who sited it in full sun and wind and mentioned that it did stay green all winter so that is certainly very encouraging.

Since we live in Mountain View (south of San Francisco, north of San Jose), I don't know how relevant our experience is. But we're also very partial to native plants & planted a Western Redbud in our small front yard (strip along driveway) some years back. It has been terrific, a un-fussy multiple-stemmed small tree that is quite attractive all year long (IMHO). We've read that it needs cold temperatures in order to flower, so that might be an issue in S. CA. Here, the magenta flowers make for a brief but spectacular show of color. It is hard to understand why Western Redbud is so infrequently used. Best of luck with your yard, Elsa

oh my ... lol... lollipop trees .. i just puked all over my keyboard .. lol .. burning bush.. ALL HAVE TO GO ... see link .. BTW.. learn latin for names .. this one is: Burning bush (Euonymus alata) .. latin is how we all know we are talking about the same plant ... it WILL matter in the long run ... buckthorn is on the list also ... under these two names: Glossy buckthorn (Rhamnus frangula) Common buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) no clue which you are talking about ... but when it leafs out.. and gets seed pods.. it can be ID'd here ... with a pic ... i am impressed that you are willing to wait and observe.. while removing some things.. brilliant!! ... but it also gives you time to keep an eye out .. around town .... to snap pics of what strikes your fancy ... and a great way to start.. is any of the wonderful botanical garden in the Chi-town area ... [i swear i read that.. but i cant find it now???] understand that most flowering shrubs [since i mentioned diversity and lilac] have a limited 'show' season.. and are rather blase' the rest of the year .. by picking and choosing many different plants .... plants that bloom at different times ... you can have a month or 6 weeks of blooming from your shrubs .. conifers tend to be year around interest .. and if you hang out in this forum long enough .. you will end up with a hundred of them.. lol ... we need a picture of the needles and a cone ... branch structure on very old junipers is not that definitive .. and i would bet the ones on the lot line probably date to the house building... what is imperative to plant.. this spring.. is shade trees ... i planted 6 to 8 foot bare root oaks in 2000 .. and 10 years later.. they are 30+ feet tall ... do NOT wait on such ... and take that question over to the tree forum ... besides my conifers.. i have 1500 hosta.. i garden in shade.. and there are a significant number of trees that you do NOT plant.. if you wish to garden under them.. namely maple in my book ... so i suggest you work out a plan.. for APRIL planting time in your area.. for a few GOOD!!! shade trees.. in the 6 to 10 foot size ... [look at redbud also] .... lol broke my own rule cercis canandensis [though the spelling may vary.. lol] gotta run.. ken ps: that pic of mine.. 10 years from planting little one foot conifers.. to what you see ... pps: conifers are NOT shrubs ... so dont let me confuse you.. by seeming to use the words interchangeably ... ppps: you did not attach a pic like resins ...??? pppps: .. lol.. go to this place if you are interested in RARE conifers.. great day trip.. call in advance: http://www.richsfoxwillowpines.com/ Here is a link that might be useful: link

I've installed white cedar shingles on walls and red cedra on roofs on cape cod in the mid eighties. Most contractors were usin # 2's in them days. The 3-5" widths are pretty narrow but imo, will prove more reliable compared to some bundles that i installed having up to 11 " wide shingles that typically split and cup. On wider shingles like those we would use them for cutters and trim them down narrower for fillers when needed. Splitting the seams or joints using wider shingles is pretty much a gauranteed split as the shingles aren't exactly a flat smooth surface each course. As long as your windows are flashed properly to where they would not leak if you went w/o any siding, you should be okay. You will probably want to consider a header "L" type flashing above the window similar to a brick application before running that course over. It would be similar to #4 on the link: Here is a link that might be useful: window flashing