Pierce, just be aware that you will need a male holly for every 5-7 female plants to get berries. Because you will be planting tightly, you might be able to stretch it to one per 10 females. Most of the male forms I know of are shorter growing than the females, in general. You could get around this by using 1-gallon males and planting in the same hole as the females/'Nellie R.Stevens' as you space them out - they can grow up and be available, but are 'hidden' among the mass of the females. I know 15 gal. 'Nellie R. Stevens' are available, but can't speak as to price. While the 'Nellie R. Stevens' are a good hedge plant, if you wanted to mix in another type of tree, the Thuja 'Emerald Green' (a.k.a. 'Emerald Beauty' or 'Smaragd') is another good hedging plant, growing fairly fast to 12-15', and about 3-5' wide. You can fairly easily find 5 gallon plants, at about 4-6' tall - and pay more for them than 1 gal. - so they might be good where you want immediate height. While running bamboos will provide a solid screen once they are established, they will also RUN!! I have pulled out runners that are up to 8' long, and about 6" deep, in the spring. As long as you mow faithfully, you can keep them in check. However, even asphalt won't stop them from coming up - cement MIGHT! You can buy barriers, but you need to make a 3' deep trench for the barrier to be effective, and even then, you will probably have to watch for escapees over the top. Clumping bamboos are much better behaved, and will expand, but stay where you plant them.

Have you considered loropetalums? Our landscaper recommended them as a screen around our lanai & we're happy with them. Some varieties grow to 12' with 6' spread. Fast growing, new growth is burgundy/purple leaves (evergreen) with spring pink flowers. Most people seem to shear them into hedges, but I like to selectively prune to keep a "loose" shape. Our are in full sun & while I regularly watered them during their 1st season, they've been on their own since. ;)

FAWNRIDGE: Thanks, I thought about Agave and Aloe as they are pretty common around here but am still holding out to see what my quest turns up. LOU: would you believe I thought of that this morning! When I go away a few days I do that with my herbs, except I coil the rope on top of the soil and bury it under the mulch. It wicks what it needs from a big bucket of water. I was going to ask if anyone thought something like that would work but thank you, you have confirmed that for me. That is excellent. HESTER: Container gardening is all IâÂÂm familiar because IâÂÂve never owned a home but IâÂÂve been keeping small herb/veggie container gardens for about 20 years. Putting plants around my screen porch is going to triple/quadrouple my container gardening work load, and IâÂÂve never grown flowers/shrubs before except a few short lived annuals. The easier, the better. I am going to order that book you recommended on Amazon right, thanks so much, I just wish you could get royalties for selling it. All my container gardening books are from the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens up north and have been pretty useless since I moved South a few years ago. AMBERROSES: Yes, thatâÂÂs along the lines of what I was hoping to do... get some pots around with easy, sure-fire plants and shrubs. IâÂÂll probably add annuals in the mix here and there. Yes, majority of my pots are plastic, and IâÂÂve just inherited a big stack of plastic milk crates I plan to line with grow-bags and poke holes in them. I can camouflage them with some window boxes placed strategically in front of them or some dollar store plastic mini border fence I have. CORRIE: Lantana I recognize, and they always have it at nurseries around here though I never grew any myself. Your suggestions sound perfect, just the kind of thing IâÂÂm looking for. I also found one on my own... butterfly weed (not bush), a native weed but colorful and orange. Sounds hard to kill. Everyone, thanks for all the help... YouâÂÂve given me some great suggestions to look into and by all means keep them coming if you have any more.

Hi all, Well, honestly, I waited about fifteen minutes after I posted my question in case someone happened to be around to answer right away, then I couldn't take it any more and I went out and planted those guys. I planted one Tuscan on each end, with Arps in between. It isn't going to be a formal sheared hedge, so I think it will be ok. Their foilage is visibly different already-- the Arps are blue gray and the Tuscan Blues are a dark green (go figure). I'm going to pop another Arp in today to make a row of three Arps, book-ended by the Tuscan Blues. I have an idea what it will look like in a year and I am pretty happy with that. Since they will be retaining much of their natural form, it will be good with the mix. Definitely, if I were planting a formal, sheared hedge I would want all the same cultivar. Hi Marlingardener- It occured to me that my problem could be somewhat alieved by leaving those lights off during the evening, but I know my husband would argue with me about that. I think he thinks that the landcaping and the lights are two separate things altogether. When I see each naked light fixture bathed in 300 watts of light without the benefit of plant cover, I feel the same way as I do when I see a shaved Persian cat. It's just not right. When he sees the lights, he just sees the house. It's one of those choose-your-battles decisions that, collectively, may save a marriage in the long run, LOL.