In that case look into Nelly R. Stevens holly. They grow fast and you can prune them into shapes that suit your fancy. You can get them with branching to the ground or limbed up like a tree. They're not messy and the fine textured dark green foliage is nice. Blend it in with some thuja or you know what else would be nice is Chamaecyparis nootkatensis

I've said it before - but I had Kathy Tracey do my landscape design and I couldn't be happier. I didn't know the first thing about gardening (always lived in condos until now) and didn't know where to start. I did know I didn't want an ordinary garden with ordinary plants. I actually had a hard time getting people to return my calls or actually show up for a consult! We'd ripped everything out, put in new hard scape (which I love but wish I'd consulted with Kathy on) started from scratch - she came out for the initial visit, and then about 2 weeks later presented us with 2 sets of plans and a rendering of what it would look like with our house. Her husband Chris then came back and did the installation. This year she came back in early spring to see how things were doing, and I made a trip out there last week to pick up replacement plants for the few that didn't make it. (at no charge of course.) She also sent me periodic emails with watering/pruning instructions. Very thorough. I'm not sure how far she would travel but I'd at least give her a call. :-) The design wasn't free - but totally worth it for me. We were also completely renovating the inside of the house and I couldn't deal with many more decisions LOL.

If you are near Harrisburg, there are a few very good garden centers. Highland Gardens usually has unusual plant material - Trees, shrubs, conifers, perennials. They have a particularly good selection of shade perennials and many kinds of annuals. This staff is very knowledgeable and helpful. Ashcombe's Farm near Dillsburg has a very good selection of trees, shrubs, perennials and again the staff is very helpfu as well as knowledgeable. They also have a homey restaurant and interior decor items which makes a whole day for me! Country Market is very near Ashcombe's and has in the past had a wonderful selection of unusual annuals. They were bought last year by Stauffer's of Kissel Hill so their stock may be different this year. Hope you find what you are looking for. Pat

I am not sure how I stumbled onto them, either via here somewhere, or round about, but anyways, I just ordered 12,000 lbs of mostly laminate but some engineered hardwood from simplefloors.com I dealt with a guy named JB, jb.barea@simplefloors.com I think the samples were free, except maybe for shipping, I can't remember for sure. They are holding it for me because I am not ready for it yet, so I can't comment on quality or ease of installation for the crew, but customer service has been great so far. hth Here is a link that might be useful: Our