The clumping type of bamboos mentioned are not going to be invasive in the PNW, and the Bambusa glaucescens 'Alphonse Karr' is a particularly nice cultivar to use as a screen that won't get much over 15 to 18 feet in height, and only slowly forms larger clumps. The running bamboos may also be just fine if they are bordered by lawn on both sides of the fence that gets regularly mowed. Mowing will take care of new shoots easily, and serve to keep its spread under control. It may also be less of a problem if your soil dries out enough in the few months of rainlessness, as bamboos don't want to grow into hard compacted dry soil, particularly if where they are planted is irrigated in summer, and the surrounding area isn't. Even the highly running Phyllostachys aurea is manageable here in California if surrounded by non-irrigated areas that serve to keep it under control. The English Laurel would also probably work, but is not as fast growing as most Bamboos, and may need summer irrigation in your area to really do well. You might also consider using some of your local PNW native evergreen large shrubs/small trees for screening. Some of the Ceanothus, Arctostaphylos, Heteromeles arbutifolia might work well. I'd suggest asking for suggestions on the Northwest Gardenweb forum for specific plants that will do best in your area. One last Bamboo suggestion, Pseudosasa japonice is a relatively restrained running bamboo that only gets 8 to 12 feet tall, is more drought tolerant than most, and works great as a screen. Black Stem Bamboo, Phyllostachys nigra is also quite beautiful, if taller to about 20 feet tall, and not as aggressively spreading as Golden Bamboo. You might also consider using something like Strawberry tree, Arbutus unedo...

Hello, everyone. I live in Buford, near Harmony Elementary. I'm fairly new to gardening, very new to this forum; having tried sporadically over the nearly 20 years DH and I have been married. In the last few years I've been researching landscape designs and plantings that should do well in the areas where I want to plant. I use the books, "Creative Homeowner Complete Home Landscaping," Readers Digest Perennials: Designing, Choosing, and Maintaining Easy-care Plantings," "Guide to Georgia Vegetable Gardening," and "Georgia Gardening" Magazine for reference as well as whatever I can find online when looking for more info on specific plants. One of the biggest problems I face (besides the expense of all this landscape gloriousness) is FINDING the plants I'm most interested in. I don't find that I greatly enjoy the "big box" store offerings because they're just so common. WHERE does everyone get these plants?? Internet orders? These books & magazines are filled with beautiful plants and they are HARD.TO.FIND. Secondly, I am a bargain shopper and have a REALLY hard time forking over $7 and much more PER PLANT when I do find the kinds I like in a nursery or wherever. It really pains me to go to any store and pay "full retail price" for ANYTHING. I have been able to purchase discounted less-than-happy looking plants and nursed them back to life at times, and been thrilled with those results but don't always happen on the deeply discounted items so that's sketchy, not a dependable way to find plants, and not always stuff I'm really interested in. Several years ago I ripped out everything around our house, in all the landscape beds: 6 HUUUUUGELY overgrown horrid pampas grass monstrosities (death to pampas grass, I tell you, death), lots of juniper (snakes love juniper and I hate snakes so bye-bye juniper), some shrubs that were far too large to have been planted so close to the house, and so on. Great. All cleaned out. Installed a retaining wall and then in a large sloped bed I put in landscape mix soil, some plantings (three crape myrtles- I know, I know they're common but I like them anyway and they were free), a few azaleas, spike plants, and a couple Rainbow Leucothoe I think. Erosion cloth where needed, then landscape cloth and mulch. This year I added some Blue Boy Phlox to the bed and a few more rocks, then several coleus for a little more color. Everything in that bed seems to be happy and I have VERY little maintenance there, which is good because it's large and quite steep. My most perplexing area is a TEENY space between our driveway and one of the front walls of our house. It faces the street and looks just awful. It is almost 20' long but there is only 18-24" width between driveway concrete and the wall in this area and I haven't a CLUE what to put in there! The area gets full on, brutal sun all morning and until well into afternoon. I need a few somethings to go in there with a little height (up to 3'), but then need some small things to fill in (thrill, fill, spill?). There is a garden hose on that wall, also, so it tends to be a little more moist than other areas when I'm out watering. I am focusing primarily on perennials right now, "investing" in the longer-term plantings, and then I can add little bits of annuals here & there later. I like flowering shrubs and prefer some evergreens when possible (but not holly or anything prickly), but as I said, I haven't a CLUE what to do with this long and extremely narrow, nicely mulched emptiness. My preferred colors are in the red family- reds, oranges, and pinks, and for foliage I stick mostly to chartreuse mixed with a little bit of very deep greens. I would welcome any suggestions. Sorry this is so long!

My soul soars forth from my body when I sit amongst God's creations and marvel at the intricate beauty and design that went and goes into each tiny petal and leaf. Even weeds have a beauty of their own and are reminder that even though we are blessed with beauty there is also weeds in our lives. Reaching and grasping a handfull of dirt and allowing it to flow through my fingers reminds me that we came from dirt and will return to dirt. Dirt teams with life and it gives life and takes it away. My garden reminds me that life is a cycle that goes full circle and when the circle is complete we depart to begin a new life elsewhere in heaven. Gardening fills my heart with love as I tenderly attend to the needs of my children. I plant tiny seeds and watch them as they sprout and spring forth from the dirt and the capsule that enclosed them to reach their heads towards the sun and light. To watch them as they sway in the breeze and to feel that same breeze lift the tendrils of my hair and gently caress my skin while stroking my soul. To watch that tiny plant grow and expand both outward and upward as it races towards maturity. To inhale the heady fragrances is to be at peace with yourself and the world. How anything so small could produce such aroma and then proceed onward to produces seeds for the next generation. Dirt slips theough my fingers are I gently loosen the soil around roots and apply food to help my children grow. Peace, oh the peace the fills every nook and cranny of my body. When the rage comsumes me I take it out on the weeds and the plants that have gotten out of control, but I feel their pain as I cut into their limbs to make them bend to my will. Sometimes the knowledge that I am imflicting pain overwhelms me and I sit and look at the leggy beauty that is before me. To tilt my face upwards and feel the warmth of the sun caress my skin before nature's water lightly falls upon my face to remind me that moisture and water are necessary to sustain life. Stress reliever, yes my garden is that and so much more. I once thought I was in control of my garden but Mother Nature is the true person in charge. When things displease her she causes drought or flood, ice or extreme heat. I marvel at how plants endure and survive dispite everything that is thrown their way and realize that my garden is my inspiration, my teacher and my oasis in a world of turmoil. Linda

Does it really matter how people get into gardening? If they are making an effort, more power to them. I'd much rather see that than yet more landscaping/lawn care businesses dumping chemicals on lawns and chemical-filled RED mulch around trees and shrubs and against houses!! I moved to Maryland from Texas almost 4 years ago. After having my beautiful antique roses die when I moved from San Antonio to San Angelo TX (yeah, expensive hard lesson there), I didn't do much at all with gardening, mostly because we were in a rental house and were in the middle of a drought. After we moved to MD, I waited until we knew that we would be staying in this house for longer than our military tour of three years. Last year, I decided I wanted some flowers and planted a couple of roses and a hydrangea. After moving the hydrangea to a shadier spot and moving a couple of the roses to a sunnier spot, everything did well, which encouraged me to keep digging... Our town has a freecycle group, and I got some plants from a very active member of the local garden club, who has encouraged my efforts from day one. The club's motto is basically 'your $10 membership fee should get you $300 worth of plants the first year'. The members are generous with their extras and well informed, such a great resource to a military transplant like me!. Gardenweb's Mid-Atlantic forum is a terrific group as well, they had their spring swap this past weekend and I came home with a ton of plants. They prefer that we use Latin names, but more to limit confusion than because they're snobby. Instead of railing about how horrible the situation is, how about doing something about it in your area? *Talk to the manager at HD/Lowe's/wherever about ordering plants that will actually do well in the area. *Is there a local garden club?? Is it full of stuffy snobs comparing their umpty-year gardens or is it active and welcoming to new gardeners? Is there a 'garden open house' where new gardeners can go to see local neighborhood gardens and get their questions answered? *Is there a gardenweb (or other online)forum for the area? *Are there any plant swaps in the area? Would it be possible to have a plant sale with a portion of the sales going to beautify a local building with plants that will grow well so new folks can see natives in a local setting? *Is there a freecycle group in your area? Post some plant 'offers' and get people involved! Just like with cooking or sewing or any other craft, a skill must be LEARNED. Give people a chance to learn the skill by starting with the easy stuff. You don't expect a new baker to start out with a wedding cake or a person new to sewing to start out with a double wedding quilt. Be reasonable and make the effort to HELP new gardeners, not bash them down. Lynne