All that beautiful land wasted with water guzzling grass and all the chemicals that go into keeping it green. I hate grass; to me where there is grass something beautiful was stripped to make room for it. If that was my property it would be gone and a forest planted. I love woodlands and I live in one of the most beautiful places in the country (o; Seriously you want privacy then don't just go for trees along your property line just go wild with trees of all sizes. Cryptomeria radicans are fast growing and I love not only the feathery branches but the reddish bark too. Not sure if it's an option for where you live but there are plenty of evergreens that will. If you must have some grass just keep some around your house. IMO CA is the worse place for grass, too many people that need their pools and grass then you want our water (o;b Before you blast me for being a California hater the white Irish side of my family were born and lived in Ca since the first settlers went there. We used to own most of all what is Healdsburg now. I've lived here in WA for many years now and will never move back. The rest of my family is in Healdsburg, Santa Rosa and Paradise. I just finished landscaping at my last place in time to move to a new house; the old one is being torn down. I'm taking as much stuff with me as possible, and so I will start again. Cryptomeria's will be planted, the mossy grass that was left by the last owners will be destroyed and a forest will go in it's place (o: Whatever you do I hope it turns out beautiful; imo anyone that plants trees is only improving the planet, so even if you don't take up most of that lawn the trees you add will make that drab acreage shine! *G*

Semiarundinaria is quite vertical. There are many unconfined plantings of it in the area, that have not spread all over - this is true of other species used here also, the outcome varies with the situation. But any running bamboo can suddenly start coming up yards away from the mother clump, making the installation of barrier essential where such an occurrence would be a problem. All the full height Thuja occidentalis cultvars have approximately the same vigor. The 'Smaragd' will be so much more prevalent than the others because it is what people are looking for. The only problem with it is it is more prone to poor soil drainage than most others, resulting in frequent internet questions about part of a hedge of it going brown. I have also seen it browned in sections by mites during hot weather. But this latter development is probably not especially peculiar to 'Smaragd'. 'Oregon Blue' is merely an otherwise more or less typical Chamaecyparis lawsoniana with a saturated blue coloration. The vigor of some local specimens suggests these are programmed to grow into towering trees just like thousands of other examples of the species in local plantings. In the wild the species is interesting for growing just about everywhere within the comparatively small range it occupies, unlike many other wild tree species now confined to small ranges - and also being limited to specific site conditions within those ranges. So no, there is no particular soil moisture regime etc. that must be provided for it - numerous other cultivars of C. lawsoniana are still all over the place on local properties, despite the inroads of several different root pathogens in later times. The main thing is to place it in soil that drains well - and is not or does not become infested with one of the water molds that kills even specimens that have been in place for decades.

How well the seedling survives and thrives will be dependent upon the vigor of the plant and the environment that it is located, but with all that said, the seedling would likely survive and grow well without you transplanting it. One of the old camellia nurserymen was Hugh Shackleford from Albany, Georgia. He introduced many new varieties grown from seed. There is an effort under way to preserve as many of his original plants as possible which are still growing at his old nursery site. One of the interesting things about his old nursery site is all the camellias that were originally in containers that have now grown into the soil. The containers are still there, but the roots have grown out of the wholes in the bottom of the pot into the ground.

I have bamboo in my garden in Canada. It was given to me by my neighbour who has grown the same stand of bamboo for 20 years. No care is necessary... no mulching, covering etc. It grows to 12' to 14' each year. Has long green leaves & it turns a pretty beige color in the winter, with feathery seed heads at the top.. doesn't flower till late september. We have minus 35 C winters here & it never bothers this bamboo. I would love to get more but don't know the name...it looks a bit like Pseudosasa Japonica, but I'm not sure