Sorry for the late response! The brown house is the neighbor's house. My house isn't visible in the photo, but my blue barn is. The city has been issuing citation after citation to the owners of the neighbor's house since at least 2007, but the process is so slow that I think a hedge is my best bet at hiding the eyesore. If you stood with your back to the part of the neighbor's house pictured in the photo, I believe you'd be facing southeast. This spot gets morning shade due to the height of the neighbor's house, but it also gets fairly intense afternoon sun in the summer. We did put up a 5 foot fence, about a foot to the right of the white picket border in the photo. I didn't post a photo of that because everything is covered in snow and it's hard to see anything. I would LOVE to put up a big piece of lattice on it and grow some clematis but I fear it may be rather obvious that I'm trying to hide "the ugly house". Well, a little more obvious than landscaping with a hedge, anyway. ;) If it helps, here's a photo that shows where my house is in relation to the neighbor's. That might give a better idea of the layout of things. It looks like thuja is getting a lot of votes - I think I will start there. I wish it were spring already so I could start planting. PS - No worries, gardengal84! :)

If you look back up the page, at the post made by "gldno1". She/He provided a link for Giant Green Thuja. I just went to Joplin last Friday and purchased some from the same place. They were actually larger than the website shows. I bought about 30 of them. The quart size pots were $6 each, and the plants average 30" high. I would go soon if I were you, as these plants are larger than advertised and the nursery will probably start repotting them into the gallon size pots soon. Also, I had done ALOT of research on these plants and this is the best deal out there. I emailed all of the other suppliers I could find and requested prices and plant sizes, etc. Many of the mail order plants offered at about $9.00 each were only 6" - 15" in height. I also found the employees at the Botany shop to be very helpful. If you do go, I'd call first and verify the current pricing. Mel

Enduring, After I had posted the glass block framed thingee and had a day to think about it I realized how much I disliked it! Still, for the right person and application it could work (though the one I had in mind had a frame all the way around and the frame was smaller). I always appreciate the help and postings on this forum. Overall, it seems to be about the friendliest and most supportive forum I have ever visited. When people take their time to respond I try to do a good job of saying thanks and also thinking about thier ideas. Even if I don't like exactly what they suggest it often leads to another idea that may work. But bototm line when a perosn takes their time to offer help it is something I always appreciate. The glass idea.. I need to meet with my contractors shower glass person. I have no idea what options he offers. I have seen shower glass with ORB trim on the top edges and actually think I like that especially if it helps avoid the brackets. I had not thought about ORB trim on the glass piece so thanks for suggesting that. It may very well work nicely. I had seen a shower glass web site which offered a bronze colored glass and thought it might be worth considering but the trim may do a better job. Given how small this will be I am actually feeling better about the glass idea. it is also very non invasive so if we do it and ayear later hate it, it can always be removed. I am now 1 week into the renovation (day 5) and while we are a bit behind in schedule it is shaping up. Tub frame is in, shower layout is in place (framing), floors have been leveled 9for tile), the wonderful popcorn ceilings have been scraped and Monday should bring in the plumber, electricians Tuesday and we should be off and running! At times this has been a tiring project and mentally draining but again the help I have received from you guys has been invaluable. Many many good and unique ideas!

If you started with 3 gallon viburnum plants, it would probably be 10 years before you got them to be 15 feet tall. Eleagnus grows faster, but just gets crazy in width. The viburnums would have to be at least 5-6 feet wide. How much width do you have for these plants? The psalms might be a good choice. I don't see why fire ants would like them especially. If you got 6 foot arecas, they would only take about 5-6 years to get that tall and would use about 10 width for space. The bamboo can be almost instant for a tall screen. You just need to choose one that stays at a certain height, and the smaller the culms, the faster they usually fill in and are easier to work with later on. You for sure want a Bambusa species and not a runner. B. textiles gracilis is what people are using down in Palm Beach to screen one McMansion from another, so your next door neighbor 10 feet away can't look into your daughter's window. They get 30 feet tall in no time. Is that to tall? An old time favorite variegated bamboo is textilis "Alphonse Karr". Out maxes around your 15 foot height. At least with the bamboo, it can be as tall as you want and doesn't have to be real wide to do the job. Another nice variegated bamboo is the "Lemon Yellow" Bambusa. It gets about 30-35 feet tall. I'm growing all of these, plus many more, and I think this one is my favorite.