Does not have to be expensive with some patience. jcalhoun suggested a nice list. Check with your local cooperative extension. Mine has an early spring, order in advance, coop plant sale. A bit late this year but they could help with easy and recommended local plants for your area. Natives are often less expensive. They may put you in contact with a neighbor that will offer cuttings and help you get an area established. A plant exchange may be up-coming on the calendar, etc. When i bought my property, i found all of the above. My first year i researched. My first early spring i picked up my order of rooted 'twigs'. I had over a hundred native trees, shrubs, ground covers...service berry, pines, red twig dogwood, etc. (i did not spend much more than 50 bucks) I had no idea what i was doing but gave them each a quick sliver of a hole. Fast forward a few years and now i am giving back. I have a few hundred red twig cuttings rooting, my rudbeckia took over so i'm potting up that to give away. Taking plugs of wild native thyme groundcover. (a neighbor did that for me years ago). Common milkweed...i have about a 1/2 acre....seeds offered for free all over the place. Take an early morning drive, when us gardeners are out fussing, and look for similar landscape that you like. Slow down, wave, and compliment their landscape...haha. They just might have a minute to share some information, or not. : ) I get that all the time, but they usually think i'm the landscaper and want to hire me. (i'm always so filthy and dirt covered, lol) -I still have a big bag of milkweed seed pods i could send, free. I don't even ask for shipping costs. Check with your extension service first to see if it is ok in your area.

I'm doing the same "hide a fence" thing presently. If you want really cheap, fast and evergreen, you can use any of the cold hardy English Ivies in zone 6. I recommend 'Thorndale.' It's the hardiest with larger leaves for coverage. It's not invasive here in Utah and shouldn't be in PA either (but double check). I'm only using it because I have a very narrow planting area (12-inches). Most everywhere else I'm using 'American Pillar' Arborvitae (narrow, fast, dense, hardy and evergreen). It's cheaper than a privacy fence if you purchase starters and it's very fast growing for an arborvitae (up to 3' per year). However, it maybe overkill for what you want because it grows tall quickly (20' - 30'). You can find a cheaper Arborvitae for use as a shorter hedge. If you have a lot of snow on the ground during the winter, then you may just find a privet hedge will suite you fine. It's not evergreen from Christmas through March, but it's branches are pretty dense and no one's usually outdoors during that time anyway to really worry about it. However, unlike the 'American Pillar' Arborvitae, it'll need lots of pruning on both sides of the fence to keep in check. (My neighbor around the corner has it bordering the front of his property and it's a true beauty to behold. It would be my first choice except I need full privacy in the winter months due to my next door neighbor's windows being only a few feet from my windows and currently I have to keep my blinds closed all the time because they never do). Privet is super fast and cheap, but make sure to get the cultivar 'Cheyenne' as it is the most cold hardy variety. Those are your main options for cheap and fast, but their are a lot more options available for your area if you can move up in price and/or don't mind the speed. (ie. Hollies, Yews, Boxwoods, Firethorns, etc.). Good luck.

I very much like both Asian and native persimmons, but I think they are very different. I wouldn't expect them to be very similar except in appearance of the fruit. If I were looking particularly for late persimmons, Rosseyanka and Tecumseh come to mind. Check out the link below for a ripening order list of Edible Landscaping's persimmons. Edited to add: it seems to me there's more of a difference between the native persimmons and rosseyanka in terms of the fresh eating season than EL's list suggests. My impression is that the rosseyanka season extends well beyond any of the natives. I know I got to eat Rosseyanka's off EL's tree (i.e. at EL) in mid-December. Perhaps it's just that they ripen earlier than December but hold on the tree better than the natives. Here is a link that might be useful: scroll down about mid-way for ripening order chart This post was edited by cousinfloyd on Sat, Jan 3, 15 at 18:11

Yes, soil is going to make a difference. It's not that hard to DIY it and you can save yourself 75%. Village Nurseries (various locations) sells a turf that looks pretty good. I watched the guys do it on my install and after seeing what they did, I'd do it myself. They took out about 6" of soil, put down about 5" of "road base", tamped it down, then put down a 3/4" layer of some kitty-litter type stuff that they claimed would prevent odors, tamped that down, got everything super perfectly level. Then they laid down the turf and nailed it down with 6" galvanized spikes around the edges. If you have to use more than one piece of turf you flip it over and tape the pieces together with a tape recommended for the product. Then they brushed play sand into the turf, which helps the blades stand up and stay up. Done. I think the key thing is getting the road base perfectly firm and level. If you take your time and are patient and meticulous about that, it just didn't seem that difficult. Luckily I needed soil in another part of the yard so there was no need to haul the removed soil away, which costs $$$. Mine has been in place 3 years and there's still no odor--perhaps a vague hint on a hot day in summer, but no reek. I was worried about that. If your soil drainage is poor it might be more of an issue. I give it a quick hose off when I wash the car. It is going to look good longer in shady areas. It does have UV inhibitors but the sun gets to everything eventually.