And I would have to add that "The Most Beautiful Rose" title belongs to more than one rose . . . Because as with Real Estate, roses and other growing things are dependent upon "LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION." So, while I truly believe that 'Evelyn' is The Most Beautiful Rose in Patrick's 6B conditions, and (per the late Col Mel Hulse) 'Souvenir de la Malmaison' is The Most Beautiful Rose in San Jose, CA's 9B conditions . . . NEITHER is beautiful here, in my Sunset Zone 23 garden, SdlM mildews so badly, no bloom opens. And Evelyn? She's so happy that she has to grow to between 12 and 14 ft. before she deigns to set a bloom. So, what IS The Most Beautiful Rose in my garden? Danged if I know. I guess, what ever's blooming today? This was 'Golden Celebration' last night, however . . .

Gooseberries can be invasive if ignored, but if you prune them occasionally for fruit they should not cause too many problems. They do sucker at the tips of branches--posibly that would be more problematic with your sandy soil--we have clay in my area. They also like some soil acidity, but don't seem too demanding about that. My Pixwell gooseberry bushes form an arching mound about chest high. They are easy to propagate, so you would find it simple to expand your hedge. You could just prune the inner side facing your garden and use the old outer branches as your hedge. Their branches are thorny, but stronger and more flexible than the canes of raspberries and blackberries. They make a fairly attractive, impenetrable shrub. Additionally, they are very flexible regarding lighting. I agree that rugosa roses, with attractive hips, would also be very nice. Hansa grows rather large and is quite vigorous, but could be kept pruned; or you could choose one of the smaller, less vigorous ones. Rugosas are supposed to like sandy soil, and even grow on beaches. There are some older varieties, such as Frau Dagmar Hartopp (possibly mispelled by me) which have been popular for ages.

I had a couple of pink flamingos in my yard for awhile. I named them 'Tongue' and 'Cheek'. They finally died. I think of,embarrassment.

Toxcrusader, my exact sentiments, are you Canadian? Might have some Acadian in you. Aiden, I sure am glad I don't live in California. I don't agree that not talking to them is the thing to do. Ask them not to walk on the grass, including the Mailman. Kids are inconsiderate, I was a kid and I was as well until the nice man next door asked me to try and keep the noise down when my pals and I tuned our extremely loud dual exhaust hot rods when his wife, his elderly Mom and he were trying to listen to the BBC in the evening. No problem, we were kids, all he had to do is ask. The world revolved around us, we were 18, remember 18? Mom and Dad had a car each, both brothers had their beaters, I had a car, truck and bike. Our driveway was empty sometimes so the neighbourhood kids and us could play basketball. I worked shifts at 16, so did Dad and Mom as well, can you imagine moving all those vehicles at midnight after whomever was on 3 to 11 got home and someone had to be up at 5 AM and the rotation started all over again? So we parked on the street most of the time as the drive only held 3 cars anyway. My Mom told us not to until she was blue in the face. Thinking about it I cringe as to how the neighbours may have felt but as an adult understood the reason why some people park on the street and the driveway may have a space in it. We didn't rent, it wasn't a slum but it was a working class neighbourhood with kids, lots of kids. And many shift workers, maybe that's why no one complained about the parking, they understood what a pain to have 5 people in the home working 3 different shifts, 2 come, 2 leave, 1 is missing. Ask them nicely to not walk on the grass. By the way where is the precious grass that you remove to put up these bushes etc. going to end up? You are going to throw it out. It's more of an invasion of your property than damaging the grass. It's only grass. Only my opinion. This post was edited by SouthernCanuck on Mon, Aug 11, 14 at 5:57