I grow the following EE's in the shade and they do well: Alocasias Sinuata, Cadieri, Portora, Odora, Borneo Giant, Brian Williams, Sarian, Macrorrhiza, Macrorrhiza red stem, New Guinea Gold, Chantrieri, Cuprea, Macro Albo Variegata, Macro Aurea Variegata and New Guinea Gold. Any of the Xanthosomas including Blue Giant. Colocasia cranberry stem does well for me in the shade.

I forgot to mention that we are in central Pennsylvania, about an hour directly north of Harrisburg. We have had what seems like a fairly average summer, possibly a little dryer than normal. When we have a dry spell I do go out and water the shrubs. Here are few more pictures taken last night. The original that I posted was from right after the shrubs were planted. Close up of the dying arb. - http://i.imgbox.com/2OyAmbIA.jpg rear of the arbs., note the tree coverage. - http://i.imgbox.com/3TPLIqjB.jpg Two more pictures showing the tree coverage and shrubs. http://i.imgbox.com/tFiUHZgv.jpg http://i.imgbox.com/iXUjxdB0.jpg You will notice only one very browned arb, the two directly next to this one have been replaced in the last 4-6 weeks as they were in the same state. Lowes offered a 1 year warranty so I was credited for the purchased amount. My thought about bugs is that it is unlikely as the three shrubs I have had the problem with are all right next to each other. I could be wrong in this assumption. About applying a mulch, noted and I plan to take care of this immediately. I am happy with the layout of my yard/fence line and I do not require a additional shed as we have a sizable shed/single horse barn already for storage. I did not put fertilizer in the holes when planting. The ground in that area is extremely hard and compacted (compared to just a few feet over). Would it be beneficial to till up all of the ground in the general area down to maybe 12" or so? Will this help with my problem at all? When I replace the dying arb, should I break up the compacted soil (clay) that the root ball comes from the store in? Thank you again for all of your help.

I have a very shady back yard. Large Tulip Poplars everywhere, plus the house blocks a lot of the sun. Anyway, always had trouble keeping the grass growing. Last year we bought the Shady Nooks seed and put that down. Wow, this Spring I can't believe the difference in our lawn were there used to be dirt. So far, so good. I will have to wait and go through summer to really see how well it does. But so far, where there was always dirt before, we have grass now and I'm a happy camper. Here is what they say about it: Shady Nooks Grass Seed by Jonathan Green FOR THE BEST LAWN IN TOWN. A mixture of shade tolerant grasses for heavily shaded lawn areas. Grows in Dark - dank corners and nooks where shade and poor drainage is a problem. Contains Perennial Grasses that blend well with existing lawn when re-seeding. Excellent for starting a new lawn or re-seeding thin lawns. Germinates in 10 to 14 days, for fast coverage.

A little more info will probably be needed here. What is the soil like where you want this hedge? If it is away from foundations and a touch acidic the blueberries (provided you get a variety appropriate to the local conditions etc) would probably be a good choice for the full sun areas. Blueberries I hear like azalea fertilizer and mulching with oak leaves. You said you need the plants to grow fast to at least 6 feet. Well blueberries will probably take a few years to get to that point. How tall can it be? Things like the willow or poplar will get really tall but they are probably the fastest ones to reach the 6' mark. How much width can you devote to this hedge? Keep in mind that there is no perfect living fence, they all require more space than a simple privacy screen fence does and the one that grow lick mad may require lots of pruning or be short lived. Does anyone know for certain if those hybred screen willows are really appropriate to central FL? And How evergreen are they really? I've seen some reports that they are good to zone 9 and other that say only 8. So they might be kinda short lived here. Here is what I might do for some quick privacy while trying to save some money. Plant some tall annuals Like Giant Sunflowers in the sunny parts of this fence line to give you a little screening while you work on getting your perminant solution. Unfortunately, the sunflowers are not a long term solution so as they die out perhaps you will have something to put in their place. For the shadier areas (how shady are they?) if they are not too shady, perhaps put up a bit of garden trellis and get some vines growing on it yardlong beans for summer and start the snow peas in October or something. In the mean time you can be rooting cuttings of whatever few specimens you can get so as they start getting bigger you can plant them into the line to start taking over from the annuals. How long of a hedge are we looking at here?