Black Pussy Willow could make a nice shrub boarder. You would have lots of sticks, with plainer green leaves in summer. Easily cut when you wanted to reduce height, though I believe they are a smaller shrub in height. Interesting catkins in the spring, with good contrast to be visible. Water should not bother a willow, or being pretty well drained soil the rest of the year. Faster growing, but not usually obnoxious as a plant. Some chicken wire to deny yard entry on one side of new plants, probably will not be greatly visible as the bushes fill in, then could remove the wire. Just going for variety, arbovite is so commonly seen. Good luck with your ideas.

While you are waiting for an expert to respond, I'll throw in my two cents: My intial take is that it is not a highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum), because of the color of the berries. V. corymbosum also has an interesting bark - it looks like a dark brown or tan bark has been stripped away in segments to show a lighter underbark -- there is something muscular or shredded looking about it. But I'm not sure this isn't true for other members of the family. The location is right for V. corymbosum, but it's also right for other berry-making plants, such as various native and non-native buckthorns (the non-natives are invasive) and the huckleberries. I believe buckthorns are toothless (at least the European is), while blueberries and huckleberries have toothed leaves. The general rule with the color of blueberries and huckleberries is that blueberries are more blue than black and huckleberries are more black than blue. Also, blueberry seeds are numerous and tiny, so you don't notice them when you eat the berry, while huckleberries (at least Gaylussacia baccata) have a small number of larger seeds, and you notice them. I live in eastern Mass. and have noticed in some wetter (but not swampy) areas, a lot of dangleberry shrubs (Gaylussacia frondosa?), a huckleberry, that may match your plant: black berries, toothed leaves (I think) and larger than some of the smaller huckleberries and blueberries (I think - wasn't clear from description). My only question is the wavy white line on the berries, which doesn't seem to fit with my understanding of either blueberries or huckleberries. As I said, I'm not an expert, so I hope someone will jump in and correct me if I've led you wrong. -- wd

Gosh I'm all ears on this thread. This year I built 3 raised beds (4' x 8' x 20") & have learned that Pleasure Island is the land o' destructive insects (I have also learned that frass totally grosses me out). I used soil for the raised beds we scraped when slating in a formerly jungly side yard - it is quite black & very amended from years of wax myrtle & Iliagnus but still sand. I am all ears for tomatoes which handle heat/humidity & are sweet/tart/umami delicious. Open to all size recs - thinking of Mule Team, Arkansas Traveller, Creole, Black Krim, break O Day, Carbon, Constoluto Genovese, Tomande,Jeff Davis & others (LOL). Would love a big tasty yellow bicolor that could handle our wretched summers. Used to eat these as a kid in western NC - they were 1 slice makes a sandwich - plenty of tart, sweet, meat & gel to soak the white bread/mayo - Mmmm, but that was way up in the mountains & I am now within 200 yards of the ocean. Looking for some info on a strain called "Isis Brandy" - read mention of it but no source (cross between Isis Candy cherry & Brandywine). Have Tomato Growers Exchange catalog, bedtime reading, waiting for more. Thanks folks!

I live in central NH, and probably have similar soil (though perhaps finer in texture) since I have fine sandy acid loam. My property is geologically new soil, on the site of a glacial lake, so very little organic matter (and virtually no rocks, unusual for this part of NH.) I am going to respectfully disagree with Ken about the organic matter. I typically add about 6 inches of well aged manure to the entire bed before planting to provide some organic matter and help with moisture retention and mix it in with a spading fork. Then I plant shrubs not adding anything specifically to the planting hole, and mulch well with a layer of cardboard topped with 5" of so of loose wood curls (commercial mulch would do the same thing) that probably weather down to about 3". This helps keep moisture even and weeds down. I usually also edge with the big box store black plastic edging buried to ground level and place a line of bricks inside for the mower wheels to run on to keep out grass. I've done this with my shrub borders and it has worked well with little work, though I do renew the mulch every 2-3 years. My suggestion would be a staggered row of mixed evergreens and several of one type of flowering shrub either sprinkled along the length or in a solid row along one side to give you an ornamental yet functional hedgerow. A full-sized cultivar of Hydrangea paniculata such as Limelight, Pinky Winky, or Quickfire (blooms early July until hard frost) or else Physocarpus/ninebark would work well. In my shrub bed both are healthy, bloom well, and provide long season interest in full to mostly sun. Some other alternatives for part to full sun include some of the PJM family of rhododendrons, Hydrangea arborescens such as Annabelle (needs afternoon shade), or Kalmia/mountain laurel. The only maintenance I do on my H. paniculata and arborescens is a once a year trim of the old blossoms, and I do even less on the ninebark, mountain laurel, and rhododendrons. My evergreens are a mix of Fat Albert blue spruce (probably too large for your use here) and two types of Thuja occidentalis, Sunkist and Techny, but you may want something a bit smaller. This mix is low care, blocks sight relatively well after about 5 growing seasons, and has spring or summer flowers (depending on which of the flowering shrubs you use) and a mix of winter colors. This photo includes several of the plants I mentioned: Coppertina ninebark on the left, a rhododendron, Quickfire Hydrangea (in fall colors - it starts blooming white), Fat Albert blue spruce, and immediately behind the Hydrangea are Thuja Sunkist on the left and Thuja Techny on the right.