Thanks to all for the replies. kato_b: I don't think grass would work. It's kind of an awkward area, which is probably why someone planted ivy there. There's a rock retaining wall at the back of it, cement stairs and sidewalk boardering it on one side, a cement sidewalk with raised cement border at the front and a cement slab boardering on the neighbor's side. It's also sloped. I'm reluctant to plant anything there because we've been battling poison ivy in that area all spring and I think it will continue because the neighbor isn't controlling it on her side. I don't have the patience to keep killing it off while dealing with desirable plants in the area. Is the main problem with landscape rocks dealing with the debris that gathers in there and trying to keep it looking tidy? Does plastic make it worse? Does using larger landscape rocks - like medium sized river rocks - make the problem better or worse? Wood mulch could work but I'm afraid it might tend to wash away because of the slope. Maybe I'll just let whatever the neighbor has on her side take over (except the evil poison ivy) and move on to the multitude of other projects we have to complete this summer. Gotta pick your battles. You know, gardenweb should start a forum with tips on how to live in peace with difficult neighbors who share a property line. This neighbor just cut down 3/4 of an old evergreen shrub that was on the line and left the mutilated remains on my side for me to deal with. Is that passive-aggressive or what! It's going to be a long summer.

My climbing hydrangea was slow to establish and it does go totally naked in the winter, so no privacy factor there. Mine's on a 9' high solid timber retaining wall so has plenty of surface to grab onto, not sure how it would do on open, wrought iron lattice. Again, not sure about your zone - and too lazy to look it up! - what about five leaf akebia (aka chocolate vine)? It's semi-evergreen, grows very fast and is most talented at twining itself up and all over w/little guidance. I have one plant on each east and west walls of a wood fence (4' solid slat topped w/1' of lattice) - each plant now spans about 15-20 linear feet in each direction from the base. It has climbed up bird feeder supports so now they're in leafy grottos and I do have to watch that it doesn't hitchhike on to overhanging tree limbs - small maintenance price to pay for a great vine! If hardy in your zone, this might be worth a look.

Hi SimbaSue, I'm afraid I can't be any help when it comes to installing a sprinkler system. My knowledge is all aimed at the fun end of gardening, the PLANTS! I do know that underground sprinkler systems are VERY expensive, so are you sure you don't want to forgo that luxury for now? Also, I checked out the Irrigation Forum, and it looks to me like a lot of people have a lot of problems with their systems. There's a system in here at the house I bought last year, and I don't even use it in the back yard. I water by hand with sprinklers. I do use it in the front yard, but I turn it on manually only when I think it needs it. However you decide to water don't make the mistake a lot of people do and water for 10 minutes every couple days! That's the worst thing you can do for grass and almost everything else! When established, most plants will need about an inch of water a week. When you do water, water slowly and thoroughly. Water at least an inch (get a rain guage--they're cheap!). If you're watering a slope and it's running off (as it probably will do with our clay), turn off the water, wait 20 or 30 minutes and turn it back on and repeat until you've got an inch. What this does is waters the ROOTS, rather that just watering the FOLIAGE. Watering the foliage makes the humans happy---but not the plants! By watering deeply and not too often (once a week should be enough for established grass or perennials), as the surface of the soil dries, the roots grow deeper looking for the moisture that's still in the soil. This establishes large, healthy root systems which almost always means healthy, good looking plants above ground too. There are also a whole lot of Xeric perennials that will require very little supplemental watering after they are well established--usually after about the first year. Paulino's and Timberline have great Xeric Perennial sections. If you stop by Paulino's, be sure to ask for one of their perennial catalogs. It lists everything by Latin name only, but you can start to look up some of the Xeric ones in books and online and see what a great selection there is. If you want to get a really good basic perennial book (and Paulino's should carry them again this year), get the Heritage Perennials, Perennial Gardening Guide by John M. Valleau. It has lots of pictures and brief, simple descriptions with information that is unusually accurate for our high plains conditions. It's about $15. If you can't find it, ask John at the front desk for it! The reason I suggested the things I did is because of our current drought! Since you've got a blank slate to work with, if you start with a lot of xeric perennials (and consider the ornamental grasses too--they're great!), in a couple years you won't need to be using or spending a lot of money on water. For the things you want that aren't drought tolerant, group them together in beds that you'll water more frequently. If you mix the xeric and non-xeric, you'll need to water everything more! Since I'm sure you'll be putting grass in somewhere, you might want to put the non-xeric stuff near the grass areas where they can be watered along with the grass--how about a big perennial bed right in the middle of the grass?!! Don't be afraid to experiment! Half the fun of perennial gardening is the trial and error of it. Some things work--and some don't. There's always next summer! And there's always all winter to be looking at books and catalogs and planning and dreaming. I do definitely recommend using some kind of mulch around whatever you plant. I prefer small bark mulch around perennials, and I found you can get the big bags fairly cheaply at Lowes. If you prefer rock mulch, that works too (but it sure is a lot heavier to work with!). Whatever you use, you need something to help conserve the moisture and to keep the soil surface soft so the water soaks in rather than running off. And certainly don't be embarrased to be "50 and moving into your first house"!!! Just be glad that now you can "get down and dirty!" After all, some people live in apartments or condos their whole life. I'm considerably older than you, and the older I get, the more fun it is to learn new things! Oh, how I wish I had a lot as big as yours! Start looking in books and actually getting out to look at plants, and before long you'll want one or ten of each! A lot of things can be grown from seed, which can save you a lot of money, but it will take a lot longer to get a large plant. But you get to watch them while they're growing! I love to grow things from seed. It's incredible what you can get from a tiny, little seed! For this year at least you might want to consider putting in some annuals for color and to help that bare look you're going to have at a new house. Even just a few large planters or whisky barrels overflowing with annuals will help (and would be easy to water). I'm not a big annual person, but they are great for a lot of color. Have fun learning and deciding what you're gonna do, and happy gardening, Skybird

Think about it this way: English Ivy could be your friend, but your neighbor's foe. English Ivy is one of my absolute favorite plants. I just can't have enough of it. But please, please, please think of your neighbors when you plant invasives! You might be willing to live with the nature of an invasive plant that you love, but think about your neighbors. I wouldn't want my neighbors to plant things that could, in time, take over my carefully planned garden, so I don't plant things in the ground that could take over their garden. I respect that they have their own plans for their yards, because I want them to respect that I have my own, different plans for my garden. English Ivy is sneaky. It doesn't just jump up and start acting like Napoleon. First year it sleeps, second year it creeps, third year it leaps. It waits until you think it's not so bad and perfectly controllable, then it pounces. Pruning is not enough to control it--it spreads by runners above AND under ground. So you never know where it will pop up (it can pop up several feet or even several yards away from the original plant--which means it can pop up right in a neighbor's yard, and keep popping up there again and again). And it's worse than a mere weed, cause it may not only be unwated, it can also damage property (it can choke trees and other plants, and if left alone because it isn't seen, can latch onto bricks and eventually destroy the bricks and other structures). But, as I mentioned, I love my English Ivy. I grow it in containers (hanging baskets, up a trellis from a window box, etc) over cement (my porches) so that even if it touches the ground (unlikely, but you never know if part will break off) it can't root. And I grow a TON of it in the house as a houseplant. But never, ever, ever in the ground. : )