These are not conifers, but I would consider a combination of Southern Magnolia and American hollies. They are broadleaf evergreens whose beautiful leaves will look great in the Winter + red berries on the hollies. They will grow densely over time and serve as a sound barrier -- perhaps even better than a conifer. I've seen so many people plant white pines around here. They grow very fast, but then eventually lose their lower branches and then you have a double problem -- loss of the screen/shield AND it's hard to grow anything under them to recreate the screen. Hollies and mags will remain leafed and branched to the ground. Edit: Just was thinking that Ilex x 'Nellie Stevens' would be a better choice than American hollies and they're easy to find and grow quite quickly if watered. This post was edited by dave_in_nova on Sun, Jul 28, 13 at 19:11

cannot speak to heat tolerant conifers sad to say but i thought i would speak up for the surprising adaptability of Mexican conifers (Mexican oaks as well) to seemingly very different climates and localities. i have had gratifying success growing a number of species (likely mostly from areas with a summer rainfall maximum) here in the summer cool and dry (winter very wet) pacific north west (oregon coast)---including pinus montizumae, p. patula, p. pseudostrobus, p. estevezii,, cupressus montana, c. guadalupensis, and podocarpus matudae---.wonderful trees that once established seem to do well with little or no additional care.

Well when i say a proper forum i'm not being derogatory to the good people on here,its just that well i post on a lot of forums from all subjects,and GW works really different to what i call a forum-not as bad as yahoo groups tho! Also GW is primarily for gardeners something i don't really enjoy. I love plants but not gardening. And of course most of the trees on here are the garden kind,bred to be as small as possible,to fit in a space. Nothing wrong with that of course but I like to see BIG trees growing in the wild or arboreta etc. I'd love to show you what I grow but all I have is a lowly goldcrest,i just don't have the space or,at the moment,the time. So i see my trees online but find it hard to believe there is not one tree forum out there! If i had the time and money I'd make my own and you'd all be welcome to join and share your sylvian experiences. But as it is all I have is GW with its ads surveys and hangups. Luckily I use my phone a lot and so don't see any ads. It just tends to hang up on me.

Here's a better view of the empty bed that I want to plant something in this Fall (between the Emerald Greens and the Yellow Ribbon and also to the left of the Yellow Ribbon. Secondarily, this is what I see when I walk out my front door and then from the sitting area on my veranda; right on a corner so very exposed. Since unfortunately there's a huge utility pole RIGHT in front of my house, I have to make the best out of a poor situation. I was thinking of having somewhat of a screen eventually with the Ginkgo biloba, Alberta spruce, and Bloodgood Japanese maple; then taper downward toward the walkway with the (please excuse any spelling errors) Picea pungens 'Globosa', Chamaecyparis obtusa, and Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Gold Mop'. Also in that front bed there's Artemisia schmidtiana 'Silver Mound', Sagina subulata 'Aurea', and Sedum acre 'Aureum'. Here's what I have at the other end; a few of which will be getting moved this Fall. This bed consists of Juniperus squamata 'Blue Star', 3 Euonymus (that were salvaged from previous homeowner's beds), Purpleleaf Sandcherry (was also there from previous homeowner but I never moved it due to its size). I replaced the grass around the Sandcherry with what you see here. In this bed there's also Juniperus sabina 'Calgary Carpet', some Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue', Picea abies 'Nidiformis', Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Vintage Gold' (definitely getting moved this Fall; notice right side of plant that's not thriving due to lack of direct sun light...plus it would need to get moved anyway due to proximity to Sandcherry and Euonymus). This is directly in front of my veranda that all I've done is get rid everything that was there except one shrub (planted too close too), and put down some mulch to help suppress weeds until I can redo the walkway into something wider and more flowing, and then figure out what to do. This was from Spring 2011 when I was figuring out the new main walkway. Notice a few less plants. Thank you very much. Looks I'll be doing a lot of reading about the suggestions made :) Regarding the large Alberta spruce beside the entrance; it's unfortunate that it's so close to the house and not in more of an open space. It looks very bulbous in relation to the scale of everything else, but it'll probably stay for a while until the yard is more complete and then I can reassess. Sorry for the large low-end photos.