Hello west_calgary,

Where I am the municipality uses the road allowance for dumping snow in the winter.
I donÂt know how things are in your area and if Calgary gets enough snow for that to be a consideration.
In my situation that is a major consideration along with the grit which gets dumped with the snow.
One of my early chores in the spring is raking the grit off the lawn.

In my opinion nothing should be placed which would block the view for cars entering the main road from the side street.

One of the things one finds having a corner lot is that some people tend to cut across the corner. If that is troublesome you might consider doing something to discourage that. Something thorny comes to mind.

Hope that gives you something to start with.
Ian

Hi Guy in Calgary!

Do you like Roses? Or will that be too hedge looking for you likes?

Sharon

If people cutting across the corner of your lot is a problem, how about putting some large boulders in the corner and creating a rock garden? There are lots of alpine and low growing plants and shrubs that are drought tolerant and look awsome.

Good luck with your plans,
Laurie

Thanks for the ideas so far. Just regarding the questions: Calgary does virtually nothing to clear residential streets, except those without bus routes, but I could always leave a strip of grass, just to be safe. The area I am referring to is quite far from the intersection, so there is no chance it will obstruct anyones view of traffic. We live on a quiet street, and I haven't seen anyone try to shortcut across our lot, so far. The corner is actually follows quite a wide arc, so there is less incentive to cut across anyway. Roses are certainly a possibility.

Welcome to the forum, West Calgary. My concern would be the dryness of a south facing sight and, if you don't go with xeriscape or drought tolerant plantings, will it be difficult to water on the other side of the fence.
A second caution would be the soil condition of the area. If it holds a lot of clay and 'fill' with a couple inches of black soil on top then this type of soil can be challenging and some shrubs just wouldn't be happy there. Some roses, for example, will suffer an iron deficiency (chlorosis) because of the inability to uptake iron from clay soil. Generally plants that prefer acidic soil will be unhappy in clay, and plants that prefer alkaline conditions will be happy in that same soil. Often plants that prefer alkaline soil are also those that are drought tolerant. Personally I find it much easier and have happier plants when I adjust the plants to the conditions available, instead of adjust the conditions to the plants or shrubs you pick.

My house is south facing, and some foundation plantings I have are lilac, spirea, barberry and purple leafed sandcherry. Although I don't have one, Sambucus (golden elder) would also be a good choice, as would creeping juniper. Some perennials that have excelled in this area and I would recommend are sedum, lilies, baby's breath (Gypsophila), Salvia (Blue Queen and Rose Queen), Artemesia, Liatris, Gaillardia, Nepeta (catmint), Linum (blue flax), Dianthus, Oriental Poppies, Erigeron (Fleabane), Echinacea (purple cone flower), Scabiosa.

Hope you have fun with your landscaping.