Welcome to the Ozarks...I think you will find it has it's upside and it's downside, like any other place you would choose. I grew up about 80 miles away, so I'll leave it to newcomers to say how they like it.

I live West of Branson on the North side of the Lake. I can see the Kimberling City water tower from down on the Lake front.

I think you would do well to choose Kimberling, Forsythe, or just any town in the surrounding area. Branson is so congested with traffic nearly all year long, that it would drive me nuts.

Someone has missed the boat on weather, though. We are zone 6b. Most years we don't go much under 0 degrees F., but every so many years it can go below -10....not often, but just about the time you get to thinking you can grow something that should be kept to zone 7 and south. As for heat....it would be uncommon not to spend a good three weeks with temps well over 90 and sometimes over 100. The humidity is what hurts in this area. It's still better than high heat and no rainfall if you like to garden.

Gardening will depend of where you choose to live. An awful lot of land here is hillside...especially if you are wanting the Lake view. No matter where you choose to live, you will have to build up the soil...it's just harder in some places than others. I live on a hill top, so the top soil has not washed away and we had something to start with.

Give us a more narrow view of what you would like to grow and maybe you can get better answers. Lots of plants to choose from. We do have trouble with fungus type disease in plants here. It's a matter of chooseing the right plants or even particular cultivars, such as apple trees. Some will suffer so bad from Cedar Apple Rust that they are never profitable...most yellow apples have the problem without a constant spray program. I tend to grow what does well here without a constant battle.

Don't know if you know that there is a string of lakes on the White river that were built to control flooding on the lower Mississippe river. East of Branson is the upper end of Lake Taneycomo. (White river flows from West to East) Hollister is another nearby community, South of Branson...no lake. Forsyth and Kirbyville are both on Lake Taneycomo.

Let me give you a heads up about flooding. Make sure you know about the elevations around the lake where you might want to buy. When the Mississippi is experiencing severe flooding, water is held back as long as possible behind all these dams. If you live at Kimberling City, you will have one dam upstream...if at Forsyth or Branson, there will be two. Beaver dam has had trouble in the past, so I am a bit suspicious of the additional 10 feet added to the Table Rock dam. At best, what it means to those who live near it is that it can bring the water up another 10 feet bringing the flood level to 951 feet elevation. This is the extreme case scenario, but still something the unwary may not find out until after they have moved here.

The other problem is getting too close to the "river" (really the upper end of another lake) on the down stream side of a dam. When it can no longer hold the flood waters, they have to release water and people who have forgotten, or didn't know that this can happen loose "things". The old flood easements were set for the original 941 elevation before Table Rock's floodgates were raised 10 feet. Sellers and Real Estate people may not be forthcoming with this info....so buyer beware. Abstracts will show flood easements purchased by Empire Electric back before 1954, but no survey work was done. It will read something like x-number of acres are in flood easement # so and so. The lake was taken over by the Corp. of Engineers before it was ever filled with water, so now we get to deal with Bureaucrats. Also, since there was no survey (and elevation) markers here until about the mid 1980's, you can buy and find that part of your house, patio, stone wall, etc. are over the Government "Take Line", and you will be charged for "use permits" and who knows what in the future. The normal level of Table Rock is 915 to 918 foot elevation...so you can see how much it can rise. I have seen it come to the 941 (top of the old floodgate) level once...it can be scary if you live on the gentle "walk down" that everone wants.

Email me if I can be of further assistance. We have lived on the Lake Front for 22 years, but stuck the house on top of a hill. ;O)

Here is a link that might be useful: East of Branson

Branson and Kimberling are in Stone County...don't know if this will help or not.

Here is a link that might be useful: Branson and West

Welcome to the Ozarks! Kimberling City sounds like a wonderful place to live. The link below has pages and pages of "native trees, shrubs, vines, flowers and grasses" for Missouri. It may give you an idea of what does well here. I generally have to use the garden hose in July and August for some things like hostas and ferns that need lots of water.

Here is a link that might be useful: Missouri Grow Native website

The chart below has average highs and lows, and average precipitation so you can compare if you put in the zip code for Hansville. The one below shows Kimberling City. I don't know why the air pollution index would be higher than the national average. I would think that would be pretty low but I'm not from that area.

Here is a link that might be useful: Living Choices

Ooops! Messed up....I checked a more detailed map and found that part of Hollister is on the upper end of Lake Taneycomo.

Thanks to all of you who responded. I'm enjoying reading all the information - it's very helpful. Could you please tell me if the ice storm of 2000 hit the Branson/Ozark area as hard as it hit in Kansas City and the open plains area? We have frequent power outages here and have a powerful generator for those time. Am wondering if we will have much occasion to use a generator in the Branson/Kimberling City/Forsythe area?
Thanks, Marilynne

I don't remember that we got hit by the one in 2000, but we have had bad ones in the past. On more than one occasion, we have had enough ice to collapse the roofs on the large commercial chicken houses in the area. Hang onto your generator. We have power outages as much from wet snow as ice. So much National Forest in the area that we loose it to snow/ice laden cedar trees, and sometimes it collects on the lines and snaps the poles off.

Just wondered if you are packing up to move yet Loremare. We'll try to keep you posted on garden events for the area later this spring. If you don't mind driving to Springfield, there will be a lawn and garden show February 18-20 that will have some educational type seminars and lots of stuff to look at.

Dear Christie -

Well - we will arrive in Branson to house hunt on Friday, January 28th. Hopefully there will be lots of houses to choose from. We are very excited about our upcoming "adventure". My husband just finished a year of chemo for colon cancer. His colonoscopy was clean and no polyps or cancer were found last week - so we are moving forward with our plans. I will try to get to the Lawn and Garden Show in Springfield Feb 18-20 - we may still be in the area if we haven't found a house. After we find our house, we will hurry back to Hansville WA and get our house sold here. I hope we will be settled in in our new home by April. Wishful thinking? I hope not!!!
Thanks for your e-mail!

Marilynne (Loremare)

Sorry to hear about your husband's colon cancer. My father had colon cancer a few years ago and has had perfect checkups since then. It's always a relief to get a good report.
The Lawn and Garden Show is at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds. Last year I think someone provided a link for the available seminars but I couldn't find one for this year. Maybe it's too early. This link should have directions and other information.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ozark Empire Fair