i am visual ... any chance at a pic???

i wasnt aware that zones changed at the canadian border ... and being from metro detroit.. i knew a lot of CA gardeners ...

ken

I thought they did... will send you a pic momentarily

[IMG]http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa422/Splaker/IMAG1056_zpsdsg1rcz6.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa422/Splaker/IMAG1057_zps0oydm31y.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa422/Splaker/IMAG1055_zps439c0gd2.jpg[/IMG]

does that help?

yes ....

if you load to PB from your hard drive.. then you could just load them here without PB ...

i think you were standing on your deck ... one tree.. 15 feet out from the deck.. could block the whole problem.. in many years shorter.. than dealing out at that fence line

ken

but what you don't see is a pool... our pool is on the other side (opposite of the fence line... and when I am standing midway point of my pool, I can see into 3 yards! and they can see me! My wife and I love privacy... the neighbours have an annoying and creepy 25 year old overgrown teenager who we'd rather screen out.

maybe some burning bushes would work too... but I like the idea of the coppertina or wine ninebark since they offer some contrast to the green viburnum..

btw, the viburnumns are being eaten voraciously by those beetle larvae thingies

How bout the thuja green giant evergreens?? Then to add color you could plant in front of them with flowers, colored bushes, etc? The green giants grow VERY big VERY fast!!

how big? and do you mean to place them b/w the arrowwoods? Or rip them out and put all green giants?

Rethink your monoculture approach and diversify your plantings. If you go to the New England forum and look at "NHbabs'" posts you'll
see pictures of her beautiful mixed shrub and tree borders. They may be a
bigger scale than you want, but they could certainly be translated for
your use.The problem you are having with the beetles
would be far less noticable if you had a border of mixed woodies. That
way when one plant has a problem and you need to remove it, there's just
one hole in the border which can be easily filled.

If good replacements are too wide, you might consider removing one or more of the blue muffins and replacing it with a less vunerable plant.

In case you still want viburnums , Dirr has a list of viburnums that are beetle resistant.
Check the habit of those ninebarks before you buy. Some are quite fountain shaped and might have a wider spread than you want. Viburnum tomentosum plicatum is beautiful and dense and doesn't get "the beetle" in my yard. There several cultivars smaller than the well known "Mariessi"

I have one "green giant". I'm not great with eyeballing measurements, but after 5 years in the ground I'd say it is a heck of lot wider than 6 feet and isn't showing signs of slowing down yet.

Check out MOBOT for good plant evaluations. The Chicago Botanic Garden does stellar plant evaluations.

At the library check out Michael Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs. You sound like you're into gardening for the long run and any one of his books would serve you well for a lifetime
of gardening. They are well written and meaty enough to get you through some long winters too.

You could have a lot of fun with this project experimenting with new plants.

Mrtulin.. great info. I agree and love the idea of a mixed border/row... it is far more pleasing to the eye and stimulating. I will check those sources

just looked into the Mariessi... says zone 6A. This is what I meant when i said our zones seem to differ... it won't be reliably hardy in my zone then... we got down below -20 F last winter on several occasions...

Had a hard time find mixed border pictures from NHbabs posts... Will try to search mixed shrub/tree boarders on google

NHBabs, amazing pics.. you've done some great work on your garden. Since this is a long-term solution/fix, I am going to go about this carefully... I will either PM you or post questions here as I go along. At the moment, I will put this off. I think I am aiming for the later half of August, which is when our perennial shrub/flowers sales are in full force. We've spent quite a bit of money this spring since we've moved in so budget is a bit tight right now. I am looking at amending over 80' so it's a fair bit of space for us.

I really do like what you've done and would apply a similar strategy myself. The mixed border is much more stimulating to the eye.

Thank you and I'll be in touch soon...

We had the clearing done in spring, and I spent the summer reading and visiting nurseries to see what was available and prepping the area for planting before putting in plants in fall. So taking your time, saving up, and working on improving the soil over the summer is a good idea. Check out whether your community has free compost available, and if so, pick up a bunch. Or check out places like freecycle or Craig's list to see if there is free or cheap manure available or start your own compost pile. You can also start sheet composting (AKA lasagna gardening) with any organic matter available on the site where you will be planting.

I only briefly mentioned them above, but I can't say enough good things about the full-sized Hydrangea paniculata cultivars like Limelight, Quickfire, Vanilla Strawberry, Pinky Winky, Tardiva, etc. They boom for a long time (at least two months) and I like to leave the dried flower heads on for winter interest and to make them appear denser in winter and then prune them off in spring. From tiny starts, just rooted cuttings, they have grown to over my head in 4 years. It is fine in full sun to part shade and is plenty hardy enough for you. If you know someone with one, you can start your own from cuttings as they are one of the easier plants to root. My favorite is Quickfire, shown in its fall color in the second photo from the bottom. In my garden it starts blooming a full month ahead of the other types, the first week of July, with white flowers that gradually turn to that luscious cherry pink for the fall. I also like the loose more rounded shape of the flower heads vs the denser more cone-shaped heads of many of the others.

Which blue spruce is that? I want to plant one along the fence line but I'd rather select a slower growing cultivar.. is there a blue spruce that doesn't grow too large (at least not within the first 20 to 30 years) - or am I asking too much?!

I love the Korean Fir (as it doesn't grow very large) but VERY expensive here.. $300++ for just a 6'

You want a "conventional" cone shaped one? Montgomery Blue grows more horizontally and very slowly up. Beautiful blue. I don't think Fat Albert gets so tall), but it is wide. Beautiful blue and form is great. I have a tall narrow one but darned if I can remember the name. Grows in some shade!

Mine is Fat Albert, but as Marie said, it is wide. It will need to be removed eventually so as to not shade the solar panels in the background, but I should have a bunch more years before needing to remove it.