Creating a buffer

Since we live in a very neighborly neighborhood, I was very happy when, during the destructive Hurricane Isabelle, we lost our ugly 6' privacy fence. The BackBou built a nice picket fence to match the one of our neighbor to the right so that now I can wave at friends and neighbors in the alley.

I also really like the look of the old brick garage to the left in this picture. And I was fond of the view of my alley neighbor's yard ... until they put up a huge privacy fence. No more borrowed view. And their garage (on the right) is not a thing of beauty. I need a screen. Not a wall, but a screen.

My restrictions: I can't plant anything too high since I have a veggie garden to the right and on the left side of the picture, two Arkansas Black apple tree babies (almost two years old and not much more than whips). I don't want to block too much sun.

So here is my current plan:


Since I recently went to see Richard Bitner's talk "Gardening with Conifers" I knew that I had to try some of his recommendations. However, I love camellias and they grow so well in my yard. I also think I'm going to go with the Juniper "sky rocket" instead of his recommendation of a Thuja "Emerald Green." I'm still on the fence about that. Arborvitae are everywhere (not that there's anything wrong with that!) and I like the color of the Juniper better. The two small blobs are pinus sylvestris "fastigiata" and pinus strobus "nana."

I was going to put in an espaliered Asian pear by the veggie garden, but I think I'm going to have to go with the much easier Hardy Kiwi from my favorite people, Edible Landscaping (they also supplied the apple trees, my blueberries, and alpine strawberries).

I can't wait to start moving and digging! But I will have to wait for at least another month I think ...