(add on what you think of here)

Reasons I like Arbor Vitea shrubs/trees for a windbreak, privacy screen, or just plain hedgerow -

1) They can stand as low as -30 degree temperatures.
2) They stay green all year round
3) They don't drop leaves or seed pods all over, the little bit they do let fall drops inside the foliage and falls along the trunk leaving a nice tight mulch pile right under them.
4) Whatever it says on the tag hanging on them when you buy them is exactly what the maximum size of the shrub will be. You don't have to trim them, you always know right from the start how tall and how wide they will be. They stay like that.
5) They come in all shapes and sizes.

In other words: They are totally maintenance free once you pick out just the right ones, and they look nice all year.

Cypress trees are another good choice IMO
http://www.arborday.org/trees/treegu...ail.cfm?ID=126

 

sounds nice, but its just teasing anytime someone mentions landscaping. this little 2 room flat we live in is driving me crazy!

hopefully will be closing on a house this fall, until then, just being green with envy!

 

Buddy - I hope and pray you get that home.
It changes everything...

And I hope it isn't subject to what an HOA thinks.

Most people pay more for rent than they might have if they were paying a mortgage, and end up with nothing in the long run.

If I had it all to do over knowing what I do now - I'd have gone after a house right from the start instead of waiting.

 

yea, we just moved in from being stationed overseas(just got out of the Navy) arrived here with just the packs on our backs, so needed a place to stay quick! don't plan on staying long at all renting, it is a waste of money!

no HOA's for me, i need an acre and a big garage! and a cool project truck sitting outside that "i will get to one day"

 

We have done a lot of landscaping, boxwoods are real good, I love my Cypress bush, they are expensive, but I found a guy who sells plants at the flea market in Lebanon on weekends, he has a nursery, his prices are great. I'm buying flowering bushes, gotta have color, and they don't require a replant every year, need flowers, but also love greenery.
Can't buy a home on SSI, and can't get a job due to health and the fact the system would put me on my ***, health ins costs on paraplegics is not easy or affordable, working would get me no better of a life. I dream about owning a home, but have been reading, even if I get one willed to me, it will still damage my living.

 

I still have two seabags out in the garage. But one of them is now full of rolls of copper wire!
Come to think of it, there are three. I stuffed an eleven foot Sevylor raft in one of them.

Dang, Mark - I'm sorry to hear that. I wish I knew of a loop-hole to recommend...

 

TIP of the DAY:

LOWES has one gallon size Leyland Cypress trees for five bucks each.

What is a Leyland Cypress you ask? It's an itty bitty plant that eventually gets to be fifty foot tall, and twelve foot wide, but like Arbor Vitea it drops what little mess it makes smack dab under it and never needs trimming.

- That's a whole lotta tree for five bucks...

 

I can generally get them in a 5 gallon for $10, look far better and much bigger than those stores. You have to have the correct soil type for these trees, or you'll waste time and money, I have Cypress shrubs, can't recall the type, got one thats survived 6 years, I baby it, dug it up from previous house, was dug up again when they did sewer work here, damn near killed it, didn't get enough root and left it exposed in the sun. I had many swearing it was dead, we nursed it back though, beautiful shrub, changes colors with the seasons.

 

Even though I'm not planning on staying in TN more than another year or two, I just bought a house in La Vergne. For those who are looking, check out HUD homes. There are some in great shape, and the price is right. Slim pickings right now, but it's good to watch.

The backyard has a row of bamboo trees. They'll look nice in a few years ... long after I'm gone. I'm looking forward to finally being able to landscape something without asking for permission (this is my first house).

 

We lived in La Vergne for a while, in Murfreesboro now, I remember when that city was small, had to go out of it for everything, now it's ballooned. Used to have only one fire department, had 2 anchient fire trucks, Lavergne high school was surrounded by farm land and Sam Rdley out front was bare, didn't even have red lights, leaving the school took effort.