The recommendations could be endless.

I see a fence in the back ground in the other photo. Is that your property line or do you own the entire hill? I am not sure what I am looking at there. I am thinking the fence is only to keep the dog in.

If you own the entire hill then Katy bar the door. The recommendations, ideas, would be endless. I can see a lot of cool things being done on that hillside.

On the other hand if you want to re screen the small off set to block out the hillside I wouldn't think that would be a problem other then deciding the look you want there in regards to color and height and then set back and prepare to wait a long time to achieve that goal.

Does your dog own that house? Very nice. I would think you would put a easy chair or glider on the front porch for him/her. Maybe add a window or two. Small conifers around the foundation for that special look. Something to think about.

Seriously. If you own the hill to the street that would be cool and we can help but we need to know.

Best ,

Dave

Thanks Dave. Yes, the little house belongs to our pup, front porch and little window. Our property goes all the up the hill with the usual utility setbacks. It's a rather dramatic slope so erosion control is important. I welcome all ideas.

Several avenues to take here depending upon how much time and money you are willing to put forth.

A fast track approach would b to plant the hillside in species interspersed with some of your larger growing dwarf uprights and deciduous counterparts.

If you want to go deeper then you can haul in rock and build ledges boulder piles to give more character to the hill. A dry creek bed would be a consideration. Just giving you a few choices. Gradually add more diversified rarer dwarfs with high impact color and build you a show place. It will take longer to complete and over time you will have spent a wheel borrow full of money. The choice is yours. Have fun.

Either way you need to draw a to scale plan of the area. Base all your sizes on the 10 year growth rate. You have to start somewhere to prevent over-crowding. Don't get in a hurry and always by that special conifer when you see it for sale if it figures into your design. It may never come your way again or take years to find another one.

You live in one of the best areas in the country for conifer availability. Do your home work. Have a plan and implement it.

It will be fun but not without challenges.

Best,

Dave

Thanks Dave for the good advise. Today I purchased 4 Lelandii's and 3 Castlewellan's. Plus 5 pacific wax myrtles, a coast redwood and 1 cryptmeria elegans. I also have on hand 9 foot tall coast redwoods, 2 serbian firs, 2 running bamboos, and 2 coral bark maples. All well be planted interspersed and staggered. Later in the year I can dig and transplant native spruces and hemlocks. This is a start and in time I can remove and plant more as varieties come to me. For now, it's getting trees planted and get going on the privacy screen. Do you or anyone else ever use root master vitamin B1 during transplanting? I'm of the notion of digging a hole and good watering and leave it at that but some have recommended the root master. Also we have a great supply of decayed manure that we will use as mulch. Hopefully the end result will be asthetically pleasing as well as functional. Thanks, again.

Looks like you are off and running with this project

A good plan.

No I never amend my soil and everything does fine. Personally I am not a big believer of it but then again I have good soil to work with.

Dave