So, I need a shady spot in my yard - somewhere to hang pots of begonias and fuschias and where my hostas and astilbes will actually thrive and be happy. Also, somewhere where the kids and I can drag a blanket over and comfortably lay around and read.

What I was thinking of doing was planting some bushes in a semi-circle off of the East side of my house (which is the only place that is at all shady during any part of the day.

So - what to grow? Ideally I'd like something that can be heavily pruned if need be - I don't want anything super tall or out of control. I also want something deciduous so that the light isn't totally blocked to my kids' rooms (they have big windows on that side of the house) during the winter.

Originally I was going to just make a bed and plant cleomes and sunflowers to create it - but this summer of no heat has made me realize that sometimes those plants don't get tall enough to create any shade until almost winter, so that won't work very dependably.

I was thinking maybe lilacs or Nashiki willows? Our soil is pretty dry, but willows seem to love it. I have some Nashiki willows in gallon pots that I grew from cuttings this summer. The one that I have in the ground seems to grow pretty fast.

I also have tons of lilac suckers I could move over there - my worry with them is that I really don't want this 'hedge' to get over 10 feet tall or too thick - not really sure how easy lilacs are to keep under control? The ones I have are really small and not doing much - gonna prune half of them heavy next Spring and see what that does - but the hedge we had when I was a kid was HUGE and I don't want anything like that in this spot.

Well, I'd love any ideas or suggestions you might have!

Thanks!