Just a few million questions...LOL.

Do you want stuff right in front of the windows...or in the lawn area away from the house?

How far from the house?

How tall do you want the barrier?

Would you prefer evergreens so that it's year-round coverage?

Do you want trees or shrubs?

Do you want trees/shrubs that flower or not?

Do you have deer that frequent your yard?

Ok, I think that's all for now! ;)

I would like to plant both near the street, maybe 4-5 foot high, shrub or perinenials. They would have to be hardy. I would also like to plant near the house to enclose the entrance for a little privacy and feeling of intimacy and a little color. No deer, lots of bunnys and squirles. Love the bunnys. Tough climate around here, cold icy winter, hot, windy, humid summers, may be rain in the spring and fall, may not. Thank you for your reply.

Lilacs go well with old houses. They get about twelve -fifteen feet tall, smaller varieties are available too. So do Van Houette spirea (bridal wreath spirea)maybe five feet tall, with a nice arching form and white blooms. Both of those always make me think of older homes.

You can get root cuttings from a lilac, so maybe a friend has one? They aren't the fastest grower though. A very fast grower that roots readily is forsythia. Those are the ones blooming there yellow heads off right now in my area. You can just cut a piece of forsythia and stick it in the ground. It will root. My daughter and I used some forsythia sticks cut the previous year for stakes in her veggie bed last summer. She left them in all winter; they bloomed this spring. They are only about a foot and a half tall, but I bet by next year they will have gained a couple of feet. I potted them up to sell at the 4-H club rummage. ;-)

I actually prefer natives, when I can, but end up having to pay more for those, except the graytwig dogwood that the birds plant. That one prefers a fairly moist location with clay soil.

Good luck.

I'm a huge fan of weigelas and they're really disease resistant and bloom wonderfully. You can usually get them for cheap from any of the box stores (Lowe's, etc). I actually think they run specials of 3/$10 pretty regularly. These would be great up next to the house (depending on the variety/height) b/c they arch and are a little more "airy". Bridal weath spirea (as mentioned above) *is* a really lovely bush.

I wonder about doing a barrier away from the house of tall arborvitae (emerald arborvitae or something like that). THey're fast-growing and then you'd have privacy year-round...not just in summer. Again, I saw these at Home Depot 3/$10 just today!

Hey, you should check and see if there's a plant swap coming up in your area! Also, look in the plant exchanges in your area, you may find someone wanting to give stuff away (I've done it many times here in Indy!). :)

I'll give you more ideas as I come up w/ them.

andrea

Thank you, I will look aound for forsythia, but I am not too keen on conifers. I like broadleaf evergreens but don't realy know of many that do well here except holly. Guess I will try and overcome my shyness, get to know my neighbors better and ask for cuttings. Thank you for the advice.

Whatever you chose, keep in mind that if you put it too near the street you are going to want to make sure it can handle the salt spray in the winter. (Assuming your country uses salt when streets are icy.) Things like arborvitae are ruined by salt.

Depending on the style of house, a nice picket fence with a gate might give you the mental barrier you want. Then plant on both sided of it with pretty flower beds and you can have a very charming look.