We have a spot by our back fence that we would love to put something in :) We are in Illinois, by Chicago. The spot is somewhat of a low area, and is moderately moist but not wet or swampy.

In the back of the spot is a 6ft wood fence, in front of it is a bunch of smallish (2 ft tall ish) bushy evergreen type things (arbortitae maybe?) So we are looking for something tall and relatively thin. In height we can go pretty tall but in width (left to right) it has to stay at or under 10 feet and in depth (back to front) it would have to be smaller, maybe at or under 5 feet. If you can imagine the spot behind the evergreen things leaves something of a half circle.

When we moved in 2 summers ago there was a woody type vine growing there that had a nasty case of powdery mildew and we ripped it up. I am guessing it had to do with lack of air circulation because of the bushes. Now I am looking for something that is midlew resistant and will grow well in a moderately moist spot that has the growth size we need.

This spot is actually the focal point of our yard. When you look out the back sliding glass doors it is the first thing you see, so I want it to be pretty. We have a bird feeder nearby so something that attracts birds or squirrels would be nice. I was at first thinking of some ornamental trees but I think they all get too big; we saw a dwarf river birch we loved but it gets 15x15 and it would be too big for our spot. We also entertained various willows (the variegated bush ones as well as pussy willow tree) but are still undecided. Is a lilac a possibility?

Does anyone have any suggestions of some good choices for us? Thank you in advance!