How about Pineapple guava? Grows very fast.

Pineapple guava is a good choice...but I wouldn't call them fast. Same with osmanthus fragrans, the "tea olive". Another good choice.

well, we planted 5 shrubs 3 years ago in 3 gallon containers. The hedge is now about 10 ft tall. No irrigation either. That was fast enough for me!

Wow. I WOULD call that fast. My own PG's were planted in June of 2002 as 3 footers and are now just 4 1/2 feet.

Well, I know there will be mixed responses to this plant suggestion. I used to have countless oleanders, but began chopping them down and digging them up as I tired of them. All I have remaining out of about 50 is 2 variegated ones, and then 4 with the fuschia blooms that are along my drive between me and my redneck neighbors. Well, I have kept them pruned, and within a year and a half, they are an everblooming unsee-through-able hedge. My drive is about 350' long, and I have a hedge of various plants 90% of the way down it. I have planted banana trees with alocasias and purple sugarcane which QUICKLY made a soid mass/hedge. I have a large pineapple guava with 2 closely planted strongly-yellow-variegated ligustrums on either side. They grew all together and made a cool mass of foliage that is also solid. Depending on the degree/intensity of hedge that you want, I also have a solid mass of the variegated arundo donax between me and another neighbor. You can't even begin to think of seeing through it! But it's 15' tall probably. Then I planted 3 pampas grasses about 4 feet apart and then planted a row of lorapetalum right in front of them. Can't see through that. They all grew very fast, but I think that also depends on your soil. I've had maybe 90 dumptruck loads of compost delivered that I've mixed into my entire yard, so it's extremely rich soil and everything grows like there is no tomorrow! I planted 3 'knock-out' roses a year and a half ago along my front property. They're advertised to be maybe 3'X 3', or 4' X 4'. But mine got about 7' X 7'. I have to keep them sheared up, and I had to dig the one up in the middle and move it, just leaving the outer 2. The link is of the 2 roses to show you what I'm talking about, plus you can see the arundo donax (giant reed grass) on the right side of the picture. Since we live in such warm places, I opt for maximum impact, tropical, stop-traffic kind of arrangements........thus my garden. Hopefully this will give you some ideas. And I have jillions of extra plants if you need any! Barry

Here is a link that might be useful: roses at community.webshots.com/user/goldpianogarden

Beautiful pic. Where do you live in SE GA?

I live in Brunswick. Sure beats living in the mountains in Arkansas! Couldn't grow anything interesting there! Just evergreens! Had plenty of outside Christmas trees to light every Christmas, though! Ha!

I know what you mean. I came from the relative "tundra" of Memphis before moving back...not as cold as Fayetteville, AR by a long shot, but sure a hell of a lot colder than here. Your yard looks great...keep experimening with the tropicals and keep us all posted.

Barry - Thanks for the information and picture. We live in Ponte Vedra (the Palm Valley area) between the Atlantic and the Intracoastal. The soil here is basically reclaimed swamp with a very high water table, but most plants will grow, if not eaten by pests. I'm not fond of oleander (from my California past), but the idea of a mixed screen could be interesting. Another fast grower is bamboo. Have you tried this in your garden? Your garden is fantastic! Looks like a lot of work. Our plans are primarily practical as traffic has continued to expand in front of our home. We haven't tried roses here since we think that they will be suject to mildew. We have various mildew and fungus problems with a lot of our plants. What variety of roses have you been growing and what (if any) problems have you encountered?

maduce: I can tell you that the climbing rose "josephs coat" does well here, as well as the tea "Mrs. B.R. Kant". Mrs. Kant has been in almost continuous bloom and is one of the most fragrant ones out there. Mine were under OVERHEAD irrigation every other night all summer and I had no mildew or fungus problems. I also hardly ever fertilized this cultivar and yet it still blooms and blooms and blooms. I highly reccomend this cultivar! A gal in Wilmington , NC, "ASHEF" or some handle like that, reccomend it to me..and she was right on the money. For a rose on the SE coast, this baby works with no problems.

Yes, I've tried bamboo. I've found that I can control the arundo a little better. I've about gotten rid of all my bamboo. Just spreads too much. And, I've just cleared out 2 spots of the arundo, too. The hurricane winds and rain this year had them sprawled every which way, plus I needed a spot for some other plants. I, too, typicaly can't stand oleanders, but the 3 or 4 along my drive have won my affections so far with their hedge-iness and everblooming characteristics. I only have about 6 or 7 feet between my drive and the property line, so I have to keep narrower things there. The bamboo tends to spread wider, plus flop over and hang over, etc. The 'knock out' roses are the ones I grow. They have a bright cherry red, plus a pink. Absolutely no mildew or bug or other problems. That's the only reason I gave them a chance. I'm not a flower kinda guy, mainly tropical foliage, but they are keepers for sure. I got 'sold' into buying some of the Disneyland roses. I just pulled them up and threw them away a few weeks ago. Diseased and ratty from the beginning. I'm also trying 2 of the Perkins' Honey Perfume roses. They were supposed to have a yellow/fuschia kind of mixed flower. They've only bloomed salmon blooms so far. I would throw them away, too, but most of my aloes around the yard bloom salmon, so they blend in. That's my 2 cents worth!