Love your pictures. Looks like everything is filling in nicely. My shrub border was started around the same time as yours I think. There are still some gaps but I'm working on it. Trying to make it look nice is a challenge. I don't want my neighbors to complain. lol

Rita - Is your shrub border right on your property line?
I planted mine about 10 or 12 feet in to give the shrubs room to spread out and have been planting lower shrubs and perennials on both sides. I'd rather not be maintaining perennials on my neighbor's side of the shrub row but that's the sunny south side where a lot of my plants would rather be. It doesn't make a lot of sense for me to plant a long shrub row for privacy and then garden on the other side of it though. lol
I think I've made some mistakes and wish I could roll the clock back and start over. I'm afraid my biggest mistake is going to be planting shrubs that sucker too much. My gray dogwoods are suckering out further than I thought they would and I've already planted lower shrubs and perennials where they want to spread. Where I pull out one sucker, a few more come up in a clump.
How do you maintain your shrub border on your neighbor's side or do you?

The shrubs are planted right up to the neighbors property line. I don't have ten or twelve feet to spare in my small side yard. Everything does grow my way instead of towards the neighbors though because their side of the yard is heavily shaded by a big (taller than their two story house) cut leaf maple.

Lovely photos! I've been reading here on Gardenweb for two years and gone back through many old threads that you've posted on about your gardens. It's great to see what they look like!

It is amazing how many plantings and how much color you have in what looks to be a fairly small yard. It looks like a wildlife paradise. Approx. how big is your lot?

I love the "jungle effect" and I want to continue to make my yard more and more of a wildlife habitat, just as you did. Except near the house, I keep the vegetation mostly cleared back from the house with some lawn. This is mostly because vegetation next to a house harbors moisture, as well we have a serious problem with deer ticks in this area, which don't like mowed grass.

Thanks for posting these!

Rita i am so envious of your shrubs and berries! I am reading all your posts and learning soooo much! I am still so confused about viburnums though. The pollinators we need for everything is what is so confusing in berry production. If they would just sell both plants or at least tell you what you need for berries it would be so much better. I am so impressed with your serviceberrys that i have been looking on line for them and am contemplating adding all kinds of berries to our yard for the birds and animals. Thanks for giving such detail. I live in Tenn. with clay soil so it can be tricky. New wildlife gardener here.~~~~Bonnie

Rita! Thanks for the pictures...finally ;0) Nice to finally see all that you've done. I don't see the winterberries though, where are they located?

Bonnie, we lived just north of Chattanooga from July of 03 to Dec of 04. Where abouts are you located? You can do what Rita did! We had icky clay soil and lots and lots of rock. A pick-ax was my best friend down there. Couldn't use a shovel or a spade for anything. If you go with straight species of viburnum (the native ones) you don't need a pollinator.
Here's just a sample of what I did in that short stint we did down there. There was nothing in the front yard at all, all the plants were added by me.

I'm to far away to really make out what all is in there. There's a small Liriodendron, serviceberries, virbunums, chokeberry, 3 different fothergilla's, Franklinia, sumac's, fringe tree, silky dogwoods, gray dogwoods, crabapple, etc etc. But this is what it looks like now

Pretty sad, huh?

You mean you sold the house and they ripped everything out? How awefull!

The Winterberries are on the just past the zinnias.

This picture is shot from on top looking down into my patio.

Then turn just a little to the left and you can easily see some of the winterberry shrubs on the hillside as you are looking down into the side yard.

Then turn alittle more and look straight at my neighbors house from the top of my yard.

Pretty much the same view. Their garage is behind thesae shrubs although its hard to believe because you can't see it.

Here I am back dowstairs looking at the shrub border. This would be facing the street, the opposite of the views I first posted were you were looking back from the front yard into the back.

A slightly different angle.

Now if I move into the side yard and look towards the street, this is what I see. The telephone pole is on the street in front of the houise so that gives you an idea of the fact that this yard is not really that big, it just lives the illusion because you think you are at the edge of a woods.

Now I am in the street looking towards the right.

Now in the street looking toward the left.

Now I have walked over to the driveway and am standing near the very end view of the previous picture and am looking back in the direction I came from. Shows the view of the front yard very near the street.

Hi Terry your house was amazing! What happened?! You sold and new owners destroyed your beautiful yard? That was such a lovely yard and all the work you put in. That is so sad :-(
I live right next to Lynchburg Tenn. where they make Jack Daniels whiskey. We are about an hour from Chattanooga.
To bad you weren't my neighbor because we would have had so much fun planting stuff. I have new neighbors who just moved in next to me a few months ago and the man hates flowers and birds and chopped all the beautiful shrubs and flowers all down. He then fussed at me about MY BIRDS pooping on his truck, which he parked under a tree. Some people just dont respect nature and have to spoil it, it is so sad :-( Well your house was beautiful when you had it and i would want you to help in design any day. So sorry your beautiful work was destroyed and what a loss for the environment.
Bonnie

My husband had worked for a manufacturing company for 25 yrs when they announced they were closing up here. Where'd they'd been since '53, and moving down to Chattanooga. They asked my husband to go too, so we sold our house up here. The one that I had landscaped for the 21 yrs we had lived there, and moved down there. We bought that house, new construction, but I told the builder I didn't want any grass, only bring in dirt and grade it please. The grass is only there because the builder insisted. Then I set about landscaping. You might say I was a little obsessed with the whole thing ;) After we'd only been there for 2 months, the president at the time came onto the plant floor and announced that if production and productivity weren't up in 2 weeks, they were shutting the doors. I didn't stop and they didn't close. But, my Sept. of 04, I knew it was just a matter of time. The company had filed for bankruptcy and were just waiting for a buyer. But would the new owners keep the plant as is? Or would they send it all down to Mexico? I just couldn't take it anymore and our daughter (we have a now 24 yr old disabled daughter) and I, kept coming "home" more and more and staying longer and longer. Finally I told my husband I just want to come home. I had never lived anywhere but here. Born and raised in this town, and I just wanted home. So we sold. Before the closing, I asked if they wanted the plants. Yes, the wanted them all, they loved it. I asked again before the closing. Yep, they wanted them. I asked again at closing, yep they wanted them. I even called the realtor we used down there in about March of 05 and asked her to call them and see if they still wanted them all. If not, I'm on my way. She called them and yes, they wanted them. Come to find out, they hadn't mowed once since we'd closed on the house Dec 16th. I later heard that the weeds were taller than the plants. I called Craig, my friend down there who finally drove by and called me. He was outraged. He knew the work I had done. Even in the listing, it said "lovingly landscaped". I left them a letter, telling them all about the plants and how much it hurt me to leave that yard. I didn't care a rip about that house, it was the plants and the nature down there that I was going to miss so bad. I still miss that land. We had almost an acre and the builder only cleared what he needed to build the house. All native trees in the rest of the lot. I planted various native shrubs and understory trees in there too. I also told the new owners who to go to, who to ask for and for free, he would come and tell them what was what. They didn't. When I took those last photos of what it looks like now, they were home and didn't realize who I was, taking pictures of "their" house. They just sat in their van! It was pretty funny really. I walked up, said who I was, and just merely said "You didn't like the landscaping, eh?" That's when they told me that they just weren't gardeners. No! Really? I didn't say anything about all the work, all the money they threw away. Because that's what they did. The neighbor told me they rented a skid steer and just ripped everything out and down the sloped back yard and dumped them all. My husband and Craig didn't want me to go. My husband knew that no matter what anybody said, I was going. Craig thought I'd just cry. Well, I didn't. I was too shocked and actually I laughed at the people's stupidity. They threw away what was going to be just gorgeous. Shame on them. Shame on me for believing that they'd leave it how it was! They asked no one if they wanted plants. Not neighbors, not friends or family. They just tossed them down the hill. I didn't exactly get along with the builder either. Me being a yankee and all...lol. Actually, it was more of me being a strong woman that he objected to, yet on the other hand, he admired I know. We saw him too. I just kept repeating to him...and you thought I was bad? Seriously? You thought I was bad?? LOL! Should of seen the look on his face. Priceless.

Bonnie, if you ever get down to Hixson, go to Holcomb Garden Center there on 153. Ask for Craig and just tell him Terry from IL sent you. He'll know exactly who you mean. He's an expert on which viburnum will pollinate what other one. He's still my go to guy. Also, Reflection Riding Arboretum and Botanical Garden has a native plant sale 2 times a year. They're having another one this Sept, I believe. It's a great place to go and buy some really nice priced native plants. Here's the link http://www.reflectionriding.org/index.html
and then click on upcoming events. You'll love it. Tell your neighbor that he can....ya know? Good grief. Park the truck someplace else then. And yes, we would have fun! Wanna move to IL? Coz I'm sure not moving back to TN! lol

Yes Rita, I see them now! It looks very nice. If you have any lemonade, I'll take a glass and I'll meet you in back.....

Oh Terry!! I dont blame you for being so upset! What an absolute waste of your time and money. Why didn't those bad people just let you have your plants instead of lying and then tearing them out. If you ask me that was spiteful and stupid of them. I love my plants soooo much i told my husband if he ever wanted divorce he could not have the land because of all the new trees and flowers and shrubs i have so lovingly planted and watered! LOL. I told him he could have the cars and all the other stuff! He laughed and told me i was silly and we were never getting divorced but i just want him to know the land with my plants are MINE! My plantings are no where near as beautifully landscaped as yours but i still love every single one of them :-)

Thank you so much for the advice and the good places to look because i really am just getting started with the berry producing trees and bushes and need all the help i can get!! I love birds and wildlife so much i just want to help them as much as i can because it is harder for them to find food because of loss of habitat. This is just my second year of planting things to help. My whole yard is chain link fence and i want all kinds of native and food producing vines to run on the fence. I was also wandering about the fringe trees if they help with food berries or not. I have planted 2 crab apple trees and two hawthorn trees and have four dogwood trees and i also planted two birch trees but they may not do to good here do to the heat and drought we get here. What about cherry trees? Do animals and birds like them or would they like bush cherries better? I have been to the edible landscape website and they have great stuff but being so new to this im afraid to get the wrong things. Right now we are in a severe drought and it is sooooo hard to dig this clay. A friend of mine tried to dig and then decided to use his tiller and it just bounced. LOL. So i am having to wait till fall and pray we get some rain! I dont blame you for not wanting to move back to Tennessee they can be jerks here but IL. is just to cold for me! I am to wimpy :-) The first big snow and i would probably fall right into a snowdrift and not be seen again till the spring thaw!!

Thanks again for the info and if you have any suggestions or advice i would greatly appreciate it :-) Again i am so sorry and saddened about what they did to your beautiful yard and landscaping. Some people are absolutely clueless!
Bonnie

You already answered the question Bonnie, because they're stupid and clueless. I have no idea on why they were so adamant about wanting them and then didn't do anything but yank them all out. My nasty side wants them or at least her, to get bitten by the gardening bug and then to realize what they tossed down the hill behind the house! Serve 'em right. Those pictures up there of when we lived there, were taken before we even thought about moving. So all those bags of mulch had been spread, rocks were used to outline the grassy areas. I took pictures, but my camera pooped out on me and somehow, the pictures were all lost. For a cherry tree, an absolute bird magnet is the Wild black cherry (Prunus serotina). Another good one is the American Plum (Prunus americana). On that lot, we had Northern red oaks (Quercus rubra), Sour Gum (Nyssa sylvatica), Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum), Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) and also Crossvine (Bignonia capreolata). The Liriodendron tulipifera is the state tree and one to surely have. In the back yard, I had an American holly (Ilex opaca), winterberries (Ilex verticillata), viburnums, native serviceberry. I wanted, but never bought, Northern bayberry (Myrica pennsylvanica) and Spicebush (Lindera benzoin). I also had Strawberry bush (Euonymus americana), American beautybush (Callicarpa americana), Fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica), Red buckeye (Aesculus pavia), Bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora)....and I can't even think of all that I had.

I still am in contact with people down there and they tell me all the time how bad that drought is. When we moved down there in July of 03, it was just after the flood! What a difference, huh? Wimpy for snow? I love snow. I think I missed that the most living in TN!! Forget my parents and my siblings and their families, I missed snow! LOL! I am seeing more and more butterflies around here. This morning I discovered a Black Swallowtail caterpillar! I'm happy ;) I think the ecosystem that exists here in this town is so out of whack. So anything I can do to bring it back, I'm doing. Bonnie, you can e-mail thru my page....maybe Rita would like her thread back....lol....Sorry Rita! ;0)

Here is a link that might be useful: TVA Native Plants

Rita your pics are great!! Im not good enough to distinguish what the different types are but your shrubs look wonderful and very happy. Everything looks so nice and all your plants are thriving. I am soooo envious. Is there anything that you planted and really wished you hadn't? A big disappointment for you? I just planted a black sambucus and two blue muffins and now i am worried i may not get berries. I wish i had found this forum before i started planting stuff. I planted two snowball viburnums about two years ago and they hardly never have blooms and lose all their leaves in the summer. I planted them in full sun like it was stated but they always look so bad, im wishing i had not wasted my space. I also bought six sweet mock orange bushes at the same time and they have no scent and thats what i wanted them for. So i am bummed out by what appears to be a waste of space. I was new to planting and bought them at wal-mart thinking i would have lovely snowballs and wonderfully scented mock orange bushes. Wrong! So i have learned to be more careful but now i am worried about pollinators because i want berries for the birds and wildlife and am scared i will mess up again if i purchase something. LOL. At least i can look at your lovely photos and be happy for you! Do crab apple and hawthorn trees need pollinators too? I have planted two of each but they are still really small so it will be awhile before they make fruit anyway. I was thinking of getting another crab apple (red one), a fringe tree, and cherry tree or bushes. I also bought two grape vines but i haven't put them out yet. I do have wild grape growing and I leave the poke berries the birds love them. So at least i have some berries. Maybe i should just let mother nature plant for me, then i couldn't pick bad stuff. LOL~~~~~Bonnie

Terry thank you so much and i am going to get busy and try to find all the plants you have suggested. Thank you, thank you ,thank you! I do have the tulip tree planted in a back corner because they get so big and my yard is only 100ft wide and 200ft long. So the bigger trees just wont fit but all the small ones you have suggested i am going to find.
I had two little black swallowtail cats too but i think my little birdies ate them, probably because i didn't have enough berries! LOL.
Sorry Rita!! I get overeager sometimes and just rattle on and on. I hope one day i can have a lovely place like yours :-)~~~~~~Bonnie

Your welcome Bonnie! E-mail me or post about what you're planning on planting and we can all chime in. I think the black elderberry is grown more for it's foliage than anything else. The regular old Sambucus canadensis would be better for what you want. Your lot is larger than mine! I have the Liriodendron in our side back yard. They get big, but none that I've seen have been like an oak can get. Liriodendron seem to get more tall than anything. The spread isn't really huge. If you can get your hands on a Viburnum dentatum, the native species, it should pollinate your blue muffin. Plus they're gorgeous! The snowball viburnums are sterile. I don't ever buy a plant from Wal-Mart, unless it's an annual and even that's iffy. Anymore, I don't bother with annuals. If they came from Wal-Mart and were cheap like they typically sell their plants, I wouldn't think twice about yanking them out. The birds might not of gotten the BST cats, they tend to move further into the foliage. I have this plant that just appeared beside the house. I posted a picture of it on another website and the consensus seems to be that's it pokeweed! I have no clue where it came from, I know probably a bird, but I sure never see any pokeweed around town. I believe that hawthorn and I know crabapple are self fertile. The don't need a pollinator.

We all make mistakes when we first start gardening. Ask questions and do research on the plant you're thinking of buying before you buy.

Thanks Terry that makes me feel better. Im going to look for a couple of V. dentatum natives on line and see what i can find. Glad to know the crab and hawthorns will not need a pollinator. That is a relief :-) I love my poke berries and i have one right now that is almost 9-10ft tall and covered in berries. It looks like a small tree and very bushy. I have about 10-12 poke berry bushes right now and a lot of people consider them weeds but they are native and i just let them grow where they want because the birds can hardly wait for the berries to ripen and they gobble them up. I think they are an attractive plant with purple stems and lovely purple red berries that look like small grape clusters. They are perennial here, so every year i get more and more and they are so hardy. You can also eat the leaves and they are very nutritious. A lot of people here cook them and scramble them with eggs and call it poke salad. It is very tasty but i leave mine for the birds i love :-)
I have ordered three red wing cranberry bushes and they should come in this month some time. Do you have any experience with them? Do you think part shade would be okay because i think the sun may burn them up here.
Rita your yard is such an inspiration! I hope to have such lovely shrubs and flowers as you some day. Beautiful work. Thanks for sharing your pics. You should really be proud, you definitely have a green thumb and maybe hand too :-)~~~~~~~~Bonnie

Hey Terry did you get my e-mail yesterday it was really long. Im scared to send another because something may be wrong. I will try a short one, let me know if you see it.~~~Bonnie

No Bonnie, I'm sorry. I haven't gotten anything. It should come thru gardenweb, and there's nothing from here in my inbox or even in spam boxes. Let me try to send you one and see if it goes thru.

And yes! I have Redwing viburnum. It's not very large yet (about 3 ft tall), but is growing consistently. It was planted last year, so the roots are probably establishing itself. I have mine in a north west location. The sun isn't as intense as it is down there, so I think being in some shade won't hurt it all. My friend Craig that lives down there, has lots and lots of viburnums and all in shade. They all bloom and fruit just fine!

Terry I tried the e-mail again, sorry ,it says the message was sent. Wonder whats wrong? I will definitely plant the red wings in part shade because it does say zone 7 and no higher so i may be pushing it. Hope they will be okay they are so pretty.~~~~Bonnie

Bonnie, I sent you an e-mail to the yahoo address you have listed. It should be in your inbox by now.

Part shade and if you can, shade in the afternoon. It's always hotter then, so it's better if they can get some relief at that time.

I got it Terry! Thanks for taking the time with me :-)