Garden Gal

If you ever feel as if prying eyes are looking right into your home, and you’d love to enable hot tub sessions with maximum privacy from that too-close-for comfort neighbor, this is for you.

The solution to these unwanted invasions is not rocket science. Simply plant a wall of living trees and shrubs to block an undesirable view and create the privacy you desire! Now is the time to plant strategically placed evergreen privacy screens for maximum growth and seclusion in spring. Fall planting encourages fast-growing trees and shrubs to grow maximum autumn roots crucial for a lush wall in the spring.

Many mountain trees offer spectacular autumn colors, but glowing fall leaves light up only one of our four seasons. The best landscape trees shine in every growing season. Maples provide some of the best fall colors. Several are outstanding shade trees through summer, others a great source of sap for syrup, and the smallest flame maples have exceptional drought tolerance in a desert landscape. Tiny trees for tiny yards don’t take up much space. Most offer stellar autumn foliage, and their fragrant spring flowers are an added bonus.

Ground cover plants are beneficial in so many ways. The foliage provides visual interest across hills, between boulders, and down slopes. They also reduce yard maintenance by fighting erosion and suppressing weeds.

Here is the definitive list of local groundcovers grown in the brutal sun or dense shade. Many offer an evergreen solution to bare landscape plots.