I have a cottage style house and my front yard is about 50 ft from the house to the blacktop. It is a busy road. I would like to put a white picket fence along this area about 80 long, and on the side closest to the house I want to plant something and then on the other side facing the road I have planted a row of Carlton daffodills and some Pink Naked Ladies I think bloom in Aug. (Surprise lilies) I want to add some stella de oro daylilies and some of those old fashioned lilac colored iris that smell like grape koolaid. So now my dilemma is what to do with the side facing the house. I thought about planting a row of evergreen shrubs, but I don't want anything larger than 4 ft tall at the most and about 4 ft wide at maturity. I need something that does not need to be formally hedged because I am not physically able to do that and my dh won't do it. I thought about Knock out roses, but I have a black thumb for roses. I don't want anything pink or cherry red. So that eliminates roses really anyway. I don't know what to do. I even thought about mixing it up some, maybe some grass plants, and boxwoods? I think of boxwoods as being kind of formal thought and they would need hedging? They would get too big? They would look stupid with the grass? I have some honeysuckle that is evergreenish and has a purple leaf, but I thought it might take over the fence. Do you think I could keep it trimmed from the fence? I need something that doesn't take alot of water as the area is away from my spigot and it is slightly sloped and has semi average to poor soil. Ideas please help me I am going insane thinking about this ! This is a terrible photo but you get the idea. For some reason the yard looks larger in the pic than it actually is, I guess the angle.

Oh, I forgot to add that I have deer here really bad. That is why I thought the daffs would do ok there. I dont think the deer will eat the naked ladies. I do think they eat iris but this is a tough variety so maybe they will survive the occasional deer feast. I hate deer Maybe I don't need a shrub really at all. Maybe I could just plant flowers here that are deer resistant. Thing is it wouldn't offer much privacy to our front yard or look like anything nice in the winter. I don't think deer like lamb's tongue? Do deer eat roses?

What kind of shrubs are those along the area? Will the fence go between those and the road?

Boxwoods are formal looking, but they don't require much hedging till they near maturity. There are slower growing and dwarf varieties available. There are white Knockout Roses on the market, and while I've never tried the white ones, those I do grow require practically no care and are a good choice for those who struggle with Roses. However deer do eat Roses, or so I've heard from other gardeners.

What are the main objectives you hope to achieve with this planting? Privacy? Low maintenance?

Here are a few that should grow in that area without difficulty, and also haven't shown any deer (or rabbit ) damage here. None of these require regimented pruning, and I think the purple and blue foliage plants would look exceptionally nice paired with a white board fence.

Shrubs for nearly year-round interest-





Non-fussy roses that don't require pampering-



A few upright, medium height perennial grasses-

Ninebark had crossed my mind too. I've seen a dwarf variety offered that would work nicely.

well the shrubs there now are some I planted last year thinking they would be green over the winter. They are some type of yew. They turned completely brown/rust color over the winter. I don't know that I have to have something green there all winter, but I don't want anything to look totally dead at least. The length is about 80 ft.

I would like to add some privacy, but my main goal here is to look nice and be low maintenance. I also hope to block the road a little so my poodles don't dart out on the highway when they escape once in a while.

Another evergreen I thought of is dwarf Alberta Spruce. A vertical shape gives a nice contrast to mounding and fountain shaped perennials and shrubs.

Ah, yes! I was trying to remember the name of that one. It's never been bothered by deer either.

Just one quick note about dwarf Alberta Spruce. If any reverted sports occur (return to original white spruce). Be sure to carefully and thoroughly prune it out.
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