For your screen I would choose either eastern white pine (pinus strobus) or
hemlock (tsuga canadensis I think). You are going to have a problem
restricting anything to 30' if the conditions are right for it to grow but
you could always trim it. Either will give you a year round screen. The
white pine will grow pretty fast for a conifer with the right light and
soil. Hemlocks, when trimmed back, though, provide a really solid screen.
Balsam fir is also good--nearly as effective as a chain link fence they can
grow so thick. I'd think a few balsam firs in 5 years would provide a
pretty effective border if you started with at least 3 or 4 foot saplings.
Holly makes a good screen, too, but you'll have longer to wait.

For the front I agree with two prior posters who suggested dogwood (cornus
florida) and redbud (cercis canadensis). I'd go with dogwood. "They"'ve
been saying that a fungal blight is going to kill 99% of all the dogwoods
for about 5 years but recently I heard a revised version that suggested it
was only forest-dwelling dogwoods that were most susceptible and if you
don't live on the edge of the woods you may not experience any problems.
Redbud is a great tree but they don't grow quite as large and their blossoms
are early spring and fade quickly. Dogwoods will bloom mid-spring, late
spring, usually. I can't think of many trees that would bloom for more than
a few weeks.

Since you're in VA, magnolias would also be a very good ornamental.

"The Other Harry" wrote in message
...

I recently moved from the California coast to a suburban house
in central Virginia. Waynesboro, to be exact -- which is just
off the west side of the Blue Ridge mountains, not too far
from Charlottesville.

I am not particularly enthusiastic about the current
landscaping in the back, and I am just starting to try to
develop a plan for what I would like to do back there.

As of right now, I am specifically looking for suggestions
about what trees I might plant back there. I am not an
experienced gardener, and I'm certainly no landscape
architect. I know essentially nothing about what does and
does not do well in this part of the world.

What I currently have:

The lot my house sits on slopes down gradually and
consistently to a rear cyclone fence. Behind that fence is an
alley. On the other side of that alley is the rear a
neighbor's house.

The backyard gets a fair amount of afternoon sun. Nothing I
am considering doing back there would change this.

From the rear-most point of my house to the rear fence, my
back yard measures 83' deep and 50' wide. I would guess that
it drops maybe 5' over that distance, but I could be off by
several feet either way. But because my main floor and rear
deck are above a full, walk-out basement, the visual drop off
is much greater than that -- more like 15 to 20'.

The back is currently almost all one big rectangular lawn
(which is not in the greatest of conditions). There are some
helter-skelter plantings down a thin strip on the left side
(facing the rear) and along the back fence. A few of these
would be worth saving, but for the most part they are just
whatever stuff has survived. There never seems to have been
either an original plan or any rhyme or reason to any of it.
There are no "significant" plants, and there are no real trees
-- just some big bushes.

The right side is cyclone fenced but completely open to my
neighbor on that side's backyard. I do not regard that as a
problem; if anything, that it makes my backyard feel even
larger than it is.

There is a modest sized (15'x8'?), rectangular, unused garden
area toward the right rear. Between the garden area and the
house (still on the right side here) there is a clothes line
which does get used.

The household drain runs from approximately the left rear of
my house to the center of my rear fence. I obviously need to
take this into account in where I plant things.

Finally, there is a full gate on the left side of the rear
fence. From that point, one could and very well might someday
want to back a pickup truck straight up the yard to the
basement door. A zig or a zag would be okay, but I don't
think it would be smart to plant in a way that would totally
obstruct this corridor.

What I would like to have:

In general, you may think of me as typical yuppie. I would
like a back yard which is landscaped more naturally. I'd like
to attract the birdies and to have plants and perhaps some
trees that bloom regularly. Minimal maintenance is always
good, but I don't mind some. I would like to get the garden
going next year. I am not the least bit attached to having
such a large lawn area; the lawn does nothing for me except to
serve as a ground cover that requires regular mowing.

Which gets me back to where I came in: Trees

In developing my long-term plan, I think the trees should
probably come first. I may not be able to put them all in at
once, but I would like to work out what they are and where
they will go. I would also like top get started on planting
at least a few of them as soon as possible.

I see two different categories of trees:

- A "screen" category which would be planted approximately
along the rear fence. Ideally, these should probably be
evergreen and grow reasonably quickly to a height of 30' or so
and then stop growing. They wouldn't need to get any taller
than that, and by "grow reasonably quickly", I have something
like a period of five years or so in mind, but I'm not sure
that is realistic. I would very much to be able to sit out on
my back deck and not have to see across the alley into my rear
neighbor's back yard. There are mountains of plastic toys
back there, plus the occasional car. In other words, it ain't
a pretty view.

- An "ornamental" category which includes trees that might be
planted just about anywhere else (keeping in mind the drain
line and the truck corridor). I would like these to break up
the big. open rectangle of lawn which is currently there. I
imagine these to be mostly deciduous. I have no idea what
trees to use for this, or what principles to use in deciding
where to plant them.

That's it! Any thoughts or advice any of you might have on
any part(s) of the above would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Harry