On Sun, 29 Oct 2006 11:30:53 GMT, "JimR" wrote:

My suggestion -- if your planting area has enough depth -- would be not to
use just one species, which might result in losing everything at once under
the wrong circumstances (disease, drought, etc.) The variety would also
provide a more attractive landscape and be a haven for bird life. Some
evergreens, some deciduous for variety. Your extension service should have
a good list of large shrubs and trees which do well in your locale -- If I
were living there I would check out the evergreens that have been suggested,
plus pyracantha, crepe myrtle, etc., but concentrate on native plants which
are likely to be more acceptant of weather variations and less susceptible
to disease. I would also check out some of the clumping types of bamboo for
one part of the screen area. Regards --

Thanks Jim.

I have only about 12 feet or so to work with. I have privets planted
there now directly on the fence line. There is one chinese privet (I
think) that stays green all year. I also have a few crepe myrtles
closer to the house but they lose their leaves also.

I like the idea of staggered plantings and will do as much as I can. A
poster in another group suggested pyracanthas with boxwoods which
sound good to me. Another poster suggested Arizona cypress. My big
concern is that I only need to hide 8 feet or so of vertical space and
am a little concerned about the plants/trees getting out of hand. I'd
like to keep the view minus the ugly road and traffic.

I emailed the OK extension office yesterday and hope to hear from them
this week.

Thanks to all who have taken the time to post to this question. All
ideas and suggestion are greatly appreciated.

--Stu