Just when I thought we had decided on what to plant in our yard, I was thrown a curve. 

I visited a greenhouse/nursery in Putnam County last week, at the recommendation of the guy who mows the lawn at my mother’s house.  I spoke with the owner of this establishment, and he immediately struck me as being a no-nonsense, matter-of-fact sort of person who knows his stuff.

I asked if he had any Green Giant Arborvitae in stock.  He didn’t have any, but he directed me to several containers of Leyland Cypress in the corner of his lot.  They were about three feet tall.  He sells them for $29.99 apiece.  He can also get them in larger sizes from his supplier. 

He then proceeded to tell me that he prefers the Leyland Cypress to Green Giant Arborvitae.  According to him, the Leyland Cypress grows at a faster rate than the Green Giant, not to mention the fact that deer will eat the Green Giants “like candy.”  Although we live in a suburb, we’ve seen deer around our house on several occasions.

Then I happened to see someone pulling out of ourlocal Lowe’s store over the weekend.  They had four large shrubs in the bed of their pickup truck that appeared to be either Leyland Cypress or Green Giants (I couldn’t tell which).  So I stopped atLowe’s over the weekend, and discovered that they’re selling 6′ Green Giants at the remarkable price of $29.99 apiece.  I say “remarkable,” because TerraSalis in Charleston is selling 6′ Green Giants at the whopping price of $184 apiece. 

Since I can’t decide which we should plant, Alexander suggested that we plant Green Giants along one side of our property, and Leyland Cypress on the other side.