I dearly wanted a grove of bamboo along the east side of my house to shade my bedroom window and create a sheltered path feeling. However, the property line is back there, and a retaining wall, and there is no point in exposing oneself to lawsuits over romantic ideas. The nandinas I see make me wonder if they would enjoy being in a grove - I think not. Also I'm looking for a height of around 10 feet. The site has little morning sun and good afternoon sun. What else could I plant to create a narrow pathside grove? I'm in the Seattle area, coastal.

a word of caution for even the "clumping" bamboos- they are only clumping so long as you don't try and move/remove them. Then you will find out exactly how big their root systems are, lol. I'll leave off giving my opinion of Laburnum too, so as not to prejudice anyone (suffice it to say, if you want one I usually have plenty of seedlings if you want to dig one of the blasted things up...)

Is this a path you use often? I find the larger Mahonia x mecia hybrids like 'Arthur Menzies'. 'Charity', 'Midwinter Sun' as well as some of the bigger species like Mahonia japonica and M. bealii have a bamboo like quality to their trunks as they get taller and leggier. I actually kind of find it attractive. They do have those big holly like spiny leaflets though, so if it is a congested path, as side gardens so often are, may not be the most comfortable thing to walk through till they get big an up over your head.

There are tons of small maples if that is suitable, even two natives- vine maple (Acer circinatum) is the more common and easy to find, and Douglas maple (Acer glabrum dougalsii), which is more sun and drought tolerant, but about the same ultimate height. It often has nice bright red winter twigs too, which is kind of nice.

There are lots of small trees that will work though. Cascara (Rhanmus purshiana) is a small native tree with a relatively loose, open habit and nice light shade. Grows fast, attracts lots of wildlife, and is easy to prune. Never really showy, but to my eye at least always looks good. Serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia) is also similar in height to the above, cherry like flowers in spring and blueberry like berries in later summer you will fight the birds for. Wants to be a bit more of a shrub most of the time, but can be pruned into a small tree. The native crabapple (Malus fusca) might also be a good choice if it gets enough water.

Have you thought of trying a trellis or pergola or something like that? You can put vines on such a thing, hang hanging baskets of fuchsia or whatever for color if you like, in a much more controlled way than you often can with trees, or even bamboo. The vine can be purely for flowers (wisteria, honeysuckle, clematis etc), or possibly for fruit (kiwi, grapes), maybe even a combination of both. One of the advantages of vines for a tight space is the footprint is relatively small compared to the shade they can cover. For small side gardens, this is often a great way to go.

Jeanne, you must have a good cultivar of laburnum. My reseeds and once it's done blooming it looks ratty for the rest of the year. Aggressive pruning to keep it bushy helps a little bit.

I am completely thrilled. So many excellent ideas here - a whole winter of exploration lies ahead. Long live Rainyside!