hi fran

personally.. i find it near impossible to offer suggestions without a picture of the actual space... is that possible??

ken

I'd be interested in knowing what all you've tried thus far and why you think it failed.

Is it full sun? Are you willing to water?

How about for along the porch: Otto Luyken cherry laurel? or perhaps 'Soft Touch' Japanese hollies.

Around here, some of the more attractive corner evergreen shrubs/trees that we commonly see are:

1) Hinoki (or False) Cypress
2) Smaller conical hollies such as Oakleaf, Blue Maid, or Spartan, upright Japanese hollies.
3) Arborvitae -- many forms available. Look for something conical that doesn't get huge.
4) Skip laurel
5) Chindo viburnum (gorgeous)
6) Upright lorapetalums (evergreen reddish foliage).

Anyway, that's a start. Look them up and see if they will work in your region.

I'm in southwestern KY and trying a pair of dwarf golden Hinoki false cypress ('verdoni' was part of the name); I believe they get 3 to 5 feet tall, are really slow growing, and while not cheap didn't devastate the bank account, either. Found them an a local nursery.

Are you wanting a row of the same thing, or just a couple of specimen plants, or what?

If a dense evergreen under 5' tall is your fancy, some of the Arborvitae like Golden Globe might be worth a look. I'm not as familiar with the yews. In a sunny location some of the mugo pines that stay smaller can be neat; I'm trying 2 'Enci' mugos in a shrub row in the backyard. The Colorado Spruce shrub forum, 'Glauca globosa' is a neat looking plant - not sure how it'd do in your spot.

Richard.

P.S.: I'm not used to working with alkaline soil, so nothing I offered factors that in.