Help me brainstorm this barrel idea.....

These outdoor sail shades are nice too...

And rocky is right, bamboo! I bought some bamboo about a year ago, that sucker has really taken off, twice as tall as the house still growing and spreading out like crazy!

It’s getting dark now but I just took this photo, can’t really tell but this bamboo is about 15 feet high and really spreading out.

Uhhhh.... wow.....

I'm really just trying to solve a problem for the upcoming summer (and probably the next three summers). I agree that there are much more elegant solutions but they simply aren't going to work for solving my immediate problem.

If I managed to save enough to do some of these ideas there are at least 5 other projects for our old house that would be in line first -- things like a fire exit from the basement, or cutting down the tree that's ruining our garage's foundation, and Mo needing braces, or several other things that are much more pressing.

I appreciate the suggestions but they really aren't going to work for me right now and I have a problem that I would like to solve in the next month or so. My maximum budget is about $1000. Period. I'm trying to do something as cheaply and as creatively as I can within that limit.

That's pretty cool! I'm going to look around at that!

It just doesn't solve my immediate privacy problem.

I would suggest you remove it now before it needs a backhoe and agent orange.
Really.

If you cut down the tree and used huglekultur, you could kill two problems with the same stone.. just sayin'.

Nice! Your yard is gorgeous!

You want to get that thing contained while you still can.

From the reading I've been doing and following at a gardening site, you want to make sure that the bamboo can't take root in the soil. The stuff's a pest.

We'll already need a backhoe and we'll need to knock down the garage to get to it. But the garage needs to get knocked down and rebuilt anyway.

So we have that going for us.

Those garden gazebo things start at less than $200 here.

The retractable awnings from the house run about $500 for something that would run the width of the back off my house - not that my house is very wide .

I've been trying to find a way to add shade to my backyard so I've been pricing this stuff.

That sail awning I put up above cost $ 175 and covers quite an area,
it's available at Amazon, ehbeth.

Other than one or two clumping bamboos that do not get above 6 feet, bamboo is a nightmare for the homeowner. I've seen real estate deals fall through because of bamboo and neighbors sue one another over the spread of it. My rule has been unless you have at least two pet pandas you should not plant bamboo.

Wow! I wish I could access that here. We can only get media through Amazon here. I am seriously envious - I would love that sail.

hehe, I was looking for bamboo online one day. Something to block my next-door neighbor Gilberts bright flood security light. I wanted something that clumped together and grew tall, I bought two, forgot what they were called but they were delivered in two small boxes. About a foot high, that was just a year ago.

A few friends of mine want some so I told them to come over with a shovel have at it. I didn’t know it was going to grow that quickly. I need to do more research before buying more plants.

Please don't share the problem. It's like giving away an STD. It will cost you friendships. You are young and strong, get a pick axe and herbicide before it's too late - kill it now before it kills your garden and devalues your house. I know of what I speak.

Yeah. Next time, get a trellis and plant kudzu.

Here's a How To: on a sail shade. Admittedly it's smaller than you need, but it can be manipulated.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-make-your-own-shade-sai-139258

That's interesting - kinda like making tab top curtains which is a snap. I wonder if I could get a big enough section of muslin (or create one by sewing a few together).

I really like those sails and canopies.

Here everything gets so mossy or moldy. Plus with three huge birch trees and one enormous cherry there is always falling debris in our yard. We have to clean the roof 4 times a year and I don't want to add another surface that collects things.

You could use Burlap, it's cheap and durable.
http://www.save-on-crafts.com/burlap5.html