Off Topic... For those who don't know this part of the globe, my drive to Ashland from St. Paul was not quite half a day, leisurely ambling along Hwy 2 from Duluth-Superior. Driving was good on a Thursday in the pre-tourist season on a sunny day. It's such an early spring that the natural world seems out of whack. Lots of ducks and geese to watch and the pussy willows have already gone past the pussy stage and have iridescent green fluff on them in silhouette. I spent an hour at the Timeless Timbers warehouse + gift shop and the rest of the afternoon in the archive at the visitor center that also houses some of the Wisc. Hist. Soc. stuff for the area. Because this time of year puts deer on the road in early evening, I did not waver off the highway very much on return trip. Did buy some of DH's favorite beers but had no time to seek out my usual cheese shop haunts in western Wisc. and no time to poke around on Brule R. or St. Louis R. where I usually spend time at parks watching spring water flow gush through the historic waterways. Did find some cheese ends for cheap at a grocery store. Left at 9 am, got home at 9 pm. I am very familiar with Madeline Island and Bayfield and Cornucopia and will be up there in a few more weeks to look at spring wildflowers (and perhaps to pick up two pieces of butcherblock countertop if I weaken in my resolve to keep to budget). Might also paddle a voyageur canoe around the Apostles if my calendar works out for summer. rjr220: There's an internet page "going around" right now that shows places in U.S. which have more bars than grocery stores and guess what? Wisconsin wins! If you know back country Wisconsin, you know that the local bars are the community gathering places. Go Packers! If you get a chance to visit the Timeless Timbers lumber yard at some point, would love to know what you think of the products. The Cheese, Beer, and Wine promotion councils of Wisc. have a great promo map of the state which is a hoot to follow, if you need a diversion when visiting. Personally, I think they need to add sausage joints to the map also, and maybe pasties. Watch out for the speed trap in Iron River! P.S.--Timeless Timbers needs about 3 week lead-time to produce countertops currently. Your results may vary. The visitor center has large area of Timeless Timber flame birch used in front hall cabinetry. Good place to see actual use of the product as furniture, not butcherblock.

The large is yard and it is best to focus on a particular area and conversations about all areas tend to become confusing (for a forum). Sticking to the foundation area is a good idea. To clarify, your first two pictures don't even show a complete foundation area. I asked for pictures of surroundings because it is the SETTING for the house that contains the foundation planting. That planting is responding simultaneously to the house and to the surroundings. Here is a suggestion for a SIMPLE way to make your house/landscaping look good. It doesn't rely on smothering the house with shrubs but correlating them to windows and the small hedge (of existing boxwood) in front of the porch. Growing them in a hedge will look better than growing them in close-together balls. The concept of aligning shrubs to windows is graphically similar to aligning porch steps to doors. Everyone knows it would look goofy if these two things didn't line up. To me, it looks goofy if a shrub is misaligned with the window. Other than shrubs, the suggestions call for a pair of SMALL trees diagonally off of the front house corners, and perennials that fill in between shrubs. Typically, one might want to create some symmetry when plants flank each side of a thing -- such as a porch, or a house. It can be matching symmetry but does not necessarily have to match exactly. Your existing tree near the drive could remain but would look more important if you separate it from the lawn and give it its own bed of groundcover. Regarding the areas outside of the foundation planting area ... it is not the homeowner who will determine where grass will grow well and where it won't, unless major changes are made, such as trees being cut down. It is primarily that grass can grow well where there is substantial direct sunlight, and it will probably refuse to grow at all where there is substantial shade. It's the case that one usually divides a yard, separating shaded from non-shaded areas, in order to create a lawn where it will prosper and put the rest in groundcover. Mulch alone will work as a good temporary solution until groundcover can be established, but it is not as good as groundcover over a long haul.

Some results from IR temperature measurements for decking samples.. Three manufacturers: Trex (Enhance & Transcend), TimberTech (including Azek by TimberTech), and MoistureShield. 20 samples in all. Deck is medium dark, unstained, south-facing redwood. Accuracy of IR thermometer was about 3 degrees F. Results of two days (Trex & TimberTech) compared to deck temp (120-140 degrees) ... Lighter samples (L Gray, mixed Gray, lighter Brown) were 6-10 degrees above deck temp. Darker samples (Dark Gray, Dark Brown) were a solid 10 degrees above. One off-white sample was 20 degrees below deck temp. The MoistureShield product claim to fame is that it runs 30% cooler than other brands. These 2 samples (L Gray, Brown) were 20 degrees below deck temp. More like 20% below deck with lighter colors but definitely respectable. As expected lighter colors ran cooler (6+) , medium-to-dark were a solid +10. Off-white doesn't seem like a practical deck color but ran coolest. MoistureShield ran cooler (-20) than the deck. Take all this with grain of salt - I averaged measurements best I could, temperatures varied across samples with mixed color densities (like Trex Island Mist - Gray with some black components). All samples composite, no PVC tested.

Looking closely, the tile is framed around the island, including space for stools? If the island sits on the tile & removed, would you mind the table straddling the 2 different tile layout patterns? No DR in our small ranch house, 14x14 kitchen, cabs in L filling 2 walls, large non-expanding table in center that breaks all the rules for space around it, but I make it work (no chairs at ends) because I disliked a round table, I really missed the corners! The table in the kitchen works great for setting stuff down, cooling cookies/pies etc, but it’s not needed for prep, since there is lots of counter space. Note: tall chairs do inhibit it’s use somewhat, so test, test, test…move the island, put your existing table & chairs there, rent a large round table, live with each option for at least a week. Also, I tested by placing my folding sewing cutting boards on the previous table, similar to what has been suggested for your existing location - test that, too. Good Luck.