I'll share what works for me, and you decide whether or not it is appropriate to your situation. I have had great success with composting in place / hybrid lasagna gardening to keep the grass and weeds out of my gardens. I have a few raised beds in my lawn and I keep a border which I think sounds similar to what you have or are wanting to do. I keep it simple and mix my freshly cut lawn clippings with used coffee grounds and a good amount of cross-cut shredded newspaper. I put this mixture down generously (in inches deep) over the area where I don't want any grass/weeds coming up and then I top it all off with loads of hay/straw (I don't know which is what, but it comes in a bale so I will call it "hay") to keep the sunlight out. My thought is that under the layer of hay, the fresh clippings, UCG and newspaper eventually heat up and kill or severely weaken the grass and weeds. The hay seems to prevent any additional germination by keeping out the sunlight. Add more hay as necessary to keep area covered. The sun does a nice job of bleaching the hay in place, so I think it is an attractive mulch that does a great job. I used to think this was my idea since I just took a chance on it out of frustration of battling (and losing to) the weeds and "lawn creep". But, it's not a new idea. Here are a couple of links that I discovered after the fact. Wish I had read these a long time ago... Ruth Stout And Permanent Hay Mulch Hay Makes a Great Mulch

Lots to think about! Thank you for all of your insight--please keep them coming! Maybe I should just leave them be for a year or so and see how it goes. That is true---this summer has been unusually hot, AND they were just planted... I may be asking too much from them too soon. The fence is something I'd like to do eventually, but it doesn't necessarily need to be right now.... I just thought since I already had 5 hydrangeas that I needed to move... The limelight suggestion is a good one... but I just planted one along the north side of my house. They are doing great there and are really pretty. But since I only have so much space I'd like something different for the back. Plus, the front of my house is an all white garden (which is why I needed the white limelights that can be seen from the front) so I'd like the back to be full of color. The other thing to consider is that I only have ES and BB in the border I planted. Adding twist and shout wouldn't work there because I only have room for 5 hydrangeas. I just really liked the look of the first picture with the 3 together.... ah, decisions decisions :)

my worry would be that if the soil is staying saturated, you're causing root problems for all the trees. Unless you want to be cycling through replacements, I'd fix the underlying problem the right way - which is getting the water out of there. One of our winery clients was having massive water problems in a few of their vineyard blocks, to the point where you could grab a vine and pull it right out of the ground - the roots were all rotted. Their consultant had them run french drains between the rows and they're now producing literally tons per acre. It works.

Thank you all for your thoughts. To address some of your questions, the soil here is usually quite dry in summer. Whatever snow gets piled there isn't a WHOLE lot, (and getting less each year) and it doesn't always last long as it does get sun in winter, and the ground is slightly sloped so there is runoff onto the driveway. She gets her driveway plowed so the majority of the snow is at the other end of the driveway; this area gets some of the snow shoveled off the sidewalk (the path to the front door) and/or whatever is shoveled from the very base of the garage door where the plow doesn't reach. Still, l would venture a guess that in spring the soil is definitely damper than the rest of the year. I would guess there is some ground freeze, but probably not that deep. As elsewhere, weather is on one hand getting warmer, so our winters aren't what they used to be, but then we have some freak spots where we get walloped. You know, two feet of snow one day in October and 80 degree days in January. Hard to know what's what anymore. The area isn't PLANTED with annuals; there are pots of annuals placed on top of it in summer. I'm not sure how much difference that makes in water and moisture, as I'm sure there is run off when the pots are watered, although they are watered by hand and the area itself doesn't get a lot of extra watering, only what runs out of the pots. I'm thinking I will either not go with the iris, or if I really can't be without them, I will plant a bit separately (together in a clump), then just cut back the foliage. If they aren't going to come back it won't matter if I cut the foliage, and if they end up coming back but not with reliable bloom, they'll be somewhat together so I can dig up easily. But I'm thinking I'll go with the snowdrops. To me, they're such a cheerful harbinger of spring, and I have some bright tulips for color anyway. Any thoughts on the allium? Front of the planting to hide dying foliage, or back because they are so tall? Thanks! :) Dee