Hi NCguy, Like most lots, your backyard space is a rectangle with a border fence or wall. Simple shapes, like a rectangle, are so quickly recognized by the eye we lose interest. And the space has no view for the eye to escape to, so we continue to search inside the "box" for interest. Introducing curved shapes inside the yard creates interest and leads the eye to explore the details. The background of the fence and two story buildings is a distraction. We might do well to stop the eye and bring it down into the yard again. The view from the patio will help you to strategically place a few small trees to block out the nearby buildings. Planted 8 feet from the fence, these trees should work well. You might consider using Dogwood or Flowering Cherry. Mark the tree locations and then, using a garden hose, start at the fence corner (about 3 feet out from the fence) and make a curving line, like a snake, across the 50 foot fenceline. Shrubs, planted in groups of 3 or 4 along this line (with spaces in between)will create a new background. The shrubline, combined with the trees, will keep the eye moving. You might use broadleaf shrubs like hydraengea or Rhododendrum where the trees give shade; and use spirea or weigelia in the sun. For privacy on the right, you might cut out a curved, semi-circle of lawn, 4 feet wide and 15 feet long, for a shrub or evergreen hedge. Hibiscus would give you choices for flower color or evergreens like Juniper 'Witchita Blue' would add a silver grey to the yard. Inside the semi-circle would be space for a small circle of perennials and/or annuals. A border of brick, laid side by side would keep the lawn looking neat. Now take the hose and start at the end of the hedgerow (nearest the fence) and make a large pond shape that moves to the left, avoids the trees, and ends at the left side of the patio. This is the new lawn shape. Any areas outside the lawn are for shrubs and border plants. Inside this new lawn space there's room for a patio extension. If the patio is concrete, you might consider continuing that material and then staining it all to match. A rounded shape would work well here. A 3 foot wide by 5 feet long cutout at the patio edge will leave room for a drift of low plantings. Gotta go now. Good luck with your project! -Ted Kmiecik

Hi Mike - we've messaged back and forth before from the Citrus Forum. I'm in zone 7b, Raleigh NC, which often acts more like zone 8. I'm originally from Norman OK. My property also has Eastern Red Cedars around it and all of them show signs of Cedar Apple Rust. I bought disease resistant apples and all but one of them show signs of the disease but it doesn't overwhelm the trees and some years it barely shows up. Same thing for my Quince trees - they show signs of Cedar Quince Rust. So I would plant whatever variety does well in that area and plan on doing a bit of disease management part of the year. It's all worth it when you can pick fresh, ripe apples. The newer cultivars William's Pride and Goldrush have done well for me. Arkansas Black is the one that requires no spraying and shows virtually no disease at all. The first couple of harvests will have wimpy flavor but after a few years they get really tasty. Nothing beats Goldrush for flavor as far as I'm concerned. Keep in mind that a lot of apples bear alternate years so you won't get a huge harvest every year. In my yard, wildlife eventually figured out what I was growing so now I have to bag and spray and build wire barriers AND trap. Good luck. Plant what you can find and just know that you will be replacing a few of them in a few years. Peach trees grow like weeds and can suddenly die for no reason so don't worry about them too much, just keep planting new ones every couple of years.

Bahia - gosh - didn't mean to slight you; hadn't seen your reply while writing mine (must have started mine, taken a phone call and gone back to it). I was so not speaking to your choices. We're our own worst critics and after I linked the daffodils I had the thought that 'gee, everyone's going to think I'm some little old lady gardener - just add some petunias and they'll write me off.' My own judgement - no one elses. Poked fun at myself posting daffs so folks would know I 'get' it (I like em in pots and on hillsides, agree hard to work into a home garden without it looking dated - it's partially why I like that kedron one - easier to work it in). I've been going through old gardening and design books as I plan new hardscape for the front and in looking at them I've been so aware of how quickly gardens can look dated. Modular walls fit my budget, but I know within 6 years they'll be passe and for me (and my budget) this hardscape is once. For the books that aren't that old - seems like we've gone for more space between plants and more large rocks (simplistic definition). Anyhoo, so I'm playing with the dated concept and think a dated look for most of us is about the overall plan of how plants are put together more than the plants themselves. For a green backdrop - I'd use what fits the bill AND do something interesting in a bed in front of it or add a trio of large pots with great interest in front of it - love green privacy walls but I'm not all that fussy about how they're attained. Bahia - you do wonderful work (I'd looked at your site) and I don't doubt folks pay you to do something gorgeous plus contemporary. I'm always sending folks to UCDavis for the veg gardening info - will check out their top ten. Here is a link that might be useful: mists and enchantments my blog

I agree with all of you that these guys are so much fun to watch! I'm sure the hummers being chased off have a different opinion, but, at least in the case of my backyard, they do have other nearby options. My neighbor to the north has a rose of sharon at the corner of her house nearest mine, and I did not see my little sentry chase other birds off until they entered my yard. The neighbor also has some sort of bright orange trumpet vine growing along the back fence at the side farthest from me. So, even though the sentry wouldn't let them in my yard there were still other food options only a few yards away. I do have several of the plants most of you mention. I planted four o'clocks behind the house this year. They haven't gotten very tall, but they are blooming. I also have Grandpa Ott morning glories on a 6'x6' trellis intended to shade my air conditioning unit. I have some Cardinal Climber, at least that what I asked Horn for when I bought seeds, although the leaves are not like the original Cardinal Climber I grew. These have palm frond-like leaves. However, these don't bloom much until/unless I abuse them. If I start cutting them back severely they'll start making blooms, otherwise they just grow foliage all over everything around. I haven't tried petunias since I moved into the house. I did grow them in containers, whisky barrels, on the patio at my apartment, but they always withered and died when hot summer temperatures arrived. Maybe they would do better though now that I can plant them in the ground. Of course, the problem with all these is they don't bloom until either late spring or summer whereas the hummingbirds generally arrive in Oklahoma in late March. It does sound like the cross vine Dawn mentioned might be just what I'm looking for, and I would love to plant some native red honeysuckle. Now I just have to find out where I can get them and figure out where they might grow in my yard. Unfortunately, my backyard gets a lot of shade due to tall evergreens that line the entire perimeter. Dawn, how much shade would the cross vine tolerate? Any idea where I might be able to buy some? Also, anyone know where I might find the native honeysuckle? And how much shade the honeysuckle would tolerate? I may have to get creative and figure out a spot to set an arched arbor or something similar just out in the middle of the yard for one of these. The fence from my house to the south property line gets sun in the morning and has a large evergreen branch that was seriously bent by the ice storms in Dec. 2007 that needs to come down. If I cut that branch off it would probably reduce the shade that piece of fence gets during the later afternoon. Might that be enough sun for one of these two vines to be reasonably happy? Thanks for all the suggestions. If you think of more, please let me know. While I'm specifically trying to figure out early spring bloomers for the hummingbirds, eventually I wouldn't mind digging up most of my yards and replacing the weeds with flower beds of various types. Not only would that be more colorful and fragrant, but it would cut down on the mowing. :D Debra