It may seem tedious, hard, and unnecessary to move these plants, although most gardeners enjoy re-arranging to improve their garden's function and appearance. Most hate trying to move or rip out the mistake of previous owners, mistakes which sometimes then reveal damage. Because these plants are still manageable, this situation can be set right. Once done, you will be again at the point of considering next steps toward the goal of eventually having very little upkeep to handle. You will have lost nothing and gained several benefits: Protection of your home. Healthier plants. Better looking in terms of appropriate rather than crowded spacing. You will still have: Same plants. Screening of windows. And there are psychological and physical benefits: Lowered anxiety about whether the paint job and wood will deteriorate due to those pieris. Spring exercise planting your beautiful shrubs. Self-esteem up because you've gained knowledge and improved something wisely. Yes, you calculated the spacing, but forgot to calculate appropriate distance from building. Also, a shrub doesn't reach a certain number and then say to itself, "I'm 5 feet tall and wide now. I better stop or the shrub police will come and get me." Shrubs are living and, unlike humans, continue to gain height and width throughout their lives. I think the size ranges are estimated for 5 to 10 years?, but the shrubs don't know that and they will keep growing. What's to lose here? Re-planting 3 shrubs? Ah, c'mon! If I lived closer, I'd come by and help! Wellspring

I have untinted SW paint in my basement from the last 40% off sale because I hadn't chosen colors yet but I'm willing to consider having it tinted to a competitor's color(s). How I want the rooms to feel is a hard question. I guess I'm too analytical. Comfortable and livable -- somewhere between jarring/pay-attention-to-me and boring/bland? Guest room is rarely used, just the occasional overnight by a traveling family member. It might get more use in a few years if my kids bring friends home from college but I doubt they'll care as long as you feed them. :) Tibbrix, I'll definitely check out the other blues you suggested. I'm glad you responded because I remembered seeing that you weren't entirely happy with SW Languid Blue. Will take some photos after I get things better organized.

Check out this video by Rosalin Creasy, the queen of edible landscaping. She also has a Web site. Then follow any links from there. You'll find a lot of inspirational photos and resources online. Yaardvark's basic design can be followed, you just need to figure out edible plants with the shapes he has drawn that thrive in your zone. I'm not that up on edible weeping plants, but lots of big shrub-shaped edible fruits and there are also fruit trees that have a columnar shape (column shape) such as sentinel apple trees. Raspberries and blackberry tend to get droopy and weepy-ish shaped (fountain shaped). There are edible easy to maintain groundcovers too, like lingonberry, although they need acid soil to thrive so you may have to amend. I grew bearberry which also goes by the name kinnikinnick as a groundcover. It is not really "edible" so much as medicinal, where it goes by the name Uva ursi. Lots of herb ground covers like thyme and chamomile and some low growing mints. There's also wintergreen but that needs shade and can be fussy. Not too much in the way of edible evergreens although you can grow balsam or fraser fir in some zones and collect the needles for their scent and oil. With juniper you can harvest the berries and make gin. Some junipers are columnar. Some make good groundcover, a fairly common low maintenance option for small yards. Edited to add that you're going to have to be thoughtful about planting your front yard since most edible plants like sun or partial sun, and your sun is going to be filtered at best. Try not to plant things in the shade of other things, so watch where the shadows fall during a whole day at different times.

Nil13 usda, thank you for introducing a (new to me) groundcover. I had also jotted down mimulus (Monkey flower) on my 'possibilities' list--for splashes of yellow or orange blossoms. The grass-like leaves on the bulbine frutescans would look good against the larger rocks. I have large clumps of iris nearer the porch (Moorea something...)with white/indigo eyes. Also have a huge pot of rosemary that's thriving, so plantings of the prostate variety will be a sure thing. Just wish I knew what I was doing wrong with my pots of lavender: they bloom, I deadhead, but then they never return to full flourish. Open to suggestions here, also. Thanks again,Nil13 usda!