I cannot see the picture really well, but it looks like it might work for a kind of secret Garden. Although I have a niece in Denver, I haven't talked to her about what grows there. I know www.highcountrygardens.com has plants that are for your area. They have some good ideas. When you want to xeriscape, do you mean you want that to be a low watering area? What I found has helped me is that I look at the space and try to imagine the colors, shapes and sizes of plants I want...combine that with the amount of sun and how much water it will get. Then I have a good idea what I am looking for before going to the nursery. It might also help to start from the back (taller plants) and work forward...kind of like painting a picture. I used to go to the nursery and pick plants I liked, then got home and had no place to put them! Study the shape and color of plants you like, then take it to the nursery and ask if they have one with sim shape and colors that would work in your situation. I am sorry I cannot suggest specific plants. I am in Southern CA and we are Hot & Dry and I have alot of sun! One plant that I would love to put in a Rock Garden like setting is a Mugo Pine... it is such an interesting looking shrub. Maybe an Alpine looking Rock Garden would look good? Another direction... if you added a decorative Arbor and maybe something like a Clematis... would the plant get sun, as it climbed? There are alot of varieties and the roots like shade and the rest likes sun. With it being a fairly shady area, you way want bright colors or at least some bright green or yellow folliage to brighten it up. Another thing I have learned is that low water use and drought tollerant are 2 differant things. Others may laugh and think I am silly for not realizing this, but as a beginner (which I feel I will always be...as I keep learning new things) it has me confused. It really looks like it will be a pretty little corner when you are done. One more thing...a flagstone path would be cute...be sure to have a focal point (Bright flowers, sculpture, bench)at the end. They always look better if the look like they are taking you someplace interesting

Karin, it's interesting and enlightening to read what others think of our house and landscape, even if we may not agree or take up some suggestions. We live in an area where we don't have a large number of options for landscape/garden design, unfortunately! So no worries about me being offended by criticism/suggestions, etc. We appreciate the help and we will work to think about each decision in terms of its purpose. We originally had purposes in mind for each bed in our backyard, though it may not look like it now - with the exception of the hydrangeas along the back fence. They were originally planted behind our garage (where the pool equipment enclosure is now). When we put in the pool, we moved them to the side bed (which didn't exist before the pool) along the fence, but the neighbor's black walnut tree hampered their growth. So rather than throw them away, we made a new bed along the back, sort of a temporary spot until we figure out what to do with the rest of the beds. I won't bore you or anyone else by enumerating the purposes of the other beds in the back, but just want to add that we also did have more visual interest and contrast in flower, foliage, and form - but many of those plants didn't survive. We've been in a sort of holding pattern back there for a couple years - and I'm looking forward to improving that landscape. But back to the front yard/landscape. One of our goals for changes remains to revise the long bed along the drive for the dual purposes of easier maintenance and including more variety in its plants to provide more interest in months other than July. Another goal is to revise the small bed near the side steps to make it better looking (instead of a hodgepodge of plants, as it is now) and as a memorial garden for our daughter, with beautiful plantings. We also still want to improve the visual impact/visibility of the front door. To me, that is a separate goal from emphasizing the front entrance, if by entrance one means the wide front steps (which aren't truly the entrance to the house, but visually they do give that impression). We understand the goals of Laag's ideas about beds in front of the steps and a wide path from the driveway to the steps/porch. But in terms of practicality, we don't want people to stop midway up our driveway and walk up the path, because then they block the entire driveway. Also, the steps are covered with snow for the entire winter (it's too expensive to pay to have them cleared each time it snows), and a walkway would also be covered in snow, so the practical function of a walkway beginning partway up the driveway wouldn't apply during those months. I've been bothered for a while by the sense of imbalance between the long driveway bed and the expanse of grass on the other side of the drive, so another purpose of making changes is to see if we can balance that. Laag's suggestion about a grassed area in the long bed was so helpful - I just don't know whether that is enough to achieve balance, or if we will need a bed under the birches. A new purpose resulted from a number of comments here, and that is to soften the impact of the veranda wall. I think we are just so used to how our house looks that we don't see it for how it really appears. You all have opened our eyes to this issue! I haven't been in the back yards of the houses above us (in the back) to see what they can see of our back yard. It "feels" private in our back yard most of the time, probably due to the fence, but I still don't do any skinny-dipping. ;-) The front feels very public to me (it's a busy street and in the spring/summer/fall, a very busy golf course), with the exception of the veranda. On the rare occasions when we are seated there (it's usually too hot/buggy/raining/cold), we have at least the illusion of privacy behind that fortress wall - though with close neighbors, we have to watch how loudly we talk. My sister mused aloud a few years ago about the idea of putting a hedge across the front of the yard (on the lawn on the house side of the sidewalk, if you're facing away from the house) to screen the street and provide more of a sense of privacy. A neighbor a couple of houses down has a partial bridal wreath hedge in the yard and she was noting that at the time. I'll update as we get further along in this process; meanwhile, if anyone has more comments/suggestions, we're very happy to have them.

I wonder if an "oval" of grass would help in this case??? I just looked up the definition of an ellipse on mathworld and my eyes are still spinning :-) I think Reyesuela makes a couple of good points. The first, regarding the grass shape, is that when you make your beds, you should pay attention to the shape of grass you are creating, not so much the shape of the bed - the bed shape will be more or less immaterial once you get it filled, while the grass shape will always show up. And actually, since you like formal, I might almost play with a rectangle of grass under the window surrounded by straight beds on three sides, obviously not going right to the road to avoid the snow plow - or putting low, tough plants like the most vigorous hostas on the road edge. The second, if I understand correctly, is to create a space within your front yard where you can be, or to enclose your house, rather than making it a sort of frame for your house to be simply looked at. I strongly agree that, especially when you have a small amount of space, what matters most is how you want to feel when you are in it or in the house looking out. Depending on the feel of your street, you may want to be visible; I don't know. What complicates this approach is what you say about the snow plow... you might be best off to make the front edge grass, along with the edges of the driveway where your car door needs to open. I would not not not do a standard foundation bed under the window. So predictable. I think a pretty patch of grass, tidy beds - not necessarily symmetrical plantings, but formal is good - there is really something about that row of Rhodies that just looks right. You could remove sod under them, joining their little patches into a long straight bed, underplant them a bit if you widen the bed. karinL

Hello Italian girl, It always seems a shame when someone lives in the desert and has a yard of high water use turfgrass. There are so many more beautiful and water conserving options and it sounds like you want to make a change like that. Good for you! Without losing all your grass you could remove a section along the perimeter areas around the sides and back of your yard. This would then be a place for you to plant the colorful desert shrubs, trees and perenials. This area should include your A/C unit which you could hide with some evergreen shrubs. This side area would also extend to your bare area along the side of your house where you don't have turfgrass and connect with it. Then you can go crazy planting great plants like texas ranger, cassias, deergrass, chaste tree, bird of paradise, yellowbells, agaves, lantanas, penstemons and make something with some real interest to enjoy year round. If you use gallon plants and try to take advantage of sales it wouldn't cost a lot. For screening your two story neighbor you need a tree. You want color and what's more colorful than a palo verde with thier green branches year round, covered in the spring with those beautiful yellow flowers. They grow quickly as do the mesquites and acacias so you could put in a five or fifteen gallon size and in a few years have a nice tree. Just be sure to give them room for thier mature size, usually around 30 feet wide and as tall. Enlarging your patio be easy enough if you use concrete pavers but of course it wouldn't be covered like the rest of your patio unless your husbands good at framing too. You could put in a tree closer to the house (not too close!) for shade that is less expensive but you have to wait a few years for. For your herb garden you want maybe your raised bed or your side yard or pots to decorate your patio if you enlarge it. Your west side area is the hot side in the summer. Herbs are usually very heat and sun tolerant but the reflected heat coming off your house might be too much for them. Hope you get to post some pictures, good luck, Maria