I tried to sketch out the planting on paper but I could not follow along. Is the tree part of the bed? Is that the crabapple shown in picture #61? Will a crabapple meet the "tree in the front yard" requirement?

Mature tree size and suburban lots is an interesting topic. I recently created an inventory of the trees that I have on my 1/4 acre lot: 4 Red Maples, 3 Bradford Pears, 3 Purple Leaf Plums, 2 River Birches, 2 Cherries, 2 American Hollies, 1 Willow Oak, 1 Redbud, and 1 Dogwood. It sounds like I live in a jungle and never see the light of day, but the reality is that my yard looks pretty bare and there is almost no shade in the backyard during the heat of the day. My house is ~12 years old so I have to guess that all the trees were planted in that time frame. The proposed oak might grow into a large tree...in 50 to 100 years.

Some people recommend only planting small trees on suburban lots, but that seems rather boring to me. My opinion is that the oak would look nice planted away from the house in either the front or back...as long as it fits into your general plan.

- Brent

P.S. All my trees were planted by a previous owner. I would love to remove 2 or 3 of the maples, a pear or two and some of the others are planted too close together.

From what I can see you have a very nice home. It needs an equally nice landscape. The plans that you find in garden magazines or on the internet are not all that great and do not always consider the mature size of each plant.
Start at a local garden center - one where the staff actually know the trees and shrubs. Find out what they sell - what grows well - what does not.
Landscape Designers are an option. Many will make a plan that you can install. They had a plan to buld your house - It not a bad idea that if you do not hire some one to draw a plan - that you at least get a piece of graft paper and start to lay out the plants. Using mature sizes you will find that the mature bur oak may get too big for your lot. If you plan to live there that long!

LOL Mike

brent_in_nova: The crabapple tree is in this picture

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and, yes, it counts for our "tree in the front yard," although it won't be the last one. We're still looking for a suitable specimen for the southeast corner of the front yard. Also, we won't plant there until we install the retaining wall in that section.

As for the corner garden plan, I have laid it out on BHG's plan-a-garden. Although the shrubs are not labelled, I hope you can figure out the placement. The right side is north-facing.

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Moon

plantman: We are considering a landscape plan. I wish I could find a designer who was not affiliated with a landscape installation business or nursery. Perhaps that is the way of the landscape business? If it is, someone should inform me :o) so I can stop looking for this non-existant designer.

As for laying out our plan, I noted in my first post that I have laid out our lot and house on paper (graph paper--1/2 inch = 10 feet). That's what makes me question even planting the oak. It can grown to 80 feet tall and 60 feet wide. I am not so worried about the size; I can plant it without any safety concerns. However, aesthetically, I am unsure whether it is suitable. Also, it will cast a LOT of shade.

And thank you for the compliment re: the house. It's a simple design, but we really love it. And I'm in love with the color, the lemon yellow among our sea of taupe and pale grey! I'm really looking forward to adding more plants and hardscaping to the area.

Moon

Moon, are you concerned that using a designer with an affiliation to a nursery will force you into contracting with them for installation and buying all the plants from them? Because, at least around here, that's not the case at all. You can parcel out the job - design only, design and plant delivery, design and major installation done while you do more minor planting - whatever you want.

Good luck; it's a pretty house, and fun to have a blank slate (even though it's also sort of intimidating)!

I'm glad that you asked this question. I guess I am concerned that I will be pressured to use their installation and plants. More than that, however, is this vague impression that designing while in the employ of a landscape company is somewhat of a conflict of interest. I can see the advantages, of course, but doesn't the designer feel pressured to add hardscaping or other aspects to the design for the advantage of the company, rather than giving consideration only to the actual needs of the client and the particular circumstances of the land.

Don't misunderstand me. I'm not suspicious of the designer, per se. I am, however, suspicious of the business ;o).

As I said before, perhaps this is the way of the landscape industry as a whole. It's not something I am knowledgable about, but would be glad to learn more.

Moon

Regarding the mature size of this tree or any other, I have only one thing to say: SO WHAT??

The thing about working with the mature size of the trees is that for most of your tenure here, and indeed for most of your life, you will be living with the immature size, as Brent's current situation shows.

I am turning into an absolute heretic on this subject, but I believe that urban trees should be planted such that the serve you to some extent during that immature period. If you have room for them to reach maturity, fabulous for you and the tree. But if mature size is too big for this lot, the trees can be cut down, and indeed in many cases they should be cut down. Replacement stock is readily available and can be pre-planted. There are many planting strategies that work to permit a succession of trees - planting more densely than you eventually want the trees to be and thinning later, incorporating some fast-growing, short lived, even weedy trees to provide cover while the slower-growers grow, and so on. I don't know your individual trees but as you learn about their habits and rate of growth, ask yourself whether you are designing this lot for yourself to enjoy, or for some future owner of the NEXT house built on this lot? You can do both with good planning, but you certainly should not sacrifice your current needs out of fear that some future owners' needs will not be met.

... I guess I meant to put that on your other thread. Or did I? Anyway, it is meant for you, whichever thread. Good luck!

KarinL

Oh, I get that completely!

I interviewed three designers from three different local companies when I wanted some input - I had some definite ideas and wanted to do my own plant selection and planting, but needed help on pulling together a cohesive design and on some of the most taxing "grunt work".

One designer was really pushing the all-inclusive package, and I got a sort of a "paint-by-numbers" sense from him, like he'd pull out standard residential package #3. One guy I just got a bad feeling from; right from the introduction he didn't inspire confidence from me at all. And sure enough, he flaked on our scheduled meeting and never returned subsequent phone calls.

But the person I went with did a site inspection with me and seemed to immediately... get me and what I was going for. I paid for the design, for some demo work, and for some basic bed outlines to be dug (three separate quotes, treated as three separate projects).

Because they were such a great fit for my needs, I've recommended that designer over and over again. I'm not so excited about their plants and shrubs, though, and I'm glad that I wasn't forced to go with them for the plant material.