CityChicken, those are lovely trellis! You will have fun. In my yard now it is too dry. Drought. It's either submerged under the deluge or freeze-dried. 30 degrees this morning, frost, bird baths frozen. Have to run the sprinklers and hand hose water. Last spring the trees suffered not having enough water for their Spring Push and now I know not to let that happen again. The daphne and sweet box are blooming and it smells heavenly. The primroses planted 3 years ago have never died or even lost leaves and are blooming. That surprises me! and is thrilling. They are multiplying.

I was thinking about that 165gallon pond... You might want to make it above grade for two reasons - having an edge to sit on thankfully while trailing your fingers; and not having to hack through a bazillion tree roots to install it. You may need to think about either a leaf net or a cover for autumn when the leaves come down in bulk. I have a pool cover of wire netting over mine - to keep out the swamp hens and hedgehogs - and it also catches most of the trees' leaves as well. I agree about the chain link fence - and it does seem to have attractive uprights. However - can you easily get behind it to weed? Or are you going to pay the 'fibro price' for pulling and tugging in an awkward position? Thinking of bee-friendly plants for dappled light - forget-me-not (Myosotis)is great in spring (and an oh dear! if your dog has a long coat but they are easily combed out), Dicentra, Heuchera, Hosta, Clematis - which could do well in one of the lower trees, Prunella. And the simpler forms of Dahlia are much-visited, as are Buddleias. My old dog was always fond of shady 'scrapes' under shrubs or ornamental grasses. Or the middle of the Iris innominata...:-( The wooden decking was popular, too. If you find your tree roots rapidly colonising any garden beds you make you may have to either make raised beds with a barrier layer and above ground drainage points - or move to container growing. They might be why your yard has hungry sandy soil and weeds. The tree looks a bit like a birch of some kind. (Secondary guess would be a flowering cherry.)

my local library just hosted a edible food guru.. and a local mushroom hunter ... if you have interest in either..... i suggest you find local sources.. and watch them eat stuff first ... rather than relying on stranger on the WWW .... [you did well, asking first ... this is for other readers as well] the nightshade family is rather toxic in all its aspects ... ken

Thinking about what mad_gallica said, the house is indeed asymmetrical if you look at it straight on from the street, as all of the pictures do, and your planting plans are all essentially a strip along the front. The house is visible though from the side as you walk or drive along the street. What's happening on that left side, with a view into the side yard, can change the whole balance of the view. Have you thought about some plantings (nice tree and/or shrubs) that will counteract the weight of the garage? These plantings could/should wrap around the corner into the side yard. Maybe there are already plantings there that you just haven't shown us? Claire