My first thoughts were of heathers and heaths that will flower in summer, fall and winter instead of spring since you mentioned your yard is heavy to spring bloomers. They are evergreen, low maintenance too. There may not be enough sun for heathers though..However if roses thrive and bloom, heather would be fine. Personally, I'd mix it up rather than plant one thing and I would plant ground covers to unify but then I hate bare dirt. I'd be tempted to yank the roses since they are very cottagy and your house and rest of landscaping is classic Pacific Northwest. I'd add ferns and dwarf rhodies, azaleas, dwarf Pieris, there are several, Skimmia would provide berries (if you plant a male with females) and likes shade too. The Cotoneaster would be fine but I have seen them collect trash as mentioned. Ajuga is my current favorite ground cover but I know it is very common and some don't like it. I like 'Chocolate Chip' which is at least different than most. I have a lot of Scotch and Irish moss around my yard too but they want sun, they aren't really moss. There aren't a ton of plants with summer, fall or winter blooms that really fit your house and current landscaping as well as the spring blooming ones I mentioned do but you may not care what I think! You could do some ornamental grasses, my Oriental fountain grass blooms from July to November but it looks awful from January to May. Blue Oat grass or fescue are more evergreen than fountain grass is. I love your house and neighborhood. Those mature trees on the skyline. Gorgeous. My neighborhood just has a lot of butchered Doug firs. Yours looks like the wonderful one my brother lives in in Everett. What have you got planted in the rest of the yard?

Another point to consider, if this is a true "easement", then your neighbor still owns the property your drive is on, and therefore you would not have a "right" to plant anything at all without their permission. This "easement" almost certainly an access easement that allows for a road/drive and utilities, but gives you no other rights whatsoever. I don't know if this is a true easement, or if you in fact own a strip of land to the road, but you need to keep this in mind. You can find out from your "plat" that either you will have a copy of, or you can find at the county courthouse. IMHO I would say don't risk ticking off the good neighbor, and live with it especially if you don't actually "own" the stripe. JMHO Artrees

hey everyone , thanks for the replies !! ill try to reply to everyone in small paragraphs : we are in Chardon , Ohio , 40 minutes east of Cleveland. By Mentor, Kirtland, etc .. all were known for is snow and maple syrup. the snow usually all melts away by mid to late march though. were not shopping at tyty , but used them for a pic reference . there are several nurseries by me , just dont know which are the best. some people have japanese maples around me , they seem to do fine ... but i am no expert . they are nice trees, but expensive by me . i have a small red oak to the left of the driveway from the picture's view... i could probably just uproot it and replant. ide say its 4' tall and about the diameter of my thumb . its the ONLY oak on my 2 acres. my woods consist of pignut hickories, black cherries, sugar maples, bigtooth aspens, and a few basswoods. the only 3 elms on my property are all huge and dead. i have the ability to replant the red oak and i have a ton of sugar maples that are under 8' tall . crabapples are great. i have been eating them since i was a kid. i will incorporate one of them in the mix for sure. i see that the bradford pear is a pain in the butt and cracks and splits since its trunks are so close theres no room for expansion i guess. however, the Cleveland Select pear tree seems to get a better reputation . i wouldnt line the driveway with them , as i do like functioning trees like maples and crabapples, serviceberries , etc. i can respect the notion that those choices are better than ornamental trees that are pretty but probably wont outlive you and dont bear fruit. i dont plan on living here longer than 5-10 years, so any tree i pick i wont be able to see it in all its glory. thats ok though . also , i have a septic system in the middle of the yard so i cant plant them everywhere as i would like . they have to be within 15' of the driveway and they can be as big as i would like . the house is surrounded by 60-120' trees . here is another link to my layout but shot in the fall . you can see the 2 septic line service covers in the grass painted in green. Middle of the yard and inline with the pine trees in the corner . i need to get a blueprint of the septic drain lines so i can maybe plant a few in the middle of the yard too! from left to right in the pic there is a basswood and a couple pignuts in the front we just love and then a couple white pines. we have a lot to digest now from all the replies. ill get back to you im sure with more questions once we narrow or selections down . thanks again!!! keep the replies coming . :) Here is a link that might be useful:

I second, very strongly, the above comment about Plane trees. The disease is anthracnose. There was some discussion of the merits of an alle and problems with monoculture. There is nothing wrong with an allee as long as it fits your tastes and landscape. They need not be the ultra formal European Alles of Versailles et al. Nor do they need to be a monoculture. You can have a mixed alle of complementary trees. To make it more formal, make sure that you pare up the trees with the same species on the opposite side of the allee. For example a line of trees like this. Incense Cedar, American Linden, English Oak, European Linden, Yellowwood, Red Oak, Repeat as needed. The repetition in the line and on opposite sides of the drive would give the viewer the idea of the allee but also have the variety of form and species that would avoid the monoculture problem.