well .. whats your soil type... and what was the result of your perk test??? see .. if you recall .... i was leading you all along .. recent transplants should not dry .. thru the whole root zone .. and since you planted them.. you know how deep that is .... for the rest of this season.. and in drought next season ... they should be sodden at planting.. and if you mulch.. it might be a month.. before they need more water.. insert finger to 3 inches.. and do not water.. untilit is dry at that depth.. and then water deep enough to insure a deep watering .. this is where it would be nice to know the result of your perk test.. and whether you have NON-draining clay soil ..... absolutely no one.. but you and your finger.. can tell you when your soil will need water.... though i am sure that guy who sold you the peat.. will have a fast and generic answer for you .. lol .... think of it this way... they like a drink ... and then near total drainage ... and NEAR drying.. before another drink ... into all that.. if you get any good rains.. over the summer... that is just that much less watering you will need ... mulch will cool the soil.. [hot soil gets dry.. go figure] .... retard evaporation.. and increase the time between deep watering. .... and dry mulch on top.. indicates NOTHING.. as to the soil moisture.. 3 inches in the soil .... mulch should be applied 3 to 4 inches deep.. so when it settles.. it will be 2 to 3 inches deep ... there is no need for preen.. if you apply it that deep.. and this means nothing as to any annuals and perennials you might plant around them.. those need much more water than these trees ... and you will need to do those much more often [also because their roots will not be as deep ....] ... but do NOT go watering the conifers.. every time you water those.. or you might root off their roots ... aka drown them .... mulch is much cheaper by the yard...than in bags .... if you design out the other beds.... etc.. and get delivery of 4 or 5 yards .. it will probably be cheaper than the cost of bags for this one the area ... it is generally very light.. and if you have a wheelbarrow.. and a man and 2 boys.. ask them what their favorite dinner is.. and put them to work ..... [a manure shovel is also a good investment] too bad i put this all here.. in an unsearchable titled post ... and that is why i often ask you to start a new post with a searchable title .... live your dream.. its fun .... isnt it!!!! ken Here is a link that might be useful: first pic

Yes the roots will go thru the hole in the block into the ground. I don't like coleus- I know they're good for shade. I have in mind something that will be tall and not bushy- something with a stem and flower at the end, except that anything I'm familiar with like that is a sun plant. well tomorrow I'm making a nursery run, maybe I will come across something.

The list of Viburnum that will fill that bill is pretty substantial though most below will be closer to the 10' range at maturity. You could consider Viburnum lantanaphyllum, Viburnum tomentosum, Viburnum dentatum, Viburnum carlesii (knockout fragrance), Viburnum juddi (another fragrant one). Good luck with your buffer planting.

@echolane I've been meaning to try out penstemon, thanks for the reminder c: I just picked up a 'Cha Cha Lavender' from Santa Rosa's fall sale.. if I can propagate some from cuttings I'll be adding them to that side. ALSO figwort looks very interesting. I looked into them and there's a native species to the north of me that is good for butterflies and hummingbirds but people don't realize it since flowers are small, perhaps that is true of this kind as well. I'll keep an eye on it. Ratibida columnifera is actually naturalized (but not problematic here) so it definitely does work, I've seen it before in coastal gardens. Very striking! Thanks @LaLennoxa( I consider Cannas price-y but I'm a college student so take that with a grain of salt lol. They usually are the most expensive bulb species offered when I look online but perhaps I'm not looking in the right places. Locally I saw 1 gal pots of them go for 20 bucks.... They are surprisingly uncommon here, probably because no one gardens like there's only one other person on my street that has flowers it's really sad. Just lawns that they pay people to maintain for them :/ --- ANYWAY here's Current Plan but I'm not sure my sketch helps much with visualizing lol: (lawn space is actually smaller than this suggests) 1 = Viburnum suspensum; ones on left are baby planted ones (these stay pretty small in my experience/are easy to maintan so they shouldn't be a problem) 2= white bedding pentas or similar cheap annual I can always find for sale here (white ones like shade the most in my experience) 3= White Impatiens or other shade-tolerant plant (maybe green/yellow shrimp plant, just depends on what's being offered/what's cheaper) 4= Flowering tobacco, white, annual (have 1000 seeds of these and a bunch already came up so I can just stick them wherever) Purple= Porterweed since I have extra, filler Black = fence and gate FS= Firespike (already there)Red on fence = native honeysuckle, adding a second further down since I have 3 still in pots. Orange x = potential canna placement if I can find one cheap Orange in back = Possible location of Butterfly ginger (white) or Hedychium 'Anne S Bishop' (apricot orange)There's a few other plants I might sneak in but that's the main gist of it, think i already rambled enough lol @deannatoby Gardenias are a great idea. I've been wanting to add some there, they're just price-y so I might stick to growing them in pots so I can take them with me (unfortunately only grafted ones survive here usually so I can't propagate them). I really love them, though! I get too attached to gardenias lol Appalachia is gorgeous.. when I was a child I visited the Smokies and I saw the tallest, happiest scarlet Bee balm growing along a stream in the middle of shade with a spotlight on it. Unfortunately, many plants that grow there cannot handle my climate (e.g. Bee balm and coral bells). But looking into more local forest plants might work, thanks for the tip. Campanula UK Z8 I absolutely love campanulas (for their flowers but also because many are an edible green) but have never grown one, I'm having a hard time finding heat-tolerant species in seed form.. But I appreciate the reminder c: I plan on trying N. sylvestris next year if the annual version is successful, thanks.