If you're intersted in this to know when to prune, here are some guidelines. If it will bloom in the spring, there are usually two different kinds of buds on it during the winter, flower buds and leaf buds. But it's sometimes hard to tell the difference. The easiest way is to wait until things bloom this year and make notes of timing. Then you can prune at the proper time. If it blooms in spring, prune right after blooming. If it blooms in summer or fall, prune during the dormant winter period. Of course, you can always ask at your local cooperative extension office. There are also books (keys) available to identify most shrubs and trees in the dormant season if you are trained and observant. Then you can look them up and find the right time to prune. Good luck. Patience and observation are probably your best teachers. Sandy

Once again, a trip to a good local nursery should provide you with many choices, specially at this time of year when many of these places feature fall planting sales. You could consider a collection of dwarf conifers, which offer a wide array of shapes, sizes and foliage color. Broadleaf evergreens I particularly value for extremely low maintenance and all around good looks are Viburnum tinus 'Spring Bouquet', 'Newport Dwarf' escallonia, various nandinas, Cotoneaster glaucophylla, Euonymus japonicus var. microphylla (boxleaf euonymus - assorted variegated forms to chose from) and hebes, but there are scores of others. And there are many deciduous shrubs that offer stunning fall color or late season blooms. Most of these will not offer too much interest during winter but twig dogwoods are standouts and oakleaf hydrangeas generally hold their richly colored fall foliage well into winter.

Lori, its' a pretty common question on Garden Web and you should be able to find lots of threads about this subject. I would suggest you learn as much as you can about the habits and life of squirrels (and other pests you anticipate at the mountain resort) while you are trying to come up with plants they won't eat. Like deer, squirrels are difficult to keep out of landscaped areas and there are few plants they won't eat if hungry enough. You may have to try a combination of plants they tend not to eat along with exclusion or repellant techniques. While this handbook does not have a list of squirrel-resistant plants, it does give lots of information about squirrel natural history and squirrel damage. http://wildlifedamage.unl.edu/handbook/handbook/allPDF/ro_b171.pdf As for deer damage, that's easy - not only are there numerous threads on GardenWeb about controlling deer damage, but many states' extension service websites have excellent information about deer control. Try this one from Colorado State University Extension: http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/natres/06520.html Here is a page that has files on management of a couple dozen other types of pests. Although they don't have tree squirrels, they do have info on ground squirrels and other common california pests. From Univ Calif Extension Agricultural and Natural Resources: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/selectnewpest.home.html Have you done a search on Garden Web? How about searching for "squirrel +proof"? lots of people get very aggravated at squirrels. You'll have to read through alot of posts to get what you want, but it's possible. good luck. As I wrote in your other post (in the Landscape Design Forum) ... you can always try plastic plants.

You have a great list and a limited area! So many people have this experience, you are definitely not alone. (right now I have the other version which is such a big space it's hard to make an impact but that is a different story. . .) Don't worry. The great thing about your garden is that it is yours to make, unmake and remake to suit your needs and preferences. You say "if it was up to me. . . " it is up to you! That doesn't mean you shouldn't ask for advice and learn from any source available but it is ok to do stuff that doesn't follow "rules." But since you asked, this is how I would start. Look up each of these plants' mature sizes, take some sticks and ribbon or bright string out into the yard and make circles as big as the mature sizes along the bed. Yes they really will get that big. But not right away and that leads to my second suggestion that is maybe more radical. Plant the shrubs you have toward the front of your bed and fill in behind and around them with other plants. If coneflower grows well in your area, that is great. Over time as the shrubs grow, expand the bed into the yard, widening it to a depth that works better for these plants. Move or just remove the other plants as the shrubs grow to give them breathing room. It looks like there is a little play zone in the back corner. When the kids outgrow it, that may be a time to curve the bed around the corner of the yard from the side to the back. That deeper area at the corner would be a great spot for some of the largest shrubs you want, but may not have space for right now. In terms of organizing the plants I would tend to group by species to address some of the concerns raised by others above about cohesiveness. Think of it this way, instead of having one of this and one of that, you have a group of azaleas, a group of blueberries. Tall ones in back, smaller ones in front is a good rule of thumb as are groups of three planted is a roughly triangular shape. Again leave enough space. It will look like too much space and this is where the perennials or even annuals will be great for a few years. I have a new bed this year where I really needed annuals to fill in around slow growing perennials. Did I love every annual I grew? not really, but they all taught me something about the space.