I really, really like hrigsby's idea with the deck. Under the deck storage can be for kid stuff--they can keep their outside playthings there, from bikes and scooters to enormous waterguns. Enclose it and make it a closet. >I was thinking of doing climbing roses and clematis on the shed, but I want to develop a clear plan before I start buying plants. You are totally overthinking this. If you want the look of a clematis and rose-draped shed, get a clematis and a big climbing rose. Go to the species forum and ask for advice, and then go and buy your New Dawn rose and whatever clematis everyone's enthralled by now. Plant them. Mulch their roots so they don't get weedy. Done. You are not going to throw off the entire garden plan by choosing the wrong rose and the wrong clematis. The rock work on the shed foundation is awesome, but as far as plants go...could you possibly do worse? >The park-like look really appeals to me with mulched burmed beds, if that makes sense. Manicured, simple, orderly. You mean commercial and/or parks-and-rec sorts of plantings? This seems to be what you're saying--shaped hedges floating in seas of mulch... This takes a lot of weed killer and a BIG budget for mulch. It also will look, at best, like a rather nice office building. I think you might need more exposure to various kinds of gardens. What you're imagining is mass-maintenance, not low-maintenance. And it's unsuited to a home, though many builders of cookie-cutter homes throw in the cookie-cutter shrubs like this. >Photos of Japanese style gardens appeal to me also. Not low maintenance. >I also love the idea of attracting birds more. I have seen blue jays, cardinals, sparrows, and morning doves. A water feature would be great but I don't think I want a pond. If you want a wildlife garden area, circle where you want it on your layout. Do you want to see it from the patio? From the windows of which room? I'd advise a prefabbed, plug-in type of water feature for low maintenance. Most are hideous. Some are nice. Eventually, you can find one you like. >We also love the idea of doing raspberry, blueberry, blackberry bushes for the kids and birds, but I hear the roots can be very invasive. Why didn't you go over to the fruit forum and ask? The very nice people there would have explained to you that you need a 2' deep root barrier for the raspberries but none for the blackberries. (The lazy way to do it is a 2' deep raised bed, but that may not be smart in your zone.) You will want to plant this either on the east or west side, parallel to the property line but with a pathway at least as wide as the mower. You want this on the OPPOSITE side of property than the wildlife garden, if you really want it for the kids. If you want it mostly for birds, there are better choices of plant--far more attractive for people. If you want several types of raspberry, each needs a 2' deep root barrier between them, or the more aggressive types will take over. The bed needs to be 2' wide. Mulch it well to prevent weeds. Each plant needs 3' of length along the bed. Put a hedge up along the other side, between you and your other neighbors, to reduce the feeling of exposure. As far as the existing arbs, I'd personally do a mixed shrub border, but I fear you will want an orderly row of evergreens that will do nothing to soften the shape of the yard and will grown unmanageably huge themselves in time. I can't really see the commercial berms and sterile plantings plus wildlife combination. It does not at all work in my mind.

Each dog is different. My niece's large mixed breed wouldn't hesitate to jump in if she let him. While my Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Teddy, has absolutely no interest in swimming. I was warned that his grandmother destroyed her owner's pond on more than one occasion, but thankfully that trait wasn't hereditary. Our pond is 4,000 gallons and that was a concern to me because he's so rambunctious and I was afraid he could drown. While he likes to walk around in the pond if it's dry, he has no desire to get in with the water. He's funny because he throws his toys in the pond and watches them float around, but that's it. He'll wait for us to retrieve them. He'll scarf up what fish food floats to the edges and will take a drink out of it, but will not go farther than that. He likes watching the fish, but doesn't harm them. And he doesn't destroy plants at all. He treats it more like a big water bowl. You should measure the depth of your pond. If your dog can step out of it easily and it looks like he can, then you should be OK. If he won't stay out of it, you can either fence it or use a deterrent. I can tell you what works - a motion detector sprinkler. Scarecrow and Havahart makes them. It didn't work on the heron, but it was VERY effective on Teddy!

Thanks. I felt blessed to have such a regal visitor but also know my dear duckies are in danger!Too bad they need to come THIS close to humans to survive. Anna we repotted some Blue goddess and gave some to two friends. One friend in Vero with a huge pond said his died.He guessed it was because he TREATED his pond with anti- growth chemicals! Ya think!!!?The ducks trim the lily pads but cannot get the flowers. I do have a photo of ducklings WALKING on them though! Funny thing is they grow best on the pond with the waterfall. There are some trying to get established in the left hand corner of the bottom pic(out of view) My mom loves the flowers! They are such a great addition!!!! And quite easy to care for! Tanya

Yes, we all need more trees. I saw something in the news that SL County wants to see 1 million trees planted in the next 10 years. I don't know how they plan to promote that, but it's a great goal. Anyway, I think that's funny how you planted in the neighbor's yard. Reminds me of guerrilla gardening (http://www.guerrillagardening.org) where people sneak out at night and plant nice things to beautify neglected spaces. Anyway, you DEFINITELY should be gardening, Sharla! Don't be daunted just because it can be complicated. It's not always complicated, and you'll learn some things along the way as you do it. It's so rewarding to grow stuff and see your accomplishments as they make your yard a nicer place. As for the red maple, just watch it and see. It may be fine, but if the leaves get pale or yellow, it is getting iron chlorosis from our alkaline soil. It's not that we don't have enough iron, but it can't be used very well by some plants when they're in alkaline soils. These are usually trees or shrubs that came from back East or some other climate that has rich, acid, forest soils. Anyway, if that happens, post back here, and we can help you deal with the sick tree.