Wow!! I haven't even thought of landscaping..I am still taking in the beauty of the house and the surrounding views. I am very happy for you and your family. Congrats! At least you know gardens can be added to over time as money and circumstances permit, so don't feel too pressured to get it perfect right away. For me, the pleasure comes in the slow changes I make over time, always tweaking plants and combinations to suit the year's growth. Again, congrats and I hope you thoroughly enjoy every minute of that back deck... What a view!

What a find! Congratulations on your new home!

I recommend spending lots of time peering out of your windows and thinking about what you like in your views and what you would rather add to or cover. You want your house to sit beautifully in the landscape, but you can't overlook the importance of enjoying your garden from the inside of your home as well.

Before making any design decisions take your time to see how you use the property, how the traffic flows, what spots are hotter or cooler, are there places you feel more or less comfortable, etc. I found it helpful to make various 'must have' and 'want to have' lists after looking at plenty of inspirational pictures. After that I had a landscape plan made up, but I remain flexible if I feel like something I originally wanted is not going to work.

Patience can be the most challenging part, it would be nice to get it all done at once but by taking your time I think you'll be happier with the end result.

OH MY ..., did you ever luck out, I've been around for a lot of years and my suggestion is to not jump into planting right away, move in, enjoy what you have, go through a summer, fall and winter before planning your beds. This way you can take into consideration things like wind etc., etc., etc..
That's not saying you couldn't have a holding bed for plants you know you want, see how they do there, this way you'll have more mature specimens when the time comes to plant and if they go belly up you'll know they aren't going to work.

I'm a great believer in constructive staring, I can't tell you how many times the light bulb has come on while I've been doing this. Move in, relax, enjoy and dream of what's to come in your beautiful new home. Slow and sure is the way to go. Just a wee bit envious here, you lucky girl not many of us have such a beautiful blank canvas to work with.

Annette

Thank you for taking the time to look !! We are so grateful and very excited . I totally agree with you ravensfan , I want to take my time and do it right , and let it take it's course. I don't feel much pressure , but I do want to start in the right area.
Peachy , did you have a plan professionally drawn up? Thanks to Pinterest I have some good inspiration . I think I want a pergola , my dh will build a pond somewhere , and I want a path going toward a sitting area by the lake. We have to get the land surveyed because I don't want to infringe on the lake owner property .
After midnight , it is a great idea to enjoy a summer and fall and see how things are. I do have about 25 roses in pots that I can store in garage over winter if I have to . I am hoping to at least start one bed this fall , but we will see! If we have another rough winter I'm afraid I'll lose roses in pots again.
I also plan on winter sowing a ton !

Thank you all for your well wishes and encouragement ! When we are in it I'll post more. First thing to do tho, is nice patio furniture for the deck! :) the rest can all wait ..

Lily- Congrats! It's a beautiful house and land...and I'm so happy for you. Is that you sitting on the chair with the view?

As for the yard, the good thing about patchy grass is that it will be easier to remove and replace with gardens! LOL Is the top soil very good? Sometimes a builder will just spread dirt over the area, without topsoil...and nothing wants to grow. That (hopefully) free manure could really come in handy.

Definitely take your time planning! Do you still have the dogs? Where do you plan to have their area? Everywhere or only out back? That makes a difference on your design, too.

I love the idea of a pergola...and a pond! Depending on the light and wind patterns, I would probably put the roses in the front and add some perennials and shrubs to give it a bit of a cottage feel...but a little more formal. That's where the grass paths can really help and give you a place to walk through the gardens and have a few benches to sit down and enjoy the fragrances!

I would also put climbing roses on the pergola...you'll have a mild enough winter (normally) that they should do very well! I'm so excited for you! You have to give us updates and a lot more pictures :)

Thanks lavenderlass!! I was so excited to share this with my cottage garden friends! I know you have given me some excellent ideas before and you have a similar backdrop .
We have 2 dogs , ( our pug passed away , now we have a cavalier King Charles spaniel), and still have our trusty old bulldog! :) we will be fencing the yard for them , but Haven't decided how much yet..
No that's my friend on the porch , involved in her phone rather than the beauty around her ! Lol

With a view in the back yard, I feel like the front yard is going to suffer! Lol
Once I know of a good black spot shrub rose I will tear up the shrubs and replace those with roses. You know I love my roses! And of course climbers for a pergola. I have a madame Alfred carriere that I think will be perfect. And a vigorous clematis too .
So far I have decided I need a hammock , a swing and a glider! lol
I don't know how the soil is . I am under the impression the property was all farmland until they sold it to a developer and kept a certain amount. But I'm not 100 percent sure. Hoping they won't mind me taking manure ! Lol

Be aware that some manure can damage your plants:

http://www.growingagreenerworld.com/killer-compost-it-happened-to-us/

http://smallfarms.oregonstate.edu/sfn/f09Herbicide

Manure (especially horse) is great...but make sure it's aged! If your neighbor has a pile from last year, it would be really great for the garden. You will get weeds...but so worth it, to improve the soil.

If you lived closer, I would definitely share! LOL My horses made a lot this winter...but the flowers are going to love it :)

So sorry to find out your pug passed away, but great to see you still have your other dog...and a new one!

I think you're right about the back yard and view getting most of the attention (how can they not?) but you could do something really special with the front. Maybe you could think about a potager? It might be fun to add a few veggies and herbs (even a bit of fruit) with all the roses and other flowers.

I've always liked this picture! Sorry, I don't have the 'key' anymore, to show what each letter stands for...but I belive they're mostly herbs. {{gwi:671328}}From Lavender's Garden

And this is nice, too :) {{gwi:240751}}From Lavender's Garden

Boy ! Are you gonna have some fun ! Just gorgeous !!!!!

Congratulations! It's a truly lovely house and an amazing view, well worth the wait IMO. Enjoy the planning and the planting. I'll echo the suggestion that you mostly live with it for a year before doing any extensive gardening both to see how you use the house and yard (where do you want views in all 4 seasons and are there views you want to block, what area makes sense for your dogs' outdoor space, are there weather considerations either for plant survival or to make the house more energy efficient that need to be accounted for in your planting schemes, how do you want to move around the property, etc.?) The yard looks large enough to offer you lots of flexibility in how you use it without being so large as to be overwhelming. What a wonderful opportunity for you.

Wonderful! I'm so happy for you and know you will so enjoy this wonderful property and have fun planning how to landscape.

I don't know much about improving lawn grass but know it takes a lot of work both to improve and maintain as have friends who spend several hours a week mowing on a ride-on. If you like it that's fine but it's not something I'd want to do so I would eliminate much of the grass.

Since I'm a 'list-maker' I'd write down everything I wanted such as pergola, rose beds, perhaps veggie garden, pond, paths from here to there, fenced area for dogs, etc. I'd take measurements and make a plan to scale. I would also watch for areas of shade or partial shade if there are any. Don't rush this as it takes awhile to really see how best to site things. When you have more ideas you might hire a landscaper to do a plan. This does not have to be extremely expensive if they only do the plan and you then do the work yourselves over time.

I hope you will keep us updated with pics on how this project progresses!

Oh, LF! Did you ever luck out! Your home and land is absolutely stellar! I don't think I would ever leave that porch! Congratulations!

I think everyone's idea about waiting is good. If I had to do it again, I probably would have considered how each part of my garden would relate to the next. I think with both of my homes/gardens, I would put a bed in here, one over there, etc.......and not really look at the entire piece of land as a whole canvas. I always admired the English and how they designed those old gardens where they take the entire land into account and figure where to put a wall of evergreens to bring you from a hot garden to a cool garden, or where a pond would go based on other gardens leading to/from it. Each "room" is part of a larger plan just like the interior of a house. I had never thought of my land from a birds-eye view, and how wandering through would "feel". Hope that makes sense! What a fun time you'll have with a blank slate. How exciting!