Hi Brent... thank very much for your feedback! Always nice to hear some others' opinions. Sorry about all the pics... I knew there were lots so gave fair warning in the subject heading + resized them all! :) I, too, like evergreens... but what was the deciding factor for me was that the city planted 7+ spruce outside my fence in the park already (see pic #5). Just thought it may have been a bit much for my taste. Part of the reason for the paper birches was to give some different colours (white bark + turns nice yellow in the fall). They say that birches survive in poor soil conditions... but I still think they are a bit finicky. So we'll see how they do... When I have guests we usually sit up on the deck or are in the hot tub. People generally don't venture down into the lawn area. I guess not much to look at down there yet until stuff starts growing up and filling in. The river rock was actually an extension of the rock that I put in along the south side of the house last year... more for functionality than anything else. I just found that the south side of the house was frying the grass... no amount of watering would save it so cut it out and installed the decorative rock. I kind of like the effect of the rock and the bluestem... reminds me of the cottage. But of course different strokes for different folks. The kids factor could be an issue sometime down the road (gulp). I'm a single guy for now with no kids... but you never know that can always change...! Thanks again for your opinions... really like to hear what others think. Especially people who are into it enough to read up landscaping stuff on the forums. Cheers!

The original design did not call for that weird angle of the walk popping out of the patio, it was rounded. But that's because the whole middle of the yard was going to be brick, with plant beds around it. The grass area in front of the garage was what I had to do to get it "finished" and under control to get ready to sell. I had posted about that part. I've tried to keep my landscape designer out of this discussion, but really she did not design a true phased plan that looks good at each phase, so when I had to scale back, there really wasn't anyplace to go with her plan. I wanted it in chunks of 5K, but her first phase ended up being 7K just for the hardscaping. At that point it was the middle of the summer and she had kept me waiting so long I went ahead with something cobbled instead of finding someone else to do another plan. My yard was all torn up because I had removed the deck thinking I was ready to go. All that had to happen was my LD had to get back to me with a revised, scaled-down plan. Well, six weeks later after numerous calls and e-mails, at which point I was actually searching for someone else to do my patio at the beginning of June, she got back to me with the same plan, same cost. Obviously a communication problem. I really don't want to get into that part because people are very sensitive about discssions about LDs. I am not dissing the profession or dissing my LD, it was just not a good "fit." But then I have also posted about the fact that there is a certain type of LD that is very difficult to find, small jobs, well phased, inexpensive, working with a lot of constraints instead of a "blank slate." I would say since folks like me in this working class town rarely have the money to hire LDs, LDs are not trained to design for row houses, rather they know how to design yards for new subdivisions. The really spectacularly talented folks here do not do small job$. We discussed that here. Some folks disagreed, but I think my generalization holds true. I'm not saying there wouldn't have been someone out there, I'm just saying it's not that easy to find them. I met the husband of a colleague at work who is a professional LD who only does big jobs and he offered to help me with some ideas for free but I didn't want to take advantage of him, based on the complaints I hear so often here. Looking back I should have taken him up on his offer. Here's and example of what I'm talking about, obviously the chainlink is not attractive, and in a small area, you notice every element. However, I only own one of the chainlinks there. So I could replace one side but not the other. Or I could put my other side of the fence in front of my neighbors fence, thus loosing scarce garden space. Also, to avoid the "bowling alley" look I would have had to invest in a really nice fence, which would have added to the cost even more. So priority wise, I opted to do the patio and shade elements first. Also, you can minimize the negative effects of chainlink by landscaping in front of it. Chainlink can somewhat "disappear" with vegetation in front of it. That's another solution. I've also seen some on these forums some ingenious ways of dressing up chainlink with plants, ornaments, beads, etc. I mean it's one thing to say, "That chainlink is ugly, that's your problem, get rid of it," and quite another to take a sow's ear and turn it into something maybe not resembling a silk purse but a really cool purse made out of a sow's ear so that you suddenly don't dis the idea of using a pig's ear for a purse, since that's what you have, pigs, not a silkworm farm. I don't know if they teach that kind of creativity in professional schools. Also, you're not necessarily going to be able to hire a contractor to give you that kind of creativity since that takes time for craftmanship. I think the best solutions for tiny working-class yards come from the creativity of the owners. Up the road from me there is a house with a stone wall built up against a chainlink. So from the inside of the yard you see a dry laid stone wall. A working class person cannot pay someone to do a dry laid stone wall in their back yard. And being myself extremely limited in the creativity and skill department, it was a challenge to "design" a good plan for my yard. Ironically, that's the kid of unique, creative solution that folks here could share. On the PA Gardening forum I saw someone's yard landscaped with broken concrete used like flagstone, who would have thunk it. And who was it who posted the picture of the wood patio and pergola her dad built--totally creative! I just don't have those abilities or access to them. Sorry I didn't keep track of my advisors, it is a very hectic time with a job change and move on the horizon. Without wanting to offend, and yet being perfectly honest about "what I learned," I have to say that the touchiness, concerns about "appropriate postings" and strong taste ideas on this forum inhibits some of the kind of creative discussion that a forum like this could foster. Seems to me that a free public forum is where non-professionals who are trying to pinch pennies can go to share and help each other out--for free and for the sheer fun of it. I'm a professional too, and I participate in these forums for the fun of sharing and creative community. This is not directed at anyone, most certainly not at the professionals who post here. I don't mind blunt and prickly or strong. It's the $$ issue that I wonder about. I've seen people shut down who attempt to discuss lower end options, and yet realistically that's why someone would want to post here. If they could afford high end they'd be sitting in an air-conditioned office with their LA. That's a huge issue for most of us, how to do something lower end but not tacky. I saw an adorable waterfront cottage the other day on a drive, then realized as I was leaving that it was a housetrailer with a screened in porch added, sided and roofed to match and landscaped all cottagey. Yes, it was a trailer and would never be mistaken for a high end beach cottage, but the owner had made the best of what they could afford, made something tasteful out of something inexpensive. That's true elegance in my book. I have learned that this type of creativity is very hard to come by and usually comes from the "idiot savants" of the masses! :-) On the flip side, sometimes you have to bite the bullet and call in a professional. This forum often helps people sort that out, when is it time to call in the guy with the backhoe.

Renee, I feel your (rat) pain, sigh... Last year I had about 30 or 40 apples on my little espaliered Anna. I did not get single one due to the roof rats and ground squirrels (it's the low rent district on the other side of my fence in the abandoned orange orchard for both ground squirrels and rats). Many of my citrus fruits were also damaged. I have finally had to resort to setting up poison bait stations. I am happy so say I've gotten 10 apples off my new Anna, and look to get those 30 or 40 apples all for myself! If you're not willing to get rid of the rodents by poisoning, have you tried bagging your fruit? I know those very clever wire cages will work for SURE, but maybe a cloth bag, which is easier to put on, might also work? I know a lot of folks use the Packco cotton bags for codling moth with apples, and some are using them on stone fruit to keep them away from rodents and birds. I added the link below. Patty S. Here is a link that might be useful: Packco Cotton Bags

Alexa and janetpetiole... you both have a very sharp eye! For Alexa, yes, that is Spring Fling in the 3rd picture, 3 o'clock position. It is the only one with a ruffled edge in that area, and it really stands out... And for janetpetiole, yes, I have a little dwarf garden in the top right of some of the photos (it is a trough I made at hosta college last year.) Actually, you can see in the 2006 picture, the dwarf cedar is nice and green, but in the 2007 pictures, you can see it is reddish/brown because it died over the winter... I am planning to take it out sometime soon. There is a tiny dwarf hosta in there too... Masquerade... and the gnome which resided there last year is still inside and hasn't made his way out there yet! Phil... you are correct about not being able to appreciate the true beauty of a hosta until it matures for a few years. Spring Fling was not much to look at in 2005, but now in 2007 it is one of my favorites. It's finally starting to look like those hosta library pictures... And Janice... I'm not afraid to answer your question over here :-) The wedding was wonderful, everything went as planned, and my bridesmaid dress fit fine (after some minor adjustments!) Buff