Yes, I think you are beginning to understand - groupings/staggered look instead of layered look says it perfectly. That being said, I think your sketch still has more of a layered look. The sketch really helps, I think. I would: take out the far right hydrangea. take out the far right pyramidal boxwood. move the far right rose back to replace the spot of the far right hydrangea. move the two geraniums to replace the spot of the boxwood. add three or four more of the mums to go in the spots of the rose and geraniums. add four? speedwells to go from the mums toward the witch hazel to draw your eye to the witch hazel. This gives you more of a fluid bed where the entire bed is the focus, not just the bay window. Reread that: The entire bed should be the focus, not just the bay window. Having larger plants (witch hazel, boxwood) on the left, and small plants (geraniums) closer to the house will 'draw' your eye to the front door. Take a picture of the front of your house and with a piece of plastic and dry erase pen, 'draw' in the plans. Just need to draw shapes. Make sure they are approx. mature height. See if you like more of the 'round the bay' plan better or the 'descending toward the front door' plan the best. That will help you decide which plants you want where.

WOW! This is great! I have been over at the "seed exchange" on GW, and my biggest desire was for tree seeds. Not many people had them--although, after lots of trading--I did get a few. I have some tree seeds to trade; please let me know how many. TREES (I harvested them) Mimosa Albizia julibrissin (pink) Catalpa speciosa Large Maple tree ready (Believe it is Sugar Maple) Spruce Picea pungens glauca (very few) Horse Chesnut Aesculus Hippocastanum (White)SPECIFY from 2-5 seeds (seeds are large--like a golfball) I also have lots of rose of sharon, some of them from doubles. It would be a mix. Trees that interest me: (FUNctional ones with berries, fruit, or nuts--or something for the birds!) Thank you! Allspice (can I grow that in zone 7?) Hazelnut actinidia kolomicta Podocarpus gracilior Chionanthus virginicus--Fringe Tree Kalmia latifolia--Mountain Laurel Aesculus pavia-dwarf red buckeye Liriodendron tulipifera tulip tree Symphoricarpos albus snowberry Nerium oleander Viburnum carlesii ANY of the Pine Nut Trees: Pinus koraiensis, Arucaria arucana, Pinus armandii, Pinus jeffreyi, Pinus peuce, Pinus edulis, Pinus cembra var. siberica, Pinus siberica, Pinus siberica f. humistrata, Pinus siberica f. coronans, Pinus siberica f. turfosa, Pinus lambertiana, Pinus cembra, Pinus pumlia.

They are Rosa chinensis minima which I gather are the original miniature China roses. I got the first seeds from Vessey's but after that I harvested the hips and collected the seeds from my own plants. I no longer grow them from seed - they just seed themselves. A couple of seedlings appeared 100' or so away at the edge of the woodland garden a few years ago. They were in too much shade to bloom but I left them alone to see what they would do. This year one put out canes about 6' long - it looks like it has decided to be a climber in order to get more light. I staked it, leaning it into the bottom branches of a white pine. It'll be interesting to see what it does next. They are a lot of fun to grow - the seedlings start blooming when they are about 3-4" tall! So, if you want to, it's easy to be selective about what you grow. I just planted whatever I got though. They're a lot of fun - I highly recommend them.

bellburgmaggie Thanks for putting that mockup together! Gives me a great idea of how beautiful I can make this look with some work. The tree and flowers you show on the opposite side of the creek is the neighbor's property, but there's still a lot I can do above the culverts and on our side. l pinkmountain I don't really know that a rain garden would slow the water through the culvert, as the other side of the culvert/uphill stream is across the street and not on our property. mad_gallica I suppose there could still be an obstruction, but it's only during seriously heavy torrential rains that we've seen it rise to the grass-line...during times when there's also flash flooding throughout the city. We have been here since late spring last year and I don't recall seeing anything of interest pop up along the water, but we will continue to keep an eye out. I have a friend who can come help me ID what trees are there and anything else we might have missed, but there doesn't seem to be much aside from the trees & vines. Thanks everyone for your help and advice. I came into this with the idea of doing some landscaping this spring, but you've all convinced me to use the spring and summer to clean things up and get ready for planting in the fall instead.