Hi NCguy, Like most lots, your backyard space is a rectangle with a border fence or wall. Simple shapes, like a rectangle, are so quickly recognized by the eye we lose interest. And the space has no view for the eye to escape to, so we continue to search inside the "box" for interest. Introducing curved shapes inside the yard creates interest and leads the eye to explore the details. The background of the fence and two story buildings is a distraction. We might do well to stop the eye and bring it down into the yard again. The view from the patio will help you to strategically place a few small trees to block out the nearby buildings. Planted 8 feet from the fence, these trees should work well. You might consider using Dogwood or Flowering Cherry. Mark the tree locations and then, using a garden hose, start at the fence corner (about 3 feet out from the fence) and make a curving line, like a snake, across the 50 foot fenceline. Shrubs, planted in groups of 3 or 4 along this line (with spaces in between)will create a new background. The shrubline, combined with the trees, will keep the eye moving. You might use broadleaf shrubs like hydraengea or Rhododendrum where the trees give shade; and use spirea or weigelia in the sun. For privacy on the right, you might cut out a curved, semi-circle of lawn, 4 feet wide and 15 feet long, for a shrub or evergreen hedge. Hibiscus would give you choices for flower color or evergreens like Juniper 'Witchita Blue' would add a silver grey to the yard. Inside the semi-circle would be space for a small circle of perennials and/or annuals. A border of brick, laid side by side would keep the lawn looking neat. Now take the hose and start at the end of the hedgerow (nearest the fence) and make a large pond shape that moves to the left, avoids the trees, and ends at the left side of the patio. This is the new lawn shape. Any areas outside the lawn are for shrubs and border plants. Inside this new lawn space there's room for a patio extension. If the patio is concrete, you might consider continuing that material and then staining it all to match. A rounded shape would work well here. A 3 foot wide by 5 feet long cutout at the patio edge will leave room for a drift of low plantings. Gotta go now. Good luck with your project! -Ted Kmiecik

I've still got a few hundred lemons left to pick & my citrus is about to bloom. For the low desert--today if the ideal fertilization day!

mnwgal - the backyard here is well shaded! Fortunately, I like shade/woodland gardens :-) t2d - the astilboides definitely likes lots of moisture! The ones I've tried elsewhere in the garden where there is less moisture are pathetic in comparison. In fact, I didn't notice them when I walked around yesterday so they may have disappeared altogether.... I'll keep an eye out for them when I'm out there later today. The ones in the north alley grow where a downspout from the gutters runs under the path and then emerges by the fence. The neighbour next door also directs water to then from one of their downspouts. That makes a nice damp spot for them in a fairly confined space so I think that helps keep them from spreading too far if they were inclined to. The leaves get huge and I love big-leafed plants. I've posted lots of pictures of them over the years but here's one from June 2 last year showing how big those leaves get: (As you can see, there is also a rodgersia growing with the astilboides. And you can also see that the snails like to eat the leaves!) We planted the Wolf Eyes dogwood in 2011. Most of the soil here is heavy clay. But where it is planted turned out to be an unexpected pocket of sand! So it has struggled, I think, with too dry soil as well as a number of bad winters. It was also a balled-and-burlapped tree and I find they don't establish as well as a smaller tree in a pot. So I will be looking for a smaller pot-grown tree to replace it, and plant it in a different spot. sandyslopes; cearbhaill - the logs along the fence in the north alley are in effect the edging that makes a narrow raised bed along the fence. The soil there is largely formed from the sod that was removed from the alley when I made the garden areas there - we just piled the sod upside down along the fence in the fall, covered it with newspapers and fallen leaves,put the logs down to hold it all in place, and let it all rot down for the winter and planted it the following spring (2006). Elsewhere in the garden I use logs as 'nurse logs' to hold moisture and provide nutrients for plants in dry conditions. I think it might help the red trilliums if I put a log or two in the area where they aren't doing so well. Ken - the black dog is our miniature poodle. His color is called 'blue' - described as 'faded black denim' :-) He's a 'failed' service dog - he failed out at the end of the puppy foster period due to 'resource-guarding issues' (he will snap at other dogs who get too close to 'his' cookies!). He's large for a mini so he may have a bit of standard poodle in his breeding. They breed their own dogs and they need a range of sizes to suit client needs. As you can see from his tail, they do not dock the tails on their poodles! Poodles often have the most amazing spiral tails! It's a shame that it is common to dock poodle's tails. Sometimes breeders donate dogs to the facility and those ones usually have docked tails.

If your wife is freaked at the thought of snakes, look up ALL the snakes in your area and identify the harmless versus possibly harmful, and their characteristics. Search Google for "Snakes species of __your state" and see what comes up. Most snakes, even the venomous ones, are not aggressive. They will move away if you let them or just keep doing their snake things. I don't know how it is back east, but in Arizona that typical snake bite victim was male, young, drunk and doing something stupid with the snake, like kissing it!