Thanks. Since your responses I've managed to identify the tress as Norway Spruce. The are very large, taller than my two story house. I think the poster who suggested cutting some low branches is right. A lot of the lower branches aren't even green, they are dried out and have no needles at all. Having taken a long hard look at the area I've realized that it isn't COMPLETELY a wasteland as some little white wild flowers do grow there (haven't identified them yet, but they have tiny little heads smaller than a dime and are about a foot tall.) I've never really watered this area but due to run off from the neighbor's it does seem to get a lot of moisture. If I supplement the rainfall, now that you know what tree I'm dealing with do the suggestions above hold up? I also did a search at a plant retail website for "shade, slope, deer resistant" and got Liriope muscari ÂBig Blue. Does anybody know this plant and whether it is a good choice under trees? The photos seem to have them under diciduos trees but they can do that just for the photo. Thanks

Yup, the vast majority of our Hosta garden is under a 1930's CCC Red Pine Plantation, so they (the Pines) are thick. We'd heard the notoriety of Maple Tree root strangulation issues with Hostas, but not so with Pine Trees. Alas, at least with Red Pine, there is a problem. Now having helped friends dig out strangled Hostas under Maple trees, we admit the Red Pine problem is certainly not anywhere near as bad, but a factor nonetheless. Many Hosta, over the last 15 some-odd years, have been just fine. I'm sure that the slow growth of many of them is due to this tree root problem, and not merely the heavy shade from the trees. Some Hosta, though, have regressed, some slowly, some dramatically, from tree roots, some even to death when not rescued in time. Our solutions: some are re-planted in buried pots and are A-OK, many more are in COMMERCIAL GRADE (the stuff that's like thin fibreglass cloth, not the cheaper plastic stuff) weed barrier cloth lined holes. Both systems are working. Now, as to deer, you talk fencing as expensive. We also garden about 3 acres, and use a very cheap electric fence. Works. We have about 4 wires. The top wire is not so high as to preclude them jumping it, so here's the real trick. In the spring we place strips of peanut butter coated tin foil strips every so many feet on the hot fence. This 'trains' the deer to the point that the fence can be turned off after a few weeks. Evil but effective ;-) I learned this 'trick' when we kept goats and I saw a young billy-goat lick the electric fence one day. He gave new meaning to 'break-dancing', yhee-haww. Yeah, every year one doe and her fawn figure out that the fence doesn't extend across the driveway, and they wander in, nibble a little here and there, pick their fave and mow it. Knock on wood, they've not mowed the same one two or more years in a row. With 50-60 deer living in our section, we'll put up with one or two bandits. A parting comment: After years of hearing the 'scrunch' sound when sinking a shovel through the Red Pine surface root mat we started digging up a bed under a Jack Pine tree. Both of us looked at each other with astonishment. No 'scrunch'. We didn't find the feeder root mat, so planted 'bare root'. That bed is one of the healthiest ones here now. Oh, and NOTHING grows under our lone Blue Spruce, no surprise. I'm sure you'll work out the details. It's been worth it here! A yard of lush Hosta sure beats a yard of boring brown pine needles. Best Wishes, hh

If it were me and I was going to redo the front walk I would just do poured concrete in an oval shape to mirror the bed around the trees in front of the house. That's the least maintenance. Yes, remove the yews, they should not be trimmed in an unnatural box shape for a home as natural looking as yours. Don't know what the tree is next to the yew shrubs, maybe blue atlas cedar or blue spruce? Either way, it is going to get big so you may want to move it now while you still can. It's a "specimen tree" meant to be viewed from afar, so I'd put it in the back yard, "afar" from the house where I could take it in while sitting on the back patio or looking out the back window. You could take out the front set of birches with two trunks, that is the one that blocks the view the most. I wouldn't do that, but I am a tree hugger. Where the yews and that blue green tree are, I would put some flowering trees or shrubs that would remain small, and maybe something that smells nice to greet me as I walked up to the front door. You don't say your zone, but it appears to be a 4 season area so I'd put in some rugosa roses (but that's just me) maybe mixed with hydrangeas. That's what I have in my front entrance way. Roses can get buggy, so if you want something even less maintenance, shrubby cinquefoil and low growing spirea are just about as easy peasy as it gets. "Knock out" roses don't smell as great as a rugosa but are more foolproof, depending on your zone. BTW, there are small evergreens you could put next to your house. There are some small junipers that would fit the bill, or a bird's nest blue spruce (which I don't particularly care for but some folks love). But like I said, not sure what that is by the yew hedge, it may be a dwarf for all I know but it doesn't look like it from my casual glance.

Congrats on the new home! It is definitely looking better with your current work. Here are some random thoughts that occurred to me while looking at your various photos. I'm interested in seeing the photos Yardvaark requested, and also one that clearly shows the entrance from the sidewalk, when standing directly out from the door. I am another who wouldn't paint the brick since it involves increased maintenance, especially since you have chosen low-maintenance hardie board siding, but you are the one who will have to deal with it. However, I would wait to do this until you have worked out a planting scheme since it may turn out that the current brick color makes a better backdrop for the plants than the light color. Once you have a plan, then if you still feel it will look best, you can do the whitewash before actually doing the plantings. As others have said, I think one of your biggest challenges will be to find a way to make your almost hidden entrance easily seen by visitors. So you will need to keep that in mind with whatever you decide to do with landscaping. For instance, planting an evergreen at the left house corner may hinder the visibility of the entrance from some angles. IME, planting along the driveway edge won't prevent folks from driving off the edge, it will just mean that your plants get driven on. It also presents an issue with where folks walk when they get out of the car; if you have plantings lining the drive, and the cars fill the drive, there isn't anywhere to walk, so grass or a walkway from the street to the door might be your best choice for the driveway edge. Soaker hoses on a timer or with you turning them on as needed will help with keeping things watered. Since they go under the mulch, they won't be visible. Getting the timing right will need to be worked out based on what you plant and your soil, but here (with similar rainfall) I usually don't need to do much if any watering on established, mulched gardens. Rather than just getting plant ideas on line, go to the Chicago Botanic Garden, which is world class and grows research plots specifically to figure out what plants grow well and look good (disease free, etc.) in your area. Go often, like every 2 weeks so you can see what looks good at different times of year. Take photos of plants and their labels so you know what to look for when you have a plan. As for the mulch and paver edging dilemma, I might just add a light layer of a mulch color you like for now, with perhaps some annuals for color, either in the ground or in large pots. Your ultimate plan may have a bed that looks quite different, and once you have a plan of what the planting area will look like and what types of planting and hardscape changes you will plan to make, then you can remove mulch and edging. It just seems a bit of a waste of your time and energy to do much with this area for now. Early fall is a great time to plant, so if you don't get things planned and planted this spring, you can do prep this summer once the plan is in place and plant in September. The annuals will add interest for the summer so it doesn't look so stark.