As is usual with these "please help me" posts, I start by asking one question, only to have other posters bring up additional issues/suggestions - a good thing! I now have (at least) 2 projects - one for the long (natural) view of trees and field behind the pond. A second for a "people place" at a different corner of the pond. drtygrl - yes, there were a few suggestions to make a platform or destination area. What I liked so much about pls8xx's suggestion is choosing a different corner of the pond. That way the "people place" is closer to the house, hence more likely to draw people the short distance to the pond. Also, by putting it in that corner, the human elements (adirondack chairs?) are not competing with the long "natural" view. Initially I was a bit unsure about a platform under the ash tree, because it seemed it might turn that into a "busy" area rather than a peaceful one. By moving it to the closer corner, I will be able to have my cake and eat it too :-) pls8xx, I understand about the importance of a planned view drawing, I draw home made ones all the time (pencil), and enjoy it. (it's my engineering background) I often work a plan for a year or two before implementing it. I don't see myself planting anything new here for a year at least, because I will be too busy removing cattails and reworking that corner. I'm still really impressed how you deduced those contour lines, your 50 years of experience really show. I've also learned first hand about drainage, having made a few corrections already at this property. Fortunately, my house sits on a small hill, with a gentle grade that naturally takes all the water away. Given that my driveway on a hill was not constructed with the correct camber, I experience first-hand the effects of rain and erosion and frequent repair. While I love the idea of a large sitting area in that corner, I'm not enamored with the path through the grass to get there. I like the large unbroken expanse of lawn here, creating a plain foreground for the view beyond. And the simple addition of chairs will allow the viewer to "know" which direction to go. That corner has always been difficult. The lawn slopes down to where it meets the pond, except when it gets to the low left corner, then the natural slope goes well below the pond edge in the corner, creating a small low spot that is spongy with water in spring and after heavy rains. In other words there is a dip. For the mower, it's also a sharp turn around a wet corner at a weird angle. (because of it's small and distant location I've been able to ignore it for years.) By redoing this corner with the addition of a lot of soil and a raised area, several problems could be fixed at once. And I will pay attention to scale. When I first moved here from my previous suburban yard, nothing I did was big enough. With practice and mocking everything up with hoses, I believe I've gotten much better at achieving appropriate scale for this large country property. I also really like Michelle's photos, that was a gorgeous pond! But as KarinL pointed out, that intensely landscaped pond may not fit into my WNY landscape, although there are ideas I can glean from it. Yardvaark, He's a homeless dude instead of a statesman. yuk yuk! Actually he needs no limbing, he has a long tall muscular trunk. However, he's been running with a scruffy crowd of 10 small punk trees behind him. The scraggly branches are theirs, not his. And the more I think about it, I'm inclined to agree with you that once that treeline is opened up a bit, the field alone might be a sufficient draw without a path. The reason I envision a path now is because that would give me a visual way out of there. With it opened up, that may not be necessary. Once the trees are gone (within the next couple weeks) I will go a season and observe the field and evaluate whether to mow a path. Once again, I really appreciate all the ideas here! Thanks for staying with this thread and all my wordy responses. You have all helped me tremendously!

Brian, although I am by no means an expert, these plants simply look like they need more regular watering. Especially the comment you make that they 'look like they Are dieing and then come back to life' seems to confirm this. Mauritz

Hello all, it has been more than 2 years since I posted this, where does the time go?? I just wanted to follow up on this thread. I ended up putting Hunter Douglas ultraglide top down/bottom up blackout shades in the kitchen. We get such strong blinding sun that we really needed the blackout shades in that area. I have been happy with the decision. Although the blinds don't provide any visual interest, I am happy with the clean look when they are all the way up. I've realized that the visual interest is really the view. Hunter Douglas also has great customer service. We've had a few issues that were addressed in a very timely manner. As far as the great room, we lived without anything on the windows for all this time. I am glad I waited to see what would work best. The only reason why I am putting something on the windows now is because we want to protect our furniture from the strong morning sun. We will close the blinds at night and open them during the day after the morning sun. I will be ordering Hunter Douglas ultraglide top down/bottom up semi-opaque shades. I was told that the semi-opaque will block out 95% of the UV rays that cause sun damage to furniture. I am interested to see how these shades will affect our heating and cooling bills. There is so much glass in the great room that it gets so hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Best wishes to all!

hi Brian do you have any possums around?I have had similar damage from possums-they love the young buds.the 46 degres we had has killed some off-but they will be back good luck chas