If you want a small tree at the right end of bed (near corner) then putting in a Hydrangea that's NOT a tree, won't work. You'll need to find another place for it. Earlier I recommended PG Hydrangea which can be grown as a small tree. Burning Bush, common Lilac or Philadelphus coronaria are other large shrubs that make good small, multi-trunk trees. For planting a large groundcover bed, you'd want to arrange plants in rows with the leading row in line with the front edge of the bed, but set back a uniform distance from it. Usually, the same spacing between plants works well as the front set back distance... so let's say for Hosta, 18". Then space them 18" apart in the row. 18" Behind that row is another row laid out in the same manner, except that you would place these plants not directly behind the first row, but offset them so that they are staggered relative to it. Continue the process until you have reached the back of the bed and filled it up. Since you are planting around trees, just don't place a Hosta where the tree is. You can come close, but not so close that you are struggling with tree roots (the tree being the Dogwood) as you don't want to disturb its ability to grow. When the Hosta grow, they will nestle around the tree trunks just fine. Though you PLAN the planting beginning with the first row, you'd actually install plants beginning with the last and work your way backward so you are not crushing installed Hosta as you plant more. That's the manner in which you'd approach laying out a normal large bed. Now let me contradict that. If your bed is only 4' deep from front to back, the above instructions would only allow you to place 2 rows in the bed. That'd work OK, but if you have sufficient Hosta and want a full look more quickly, keep the plant spacing the same, but adjust the row spacing so that you can fit in 3 rows...say each being 12" apart. (Spacing would now be 18" o.c. x 12" rows.) Whether you install whole Hosta clumps or split them up is a factor of How many you need vs. how many you have available. Split them if you're going to need a lot of Hosta or if the clumps are so huge they just need splitting.

Deeje....Love, Love, Love your yard! when I lived in the city it was so easy to do the landscaping cause there are boundaries. Here I am creating my own and am finding it extremely difficult. Mostly because there aren't the grown trees or fence line. I was surprised to read that you leave your decorative things out. Do you get as much snow as us in MB? I put EVERYTHING away in the garden shed as soon as it gets cold...including fountains, urns, trellis, ornaments, stone statues...I mean EVERYTHING. I'm been doing this for years! Is it okay to leave these things out? Sherry, thank you for the suggestions. The beds aren't as shallow as they look but I am seriously considering making them larger. I am so used to having a restricted space that I didn't take a bigger one into consideration until it was mentioned here numerous times. If you look under the home forum, house decorating I posted photos there too. I think its been bumped to page 2 or 3 already with no more responses. We are definetely planting more trees on "the boluvard" (that's what I'm going to call that piece that sticks out on the right). Until my husband can haul in the rest of the fill to raise it up more, we can't get near it. i would like to plant some of the burgandy trees there and am thinking maybe of incorporating some Colorado blue spruce too. I am thinking of staggering colorado blue on the left side beyond the house to create a boundary. I wasn't fond of using spruce, but it might make for some nice scenery in the winter as you mentioned. Right now, we can see for miles in the summer and in winter, all we feel and see is cold and white! I took the advice of many and went out and bought 1 of the cedars that deeje has in her garden. What would you think of this cedar in the front bed left of the bay window? Should it be centered in the middle or to one side? Would 1 be okay? I set it there for tonight and unwrapped it hoping it spreads its branches a little more. I am hesitant about ripping out the plantings I already placed there without knowing if this will be a for sure home for the cedar. If it looks okay I was going to go get a few more and place them on the right hand side corner and move the burgundy one forward in that bed. I am overly excited about the prices I paid for my trees and shrubs today after husband spotted the deal and came rushing home so I could go out and shop ... Cedar reg. 74.99, sale $12.99. 3 mugo pines reg 31.99, sale 5.99. Bought 2 more Japanese Barberry regular 39.99 sale 5.99 and last but not least I got 2 6 ft apple trees for $19.99, reg 79.99. My husband is encouraging me to go back and get a few more things including a weeping caragana, 9.99 from 71.99. Checked the root balls and everything is "A" okay. I also saw some global cedars. After seeing how big and round they get I would really like those. Not in the front though...too big. I love the roundness of them! I will probably use them in the backyard. Their so small when you buy them. It is hard to beleive that they grow up that big. Let me know what you think about the cedar. I will try and post picture of it sitting there in the morning.

I cannot tell from your picture exactly what the "monster" shrub is. It is possible it is some kind of arborvitae, there are so many kinds. However, it is too large for the area, and I really think getting some vertical interest (which is what the cone shaped arborvitaes will do for you) will work wonders. I would either move it somewhere else or just get rid of it altogether. I am pretty certain that the one on the far right corner is not an Alberta Spruce. If it were, it's a lovely shrub and you would want three more of that, but that would cost a pretty penny! As far as buying and planting shrubs now. If they are plants that have been growing in a container, there is no reason they can't be planted now. Whenever you plant them, and most especially in the dead of summer, you want them to go into well prepared, amended soil with lots of mulch over them, and a thorough job of watering them at planting time. If you provide these conditions, they shouldn't need rain or water more than once or, at the most, twice a week for the rest of the summer. The good thing about planting them now is they have that much longer to get their roots established before winter. If, however, it is too hot to do a good job of soil preparation, I would encourage you to wait until cooler weather. I have one "on second thought" to share with you. I suggested ever blooming roses for in front of the bay window. You need to watch the light conditions there carefully. Since you are on the northeast side of the house, you may, or may not have enough sun. Roses need direct sunlight a bare minimum of 6 hours a day, and more is better. If they won't get that, there are plenty of other lovely plants that will. :) One more note: When you get ready to plant, use a tape measure. You want to leave one full foot of empty space along the foundation of your house so that you can get back there for maintenance, window washing, etc. AND you want your plants to have enough space to grow into their spots without becoming pruning nightmares. SO, let's say you choose a boxwood that says it will get three feet high by three feet wide. (This would be a Korean Box. Very good shrub here, and probably very good there. ASK.) You would plant the center of the trunk exactly 2 1/2 feet from the foundation wall. (1 foot of empty space, plus half the mature spread of the shrub: 1 1/2 feet, to equal 2 1/2 feet). Then you measure 3 feet over from the center of that shrub to the center of the next box and plant the next one 2 1/2 feet from the wall and 3 feet from the other box. (They spread 3 feet, so they need 3 feet between themselves: 1 1/2 feet for each bush.) If your arborvitae gets 3 feet wide at maturity (Emerald would.), it would get the same spacing as the boxwoods: 1 1/2 feet of spread for the Arborvitae, plus 1 1/2 feet of spread for a boxwood equals 3 feet apart. You know how neat and professional landscaper's plants always look? They measure to get those night straight rows and even spacings. You can do that too! Good luck!

Ok, so repainting the room is an option: that's your out! Or should I say "easy" solution? Repaint in a color more in keeping with the gorgeous rug (which is beautiful and valuable on many levels-honeymoon purchase being one of them!). Then your window treatments (panels-maybe) will be a much easier decision. I'm not loving the panel options mentioned above, which I think are nice, but a tad too informal for the direction you have taken with your room. Plus, they are very trendy, which again is not in keeping with your traditional style. You have heirloom quality pieces there! The rug and furniture should stay. Paint is cheap (compared to the investment in good quality furniture and the rug)! That's the way to make a significant impact without breaking the bank. Take a good look at the colors in the rug. On my monitor I see blue as the primary color, but monitors vary. Go to the paint store and bring some sample cards home, narrow it down and then go back and buy some paint samples and splotch away. In any case, have fun with this project!