so all those trees left.. are pears???

can you put a shovel in the ground???

ken

There are some roots, but I've been able to dig in there without too much trouble.

I would put in a few day lilies. They do well in part shade or full sun. I have 1 or 2 or more in just about every bed I have in just about every light condition I have except for full shade. Most of mine are rebloomers. They give a flush of flowers and if you cut off the flower stalks after they bloom they will rebloom. Not a many flowers as the first flush but enough to add a bit of color.

I've only been gardening for about 5 years but I'd like to think I've learned some tricks of the trade... IMO I wouldn't go crazy with perennials yet, start with your larger shrubs and go from there. Take it from someone who has made that mistake and learned from it! A favorite of mine for filling in space is the hakuro nikishi dappled willow, fast grower and if they get too large you can always trim them back.

Can I suggest a book for you? It's Roy Diblik's "The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden". I wish I'd had this book when I bought my house (also in the KC area) 15 years ago. It's a great book for starting with a blank slate and includes a bunch of garden plans.

If you follow his approach then you'll want to consider widening that bed along the back fence. It looks like it's just two or three feet wide, which isn't really enough room to work with if you want a good layered look, with taller plants in the back and shorter ones in the front, something that looks organic and integrated and beautiful. Otherwise you just have a bunch of little things with a lot of mulch in between and the fence still dominating the view.

If you want to avoid the cottage look, then don't use a lot of different plants all mixed in together, all blooming at the same time in different colors. Stick to a smaller number of species and repeat them in drifts, with grasses and sedges for structure and continuity. Diblik will show you the way. His gardens are closely planted to the point where you don't see mulch in between things, and yet they look clean, plus they're designed to look good in all seasons.

Also I'd suggest getting a soil test at your nearest extension office. Maybe use the rest of the summer to widen the bed, add lime if the soil test suggests it, add compost (missouriorganic.com is a good source, delivers by the cubic yard). Do some reading, make a plan and take some time to learn about each plant. Over the fall and winter the compost will work its magic, and then you can plant in the spring. Have patience. Planning and prep may seem like unnecessary delay, but you'll achieve a beautiful garden much sooner if you take the time for them at the beginning.

Thank you so much! Those are really thoughtful suggestions and I greatly appreciate it.

I did drop off a soil test at the university extension office last week, so I should hear back on that soon. I did that more for the lawn, but I know it would also be helpful for everything else in the landscape too. I'll look into getting some compost worked in there and probably waiting until next spring to do most of my planting.

I will definitely check out those books to learn more. The beds are currently about 4 feet wide, but I agree on adding some curves so it's not so rigid. Part of my hangup is the left side of the yard has an old railroad tie retaining wall built (it's only about a foot high; you can see it in the corner of the first photo), so I don't have a great way to transition between that and the back bed. It's lined with hostas that have done pretty well.

Should I consider entirely removing the Bradford pears? I never hear good things about them. I'd probably plant at least another smaller tree or two in their place, but I feel guilty about taking down any sort of tree. My neighborhood is plenty tree covered, so I'd still be dealing with a good bit of shade in the yard even if those were totally gone.

Thanks again to everyone for the great advice! This gives me a great starting point.

There is no reason whatsoever to feel guilty about removing a Bradford pear. Weak, poorly-structured trees and power lines are a bad combination. I used to have a tree in the back yard whose limbs twice ripped the power line from the house during ice storms. I wish I had removed it the first year I bought the house instead of hassling with it for another decade. Ugh.

Taking those trees out will give you a little more light that will expand your possibilities for the bed. You would do better not to replace them with trees that will eventually grow up and cause power line trouble again. I'd suggest using small trees or shrubs, and planting them farther away from the fence so they have space to assume their natural form without a bunch of annual pruning to keep them away from the fence and power lines. You don't really need trees. This part of the country did just fine without them before settlement.

Also, I second agardenstateof_mind's excellent suggestion to use native plants where possible. Droughty summers are common here. Natives can handle that and you'll appreciate not having to spend money watering everything after the first year or two of establishment.

If you can get rid of the Bradford Pear, do so. Not only is it a weak tree, but it suckers like made so you'll constantly be cutting off shoots at the base.

You don't really need any edging material at all. The edging I like best is an English or trenched edge. Someone described it very well in another discussion, I'll see if I can find it, or just do a search, but there's a pretty good tutorial at http://www.funkyjunkinteriors.net/2012/07/how-to-edge-flower-beds-like-pro.html

It's neat and effective, can be adjusted any time you want (that's how I sneak in new plants), and while it does need to be touched up maybe twice a year, I find that to be one of the most rewarding garden tasks, well done on a cool spring our autumn day. A garden hose is great for marking out where you're going to cut - just keep adjusting it until it is to your liking, then mark with lime, sand, or spray paint and begin cutting. A spade works fine if you don't have a crescent tool made for the purpose (I have one and actually prefer the spade).

Ditto to Woods Tea & GardenState's ideas. My first thought also was to widen that bed a bit. And if you don't like the railroad ties, just take them out! It's YOUR garden now, not the previous owner's anymore! :)

I can't advise on the pears, as I have no direct experience with them, but I have heard pretty much what everyone is saying here. I'm still taken with your photos - I have never in my life seen power lines going through someone's back yard! Is that common there? Just very odd to me... But since they are indeed there, I think I would avoid planting anything that may interfere, or that you will come to love just in time for the power company to come along and hack back.

I absolutely love the willows (not at all common around here - I hardly ever see them!) but I think it may be too big for this space. I planted one for a friend in a very wet garden and it is a monster - 15 feet tall by about 12 feet in diameter - in just a few years. It can be pruned, but I'm all about the right plant for the right spot and why keep cutting back a plant that wants to grow?

I think it's too early in the morning for me to be thinking clearly, as I can't seem to come up with any particular plant suggestions, but I think once you decide on any bed extension, tree removal (or not) and replacement (or not), and soil amendment, and look through the above-recommended books, the best thing to do is just watch your sun situation and then research, research, research. There is always the right plant for every spot, and it might take some trial and error, but you'll find the ones for this bed! And just think about foliage, which gives interest all year, and having something in bloom all season, and it will look great!

Good luck! Please keep us posted with your progress.

I think I'm going to do my best to have the trees removed. I know an arborist who has given me fair rates in the past, and I think it'll be worth it in the long run. Even just having the power company trim them back recently has made the yard feel a lot more bright and airy.

diggerdee -- thanks for the tips. I'm not tied to the railroad ties, but I've heard horror stories about removing them. And they unfortunately also serve a bit of a functional purpose. My neighbor's yard is a bit higher than mine, so it's basically a small retaining wall. If I removed them, there'd be a gap under the fence once the dirt started washing away. Maybe someday I'll get a professional solution, like a nice stone wall, but I can live with it for now.

And yes, backyard power lines are pretty common in this part of KC. It's an older neighborhood with almost all Cape Cod homes built in the '40s and '50s. On the plus side, it keeps the streets nice and neat looking.

In terms of new trees, I'd love a redbud somewhere back there since my childhood home had one that I always enjoyed, but I'll do more research on what trees would be appropriate for the space and zone.

I'll happily post pictures of progress here if people are interested, even if it's mostly prep work until next spring.

I would remove the Bradford Pears. I took out two large ones when we moved into our current house 15 years ago. You could add a red/purple Japanese Maple if you want trees. They grow slowly and are "airy" so they won't create heavy shade. I love Redbuds and have 3, but they grow fast and will create dense shade and have lots of intertwining surface level roots. After a few years, you will be limited as to what will grow under/around them. I cut one down last year that was at least 15 years old (came with the house) and it has already grown back. It is currently about 4 feet tall and at least 4 feet wide (multiple branches grew up from the stump). It was growing under a live oak and had become misshapen because of the oak canopy. It was all growing to one side. Anyway, just take into account how something will look in 10 years or so.

..well, I would love to know of your progress as you get on, even though I'm a million miles away, almost... I think you have a lovely back yard - garden - to get started on, so exciting... if it was mine, I too would probably have to remove those trees, but I have an issue with privacy and I can see some windows staring back at me from your neighbouring property, and I'd have to put some large shrubs, small bushy trees in appropriate points to block those out... may not be an issue for you...

...I wouldn't worry about those railway sleepers either... they'll just disappear into the background once you edge the lawn and enlarge the border, with compost, mulch etc... I've got double edged borders here...

...I also love trench edging and I'll just post a couple of photos as examples.. obviously this is large scale and cottage garden which I know you don't like... but just to see how a stretch of grass can be shaped and edged, or flowing away from the boundary line...

...as a large shrub suggestion, I adore smoke bushes - Cotinus varieties.. my favourite is one called 'Grace'... which will become small tree like... 'Royal Purple' is another... these might do for you... but I wouldn't know that.. great autumn - fall color...

..here's some edging from a garden I visited recently.... I cannot boast that it's mine...

Redbuds certainly grow well here in KC -- a little too well, sometimes. The tree I mentioned that used to cause me power line trouble was a redbud. Its mature width was about 30 feet. I would prune it back to keep it away from the power and communication lines, and it would respond with a flush of growth so that I was in the same situation every year. Eventually I decided it was too much trouble. I miss it sometimes, though. On a gray fall day I could look out from the second floor windows into its yellow foliage and it cheered me up.

There are numerous redbud cultivars with smaller sizes that might be a better fit for your yard. A good reference is:

https://www.clemson.edu/extension/horticulture/nursery/ipm/book_files/chapter_12

Even with a smaller cultivar, I would plant them farther out from the fence than your pear trees are now located.