Thank you all--you have given me great things to consider. I do want to keep some lawn up front since I have a whole acre of woods in the back already and I want to grow my sun-loving beauties in the front. The barn was put in on Friday (8x24)and sits right at the woods line...about 230 feet back from the road and offset to the left behind the house. I am going to have a corner fenced in and then have it open into one long pasture (70x200) running towards the front and then about 50' by 220' running accross the back from the woodsline--leaving about 50' behind the house before the fence starts. I will be able to alternate pastures at this point for the three minis. I will be fencing in the back acre of woods as we go as well, but have to think "now" first. This is a horse community, so there is a 15' easement for trails at the back of each property. The horses are the reason we bought here, but I still want the house to look good too. So--there isn't quite as much "lawn" by the time you take those chunks out. I do want some trees to soften things up and balance and my daylilies, butterfly bushes and other perrenials are all trades or gifts, with some treasured heirlooms passed down from my husbands great-grandmother. It is the balancing bones that I am trying to place. I have a soft color palate (with one red heirloom rose that sticks out like a sore thumb, hehe). I want the beds to arch around and frame the front lawn and let the house be the focal point. Man...I really need to scan some of the layout pics I have been working on to show the whole thing together. I see what you mean about not having to have "bookends" and certainly don't want a funhouse mirror look. Hmm...this is a puzzle! I am also rethinking the hollies...I think my objection is that every fast food joint and gas station has them. hehe. Ok...so balance doesn't need to be as uptight as I originally thought...avoid the bookends look...and think of going with softer more rounded shapes to unify...luckily the new place is only about 5 miles from the place we have rented for 12 years so I know basicly what works here. So...I have the horse areas marked off, would like to have an outside sitting area behind the house to watch the ponies and relax, want wide sweeping borders with my perrenials and would like a decent front yard with landscaping that makes the entry of the house the focal point...and maybe a nice little heirloom garden area to the right of the house. Tall order on a shoestring...but am looking long term. Man...I never thought this part of the decision making would be so tough! I know WHAT I want...just can't quite put the front part together. Here is my little barn..still needs the ridge vent caps and will be painted to match the house (used the same shingles...the rain will wash the red footprints off). The water spout is about 10-12' off from the barn, not right on it as it appears. Again...grass is getting tilled and seeded tomorrow or the next day. Amy

@ oilpainter - regarding draining ditch, the stuff blocking was removed the day after it created flooding of my neighbors yard and mine. What i was trying to communicate was that because of the blocked storm drain the heavy rain we had and subsequent flooding was the final blow to the rotted out retainig wall that's in place. @ lehua13 - thanks for the ratio. I was thinking 2:1 closest to my house but towards the rear of the backyard i was thinking a steeper slope. Current plan is for the neighbor to kick in on the fence if that holds then I will suggest putting the fence on the top of the slope. Did you do the work yourself and how hard was it? What tools or advice can you give based on your experience? @ Audric - The only significant slope is between my backyard and my neighbors. There are other areas around his house and that sit slightly higher but not significant. The only time any significant draining from his yard has gone into mine was when we had heavy rainfall and the storm drain that sits closest to his house was blocked by construction materials which forced water into his yard and then into mine.

I confess, I am not seeing any rhyme or reason to the plan, other than "here are some nice shrubs." The forms don't complement the slope itself. They will be shrubs sticking up on a slope. You will not buy huge specimens and they will not grow at the same rate so ultimate heights and blending doesn't seem a sure thing. The shrubs won't provide enough erosion/weed control; if ivy is to be the basis of groundcover/erosion control, plugs should be set throught the shrub area, too, though it may not go with the shrubs (competes?)and/or the shrubs might be superfluous (dark green laurels sticking up out of dark green ivy). How is the vinca and ivy going to be integrated/compete. If you aren't terracing, wouldn't it almost be better to acknowledge the slope but have a pretty, green slope or a few contrasting greens("my house is at the top of a hill, by doggies, so use the steps!")? Perhaps use just a whole lot of groundcover--this could be explored further as to type;; I don't recall sun/water conditions--vinca for flowers? Ivy for sun/shade/drought/indestructible? Both good for uniform green color, cheap, fast spread. Carpet junipers? Daffodil idea is great for breakthrough color, no maintenance. Focus a few small trees or largish shrubs somehow related to what needs to be accomplished at stair way or other "focal" or grounding points (someone help me here, I am out of my league, other posters already said this.) These ideas are already in the above posts but the great thing about your posted plan is that to me it illustrates how those alternatives would be preferable. Don't mean to appear so negative and without precise alternatives. You DO have a plan. Maybe it is providing more important form and color interest than I can see. But it strikes me as very cookie cutter, foundation-ish and not really slope- or function- oriented. If somehow you could photoshop the same image with more of the down-flowing, uniform groundcover, correct color (not brown mulch, though mulch would be needed for the first couple of years) and the focal points I think the difference in "feel" would be more obvious. Youu would put divide your budget into LOTS of groundcover pots and a few specimens. Your existing shrubs could probably be configured in somehow for grounding. Either way you will have mulch/watering/weeding for several years until established. Can you "work" with the person who did your plan, saying, how 'bout something more like this....? Anyway, just think how much farther along you are in your thinking, planning, evaluating. Hopefully, it's all heading toward the ultimate goal of a plan that works best for you.

I will add, the frequent use of the word "poison" in stone's narrative suggests a less than complete understanding of what the various materials actually are, and what they do. If a specific herbicide has been compounded in such a way as to interfere with one or more enzyme pathways within green, vascular plants, is that a poison? The word poison has an actual and specific meaning. In human terms, a poison is a material which, upon being consumed, causes immediate life-threatening reactions. So, are herbicides which are designed to interfere with one or more essential enzymatic pathways within green, vascular plants poisons? Not to you and me, and not to moss (non-vascular) and not to a mature tree trunk which the material has drifted onto (No green tissue exposure). It is indeed tiring to see the same simple-minded "chemicals are bad" kind of thinking here. So, what about plants which exude allelopathic materials from their root tips? Must they be banished so as not to be poisoning the environment? This is just way too beginner for me. And in support of TR's comments above, you, stone, are putting lots of words in our mouths here. No, you're not the only person on this forum-if you can believe it-that would first seek out the desirable plants in a scenario such as above, for saving before proceeding to do any other work. It must be hard to live your life, knowing as you do that everyone else is an idiot who doesn't know what they're doing. +oM