Without a picture of the overall scheme, can't even begin to suggest what might work.

hi Can't help much as I'm in S. florida though any thing I grow would probably do even better there ?? I've give up on Citrus due to the Tristeza virus often called "Greening" Has destroyed thousands of trees here. Has it shown up there?? I grow most veggies in the winter due to the summer heat and humidity though this year summer, lasted til dec 31st lol Someday I will learn to stick with tropicals??lol Good luck with your project sounds like fun!! gary

I believe this to repeat of a very similar posting from late last year. And as I recall, there was minimal response or additional info forthcoming from the OP on that one as well. Design cannot be achieved in a vacuum :-)

Yardvaark, Believe it or not I am warming up to the railing idea. I would use post in my actual design. I was just trying to get an idea of how it would look. I want to make a simple mock up to see how it would look in real life. But I am starting to think it could look nice and add value. Front yard courtyard to relax and enjoy the outdoors in. I can put a stand out there so you can put your drink. Started to look on line at post and railing and was thinking this might look good. My post would not have the tapered part and only go up 3' or so. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCwY-hm8D54&t=599s For the sidewalk you mean a red row of bricks like this: BTW you have a picture of the bridge you think would look good. “it is hard for me to like a drawing all the way in which all the plants are individuals.” If I narrow the bed by the house I thought only 1 row of plants would fit. I think it would look odd just to have 1 plant and then a lot of mulch. I am not sure exactly what I could do there unless I went back to your original drawing with only 1 plant in front of the patio. I still think that ground cover would be a lot of work. In fact around there the only homes I see with that type of ground cover are the 1M dollar homes that have full time landscapers. Maybe I am wrong and it is easier to maintain than I think. “I wish there were small tree at the house and larger trees farther from the house, as the yard itself looks "unprotected." Not sure what I can do there as it would take a long time for a large tree to grow. I do have the 2 crepes in the middle of the yard now. I could keep both of them and just add another to the back or some other tree to the back like a queen palm, but that would be bigger in the back than in the front so probably not the way to go. NHBabs, These are virtual designs and when I build the colors would relate. If you look at the planter I actually build it matches the house colors.