Canockie, this is just a quick basic diagram with the outline of an idea. The darker tree is the proposed blue spruce, and the others are intended to be deciduous, flowering or not, which would cool in summer, and let sun through in winter. Specific identity is best determined locally, but along the sides they should be something that grows fairly tall and narrow. Your HOA seems like it might not be too big an obstacle, at least to keeping your house cool. So the basic bones of your plan would be about shade, pathways, and sightlines. Since I can't help you with either the left side or with sightlines from various points on the property, you could start by imagining trees where I've sketched them, and move (or remove them) around to work in real life. It can help to stick a garden tool in the ground at the point you might put a tree, and imagine how that will look from the door, from the window, as you drive home, etc. I've not put a tree very close to the house, but there is clearly an option to put another one closer for faster, more significant shade. That has to be balanced off by whether you want to live in a little forest :-) I put the front yard trees more so they would shade the yard, which will give you some sheltered area for other plants, since side yard trees will do morning and afternoon cooling. The blueberries might be happier in the back, but if you want them in the front, the shelter of the trees should work (but just remember I write from the rainforest! so I don't know for sure). This will leave you exposed to afternoon sun, which could be mitigated with one more tree right were your curb tree now is or across the sidewalk from it. That will block the door a fair bit, so is a matter of taste. Tree placement being decision 1, decision 2 is how you move around the property. Are there gates through to either side yard? If so, pathways can be put in - two options are dotted in. Many people find it easier to place beds for flowering plants with reference to pathways - I do, because I like to plant things that have up-close interest and then I enjoy walking over to see them. How do you get the mower from front to back yard? And then decision 3 is what you want to see/be seen, or have blocked from different points of view. These bones are important to get right - and "right" is not something anyone but you can determine. Of course even trees can always be moved or replaced, but it's nice if they don't have to. Placement of flower beds and flowering plants is easy to work around your trees once the tree locations are chosen. Beds can be around tree bases, or completely separate from them - sun-loving plants to the sunny side, less tolerant ones on the shadier side. I hope this gives you something to start doodling with and imagining in 3d. Karin L

Below is an updated photo. In some ways it looks like we havenÂt come that far in a yearÂso depressing! Anyhow, I did move the globe blue spruce to the NW corner, and planted an Emerald Green Arborvitae tucked behind it. There is now a line of purple leaf sand cherries along the fenceline (mostly out of view), along with some of my favorite perennials. IÂm not as happy with the front, middle. It still looks messy to me, partly because itÂs unfinished and I still canÂt decide what to do. The roses to the right of the window came up from the rootstock and IÂm just not happy with them any longer, so I think IÂll yank them out. HereÂs what IÂm considering: planting honeysuckle to the right and left of the front window (for balance), and putting some low growing shrubs in front of the windows. (Or even keeping the goldmound spireas that are in there now). (This is a loose adaptation to BratÂs suggestion  thanks!). The tall things right in front of the window are coneflowers that I think IÂll let bloom this season, then move in the fall. As far widening the space, I donÂt want to fight that spousal battle. Frustrating, because IÂm coming to realize that such a narrow space has made this really difficult to carry out. There might be a chance of pulling up some grass along the front walk on each side to about 10 feet out from the house, and therefore connecting the right and left even more. So what do you think of the new house color? Love it or hate it! I do have plans for a tree in the front yard, to balance out the one that currently exists, and to be visible from inside the house. Thanks for all the input so far! Mary Here is a link that might be useful:

Thanks for the additional photos, Michael. I am assuming that you haven't a huge amount of gardening experience, so I'll apologize in advance if I am telling you things that you already know. My personal preference overall would be to plant the entire area out to the concrete walkway and widen the bed around the corner wider as well, for at least part of the distance down the side. That might a good place for the hydrangeas. I would also use shrubs along with perennials (and a few annuals if you want extra color or to fill in until the perennials and shrubs get bigger) to get some variety similar to what you have now. About your current beds: I notice black plastic(?) or landscape fabric in your bed under the mulch unless you have pulled it out since the photos were taken. As someone who made that mistake earlier in my gardening years and also inherited it from the previous resident of my current house, I don't think that you want to continue that as it will interfere with how the soil "lives." It will restrict water and oxygen exchange and cause all kinds of problems down the road when it starts to decompose and when the plants start growing roots into it. If you want more info or opinions, go to the one of the following forums and put "landscape fabric" into the search at the bottom of the thread listings: landscape design, perennials, and perhaps shrubs. Your bark or wood chip mulch is great, since it will help keep moisture levels even and suppress weeds. If you want something under it to further help prevent weed growth, corrugated cardboard or multiple layers of newspaper work well to suppress weeds without the problems caused by landscape fabric. I generally put down cardboard or newspaper and then at least 3 inches of mulch on top of that in all my shrub and perennial beds. What you can plant will depend on how much organic matter you are able and willing to put into your sandy soil. Gardenweed has given you a fine list of plants that in general do well in drier situations, though a few (lLobelia cardinalis/cardinal flower, Delphinium, peonies, Campanula/bellflower and Siberian iris) will do better in somewhat richer, less dry soil. If you have access to lots of organic matter through a town composting program, a nearby farm with composted manure, lots of old leaves, or some similar source, or if you have the money to buy a large quantity of compost, then dig in more than you think is needed into the first several inches up to a foot of the bed and you will have a wider range of plants to choose from. Tree oracle suggested conifers (good for winter interest so there aren't just dead sticks there) and roses, specifically Knockouts, which are long-blooming, disease resistant, and not fussy at all from everything I've read (no personal experience.) I grow the following roses: John Davis (large bush or short climber), Lady Elsie Banks, a white double rugosa, Rosa mundi, and a no ID that is common at old farmhouses here. I don't fuss with any of them other than to knock Japanese beetles into a can of soapy water while I wander through the garden early morning before work, though many are once-bloomers that are finished before the beetles emerge. No disease problems on any of them. Some other plants that will like or tolerate a relatively dry bed beyond Gardenweed's list include Nepeta/catmint, creeping thyme, alchillea/yarrow, calluna/heather (though not right next to the concrete foundation since it likes acidity) which is actually a short fine-textured shrub that can have colorful foliage, lavender, penstemon, Thermopsis caroliniana/carolina lupine (though not a lupine - similar to Baptisia), many of the veronica, hemerocallis/daylily. Most of these won't mind a bed with better soil also. Some plants that need somewhat better soil include perennial geraniums, dianthus/pinks (which aren't all pink in color), crocosmia, Iberis sempervirens/candytuft, tall phlox (get a mildew resistant type), Thalictrum rochebrunianum/lavender mist meadow rue. I can see a clematis on an obelisk looking great here, maybe behind the shrub on the corner where it will get some of the extra moisture from the downspout, but not be in its path. I also really value spring bulbs for early color and have found that if I plant them at the deepest end of the recommendation they seem to need dividing less often. I have daffodils that are probably 10 years old and haven't needed dividing yet - they still bloom prolifically. Just plant them where perennial foliage will hide the withering daff foliage. I also have reticulated iris (bought from Brent and Becky's bulbs on the web since they aren't common locally) which are budded up at the base of my foundation now and will be done blooming by mid-April before the daffs even start. I love seeing flowers in March! Both these don't mid dry summer soil at all. A couple of non-evergreen shrubs that will be fine in average soil include weigela (several shorter varieties with colored or variegated leaves) and spirea. Your neighbor's rhododendrons seem to be doing okay, and there are some shorter varieties such as PJM 'Checkmate' that hasn't cleared 3 feet in my garden. Conifers such as junipers ( get a short variety), birdsnest spruce, or one of the short varieties of Chamaecyparis would probably do well here or even one of the miniature Colorado blue spruce/Picea pungens. To get specific suggestions of types, try the conifer forum, the rhododendron forum, or the shrub forum. I often go to nearby nurseries to see what they have, read labels, take copious notes, go home and do internet research, and then go buy based on what is available that fits my needs. Some general things to consider in planning your bed. -Think about a way to have your hose holder be a bit less visible; either paint it to match the siding or move it out of sight behind a shrub or around the corner. Right now its contrasting color makes it grab attention. -Do your soil prep before you bring home plants. In general, the better your soil, the better the garden will be and the easier to care for. That extra organic matter will help hold moisture and nutrients rather than letting them trickle on through the soil. Add enough and the hydrangeas might even be happy here. -Plant things near the downspout that won't mind a bit of extra moisture, and maybe put several rocks right in front of the concrete catcher to break the water's force before it gets to the garden. -Think about leaf shape, size, color, and texture. There won't always be lots of perennials blooming, so foliage that offers variety and interest will keep things looking nice even when there aren't lots of flowers. -Plant lower things below the windows unless you want them blocked. I have used annual vines (scarlet runner beans) on strings over western windows to help keep the house cooler, but generally don't like to spend time trying to keep the plants away from the windows, so plant things with lower height there. -Most gardens look better with not just one of this and one of that - have some repetition, whether it is of foliage color, specific plant, flower color, though I have seen gardens that are an absolute riot of variety that still look lovely. Your current garden with the two hydrangeas and the several lobelia (?) have variety of height and foliage texture, but related flower color and more than one of each specific plant. - Look for gardens you like in your neighborhood or as you walk and drive around. Look now as well as during gardening season so that you can decide about what you want your garden to look like in winter. Often gardeners will be more than happy to ID plants for you if they are outside and you can get a sense of what you like. Your local library may have books that talk about garden design or have lots of eye candy (my favorite!) to look at now. One good one (but not huge amounts of eye candy) is The Well-Designed Mixed Garden by Tracy DiSabato-Aust. Have fun and let us know how it goes.

About three years - it was old step-uncle's 65? year-old farmhouse until his death, and I'd spent some time here with him, about 5 years ago, after his wife died. The buyer of the farm, a sod farmer, asked whether I might like to rent the house. It's the most recent of 22 locations in my 80 years, and at about 17 years, I'd spent longer in the former 2 Br townhouse than any but the one were I was born. It was of a similar size to this, except smaller, but newer, basement. This is a 2 Br. bungalow aboutf 25' x 40', with 10' addition later, with smallish kitchen up a few steps from back door, turn the other way to go to the mostly full basement, mainly unfinished except for a small room in the far corner. Oil tank and furnace, freezer, washer, utility tub and dryer all down there, plus clothes press and jam cupboad, wood for wood stove. The water pump's down there, too - but the well is too close to the barnyard, so water bad for both e Coli and coliforms when the executors tested it ... and the water (especially hot) smells ... so I bring water in gallon jugs from taps in the city for cooking and drinking. Dining room beyond kitchen, left into small hall with doors to med. sized bedrooms either side, straight ahead to bathroom, old style tub, closed in, no shower. Pull-down stair in hall into unfinished attic, I'm thinking of adding stringers, studs for storage space, but can stand in only about 4' wide space - about 40' long ... includes hole for stair. Living room beyond D R, family room added later beyond living room, no basement under it, furnace doesn't serve it - woodstove is its sole heat source. Seldom-used front door (no sidewalk approaches it) just to the right of entrance from L R. One-car garage near house, 2-car plus extra space larger than enough for third car in drive-shed near it. Another storage shed and two barns plus shed a short distance away, I can use parts of them. Also an old silo - but it has open top, not used for years, so a couple of feet of swamp in the bottom. Substantial garden down near the barn - water pump there to provide water. As I live about 20 miles from city, 8 miles from village, I figure that I can probably live here as long as I can drive (and I have my 80-year-old test on Friday). Or the landlord wants the place for his nearly-grown sons (he's doubtful) ... but I think that they may want a place somewhat more upscale than this: time'll tell. I hope that all of you are enjoying your places. ole joyful