I'm not a landscape designer, but I'm very familiar with Washington state. From your picture, your zone, and your statement that you live in central Washington, I gather you live somewhere at the base of the east Cascades in the area where the conifer forests of the mountains mingle with the sagebrush steppe of the Columbia Basin. The forests typical grow on well-drained gravelly soil, probably acidic, but not always (depending on underlying rock). The Basin has more alkaline soils, sometimes sandy, sometimes clayey. Before you start selecting plants, you need to determine the pH of your soil and whether it is sandy, gravelly, clayey or loamy. And, before you settle on a landscape plan, you need to think about that bugaboo of eastern Washington forests: fire. It looks like you live outside of town. If so, you need a fire break around your house. I think 30 feet minimum is a common recommendation, but you can probably find someone in you county for advice. No wood piles near the house. If you don't have a wood deck, don't build one. Etc. Keep the plants near the house green and watered. Back to plant selection. "Xeriscaping" in eastern Washington isn't quite the same as xeriscaping in, say, New Mexico. Eastern Washington, like western Washington, has a long wet season, from about late September to early July. July, August, and September have hardly any rain. The same is true in western Washington, but in eastern Washington, there's no humidity either. Both soil and air become very dry. It's this pattern, not the dryness per se, that your plants need to be able to tolerate. There are an awful lot of plants that thrive in a broad range of the eastern and central US that can't take the dry period or the long wet season of eastern Washington. The good news is that there are a few plants that those people with humid, hot summers lust in vain for that will thrive where you live. Don't be afraid to experiment with Rocky Mountain specialists (penstomons, etc.) I can't tell you specifically what to try. I live in Pullman with alkaline clay soil, which you likely don't have. If you really want to know what sort of ornamental trees and shrubs can take the climate, drive around and look at abandoned home sites to see what is still alive. Kelly Cassidy

Boxwood is nice but very slow growing. Nandina (heavenly bamboo) works well and has good winter interest with berries and orangey new foliage. Nandina domestica is too tall for your requirements. N. domestica 'Compacta' may be too tall as well (about 4-5'). N. domestica 'Gulf Stream' is about 3-3.5' and very tidy. Do you really mean giant arborvitae? That is a monster - probably grows 3' per year, not 3' total. There are other evergreen shrubs that you might consider, but first determine if you want solid green or the more multi-colored foliage of the Nandina. There are dwarf Pittosporums, Rhaphiolepis umbellata 'Minor', and probably some others as well. I'd not hesitate to get the smaller plants. If they are planted in appropriate soil and given adequate irrigation until the rainy season (and you have to keep checking them if we have dry spells during the winter - you cannot let the root balls dry out and those root balls will be fairly small) they should do just fine and yes, will catch up within a relatively short time.

Congrats, Midnight. Growing a clivia to blooming size from seed is a great accomplishment. I hope you'll start a separate thread with pics once the blooms are open. Great plants! Socks, Disneyland and I have a lot in common, heh heh, and no, not because I'm "goofy"! I like a lot of the plants they use, and how they create such cheerful/jarring combinations. I just planted a bare root 'Disneyland' rose, which, while not jarring, is certainly perky like the many they have planted there. I've been gardening since I was five years old and have reached the point where I just plant what I enjoy and what makes me smile, so "tastemakers" be damned, lol. The brighter, taller, and stinkier, the more I like my orange marigolds. I actually struggle to find non-dumpy dwarf types. Usually I get them from Select Seeds or Seeds of Change...what about you? Take care, Grant

I was thinking hostas also. We have one planted by the previous owners in a tiny little patch of dirt that got weedwhacked once by accident and yet the next year came back gangbusters anyway. For safety I’d see about painting a strip along the edge of the concrete, though, to highlight that it is a step. Something simple like a narrow band of white or some other light color will do the trick, plus maybe tuck some lights in with the planting to help make the edge show up when it’s dark. (Like actually pointed at the side of the concrete pad or washing it - you want to create a visual difference between the concrete pad and the planing bed so people don’t think the pad continues and fall off.) You could do that with some small spotlight type lights on the fence, too, pointed at the edge.