Front yard gets sun through ~3pm or so. Very well-drained due to the slope. Not at all opposed to an easy to care for ground cover in lieu of the grass as it is a bit difficult to mow due to the slope. Also porch has white railing now; house is still a work in progress but getting there.

Hi Don,

I'm not one of the designers, but I am having trouble seeing where your front door is. Is there any way that you could get at least as close as picture 3 and lined up looking right at the front door, then standing in the same place turn the camera to the left and get a shot that includes the garage and beyond, then to the right to include the end of the house and yard or neighbor beyond? I know from seeing the designer's suggestions that they can show you a 'curb appeal' layout from those 3 pictures.

What attractive stones you put up. How about continuing the stone on a winding path from the front door to break up the lawn? Because it is sloped you can go for a wider path. I see there is a path already. Use this new hardscaping to anchor flowerbeds on each side.

One usually resorts to thinking about what they would do if this was their house. If this was my house, a first improvement I would want is cheek walls added to the steps because they significantly improve appearance and ease of maintenance of the yard. They only reason they wouldn't be there is because a builder (home buyer) made a budget cut.

Similarly, the retaining wall end should be returned to grade, whereas it makes a 90* turn to the right and continues until it meets grade. This not only looks better but keeps dirt from eroding around its end.

[FYI, when you take overlapping pictures of a connected scene, you must not change the camera position, in order for the scene to be reconnected into a single picture. In the last picture you moved farther left. For some reason you aimed the camera much higher, too. If not too much bother, it would be good to re-do that picture.]

What are the two white lines running from the second story down to the ground on the left side of the house? Are they gutter downspouts? For some reason, I am really distracted by those two lines. The first thing I would do is paint them exactly the same color as the house behind them - even the foundation color - so they would disappear.

If they are regular metal gutters, I don't see any problem at all with painting them. Or even if they are plastic. (My boss built a fancy house with copper gutters - obviously a person wouldn't paint those. But I would paint yours in a heartbeat.)

WOW! Yard strikes again. Love your work.

someday maybe you will show pics of your home?

jo

Thanks Jo. My yard is a work in progress; about a year from being show worthy. I seem to easily find ways to extend that time, too.

Ha! That's what we all say, Yard. In fact, I was thinking that very thing this afternoon while dreaming about my mailbox flowerbed that is currently under construction and then finding a place for the new Purple Smoketree I have my eye on and incorporating a garden bench under it surrounded by Little Lime hydrangeas and . . .

*sigh*

Looks nice, you work fast.