Please show a photo from the perspective of the road looking into the property.

i hate to be the squasher of dreams but hope i can convince you to change the shape of planting bed and change the plant material.

Without question, you should eliminate the pointed areas (yellow "V") of tall grass that will visually and physically pinch off the "bed" (mowed) area. You are creating this to "welcome" and "invite" someone to enter. It is not important to view this area, statically, only from the green dot. It is important to view it dynamically from the red arrows. The tall, pointed "Vs" of grass do not help.

Next, this is my opinion (but i'm sure it's right!) ... the mixed plant material organized symmetrically is going to look amateurish and dorky. Especially on account of the spruce. Using so many varieties is going to LESSEN its potential for overall impact. People are not going to get out of there cars here and stroll through the plants.

The pictures you've shown and the fact that you've drawn the plan upside-down are clues that you are not looking at this area properly. This is an entrance FROM THE STREET. That is much more important than it being an exit. I'm not trying to suggest that you want it looking bad from the exit point of view. But this is primarily about the ENTERING. (I'm very happy you drew (or had drawn) a plan as it communicates your intentions in as good a way as can possibly be done and is very helpful. That it's upside-down is a MINOR criticism.)

In order to be more helpful with some direction, it would be good if you show the entrance FROM the public road -- maybe while standing on the side opposite your property. A series of slightly overlapping pictures that pan left to right showing the full frontage would be helpful (posted individually ... not as a computer generated panorama.) Are you trying to create an entrance that conceals something from view? I ask on account of your using the spruce. I think it would be better if the trees appear as something that decorates, shelters and marks a location rather than conceals something beyond. I don't really have anything against spruce. it has more to do with how i know people use them and also how they hate to limb them up.

Ok, I will take pictures from the road. You are correct, I would not want to limb up the spruce. :)

OK here are some pictures from the road. Hope they are helpful! The ditch makes it a bit difficult to see the area. Happy new year everyone!

I think you'd be better off simplifying the arrangement with a single variety of tree at the entrance. Something that had stupendous fall color would be especially nice to look forward to every year. A tree form could always be kept from encroaching into the drive space and from impeding the view, making it clear and obvious where the driver goes and not obscuring any traffic if it is present. Rather than limiting the landscape improvements strictly to the entrance, i would consider the whole frontage. Evergreen trees (like spruce), in odd number groups ... 3 or 5, could mark the front, outside corners of the property. in such locations, one would never need to worry about removing their lower foliage (so long as they were sufficiently spaced from the road ROW.

Something about your photos has been gnawing at me, and I have decided it's the symmetry of your design that does not fit. Here you are with wide open spaces, acres of grass punctuated by the occasional tree or building, and undulating landscape, and you are imposing perfect symmetry around a rustic gate. Does not compute for me.

Surely there is a regional flavor to the surrounding ranch lands, a local dialect of the trees that are chosen because they grow successfully in your area?

If this were my ranch, I would plant larger trees on the side of the drive opposite of the direction from which I would normally approach my property. So, for example, if I am coming home and my house is on the right side of the road, I would plant the biggest trees on the left side of the drive, set well back from the main road and from my drive. On the nearer side, I would place a smaller tree or group of shrubs. Closer to the road I would plant low-growing plants that come back and multiply on their own every year, making a field of "whatever-that-is" in front of the trees and shrubs.

In some parts of the world, we plant to hide the house from view; in other parts of the world (and it seems this is one of them) we plant to announce the house from the road. By this I mean, be sure the house will not be entirely obscured by the trees and shrubs, but instead, invite the traveller in with a welcoming view of the home lights. Thus the drive itself should be wide open from the plantings on either side, perhaps lined by mowed grass. A light, informal touch is needed.

That is a REALLY nice design. I like it alot and your drawing helps me to see what it would look like SO well. I just could not see the other drawing in my mind at all. I want to be able to plant this spring so it is wonderful to have a better idea of what I want. Now I just need to pick a tree. I hate to lose that maple that is there but not sure I want six of them! The husband who mows will like the bed lines better without a doubt. Thanks a million.

Kimpini, your message came in as I was typing my reply to Yaardvark! It definitely gives me something more to think about! The informal touch I am sure would be very beautiful.. I bit harder to execute, especially for this amateur! I am trying to place the trees and shrubs according to your description and not exactly sure what you are visualizing, but I think I have the general idea. Would it be wrong for me to ask for a rough sketch? I am certainly open to all ideas and appreciate those with more experience who are willing to share their ideas! I love Houzz!

You have a beautiful property, RR. And unlike some people who post in these forums, you actually seem to want, and are receptive to, solutions that are different that what you had started with. Well done.

I'm not sure where you are, but I would think that groupings of maples that would turn striking colors in the fall would be perfect. Maybe several different varieties of maples, some scarlet, some gold. In your wide-open landscape, those trees glowing in the fall sun could be seen from a long way off.

I am in southeast Nebraska littlebug. I had been hesitant to plant maples around the house because everyone warns about the softer wood of a fast growing tree. I wouldn't have to worry about branches on the house out in this spot though! (I guess cars could be damaged) After seeing so many beautiful maples this fall I think that is exactly what I want. They were stunning! Thank you for the complement by the way, I love this place and really want to make it even better!

If you search the 'Tree' forum here for the word Maple, you can find lots of information. I know that Silver Maples are typically undesirable, but there are many others that can be valuable and versatile.

A previous owner of my current house wanted quick shade and so planted 3 Silver Maples; I have removed one and will have to remove the others eventually. They are brittle.

Silver Maple BAD. Sugar Maple GOOD! Norway Maple BIG!

A cluster of any maple that can take your climate would be awesome most of the year.

http://garden.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Types_of_Maple_Trees 

I will keep that in mind:) I need to get an id on the existing maple, maybe if it is a silver I should just remove it now. It will be hard to do since it is the only tree for what seems like miles!

One creating a landscape would never use a silver maple. They are messy, weak, not long lived and don't have spectacular fall color. A sugar maple is all around better (with harvestable wood if you ever get hard up for a new dining table.) :-)

in such a wide open space single trees would seem "lost" until canopies got large and trunks got thick. Clusters of trees would be more meaningful. Don't think of it as "one" or "three" trees, but as a large foliage mass held aloft by 3 "columns" as opposed to one. in the large space 3 trees each side would be a stronger, better proportioned statement. I show them in a semi-circle layout but as an alternative you could also arrange in triangular form. To be worked out in plan view. I would drive some highly visible poles or tall sticks in the ground to represent planting locations and drive by them for a few days to see if it needs adjustment

BTW, I am reminded by seeing again the little tree that is in one of the pictures: you need to envision the finished product in order to create trees that suit it. When the trees are 60' tall, you're going to want to maintain a clearance between the ground and bottom-of-canopy that equals a "high ceiling" ... more like 20' or so -- not a headscraping 8'. Thus, if the trees are to have single trunks, ultimately they need to be relatively straight and free of limbs all the way up to the canopy. Whatever happens in the tangle of branches within the canopy is a lot less important as it will be screened by the canopy. Therefore, don't let the trees develop more than a single leader in their young (to 20') life. And limb them up proportionately as they grow, instead of allowing lower limbs to become large and too dominant, before removing them.

That is a great idea to put in poles or sticks to get an idea of what feels better. I will keep that in mind about the leaders. I am especially in love with the way the evergreens help frame out the whole area. Would you suggest arranging them in a triangle for the best effect?

Also, the property line is just beyond my picture on the left side but extends much farther on the right. (about a quarter mile or so) I am assuming I should place the evergreens about the same distance from the gate on each side?

I would put evergreen trees -- at least 3 -- in a triangle. It could be a larger group if 3 mature trees would still look "lost" in the huge open space. I think I would still mark the corners of the property and not worry that one corner is farther from the entrance. Again, mark these out with physical objects and observe each possibility over a few days and get an idea for what seems to be the best.

With spruce or similar type evergreen, be sure to observe mature examples and get an accurate idea of the true limb spread. Make sure you set them back far enough from the ROW so that you are never forced to remove bottom limbs (in order to keep them from blocking view or encroaching into someone's way.)

I guess it is more like a third of a mile to the west corner of our lot. Between the entrance and the corner there is a low spot with brush growing up in it and then the corner has a heavy stand of volunteer cedar trees. If you need a picture to understand what I mean I can get some. Would it be wrong to plant like in your drawing in this case?

" ... Wrong? ...."

No.

You will need special virtual-reality glasses to view this sketch properly, but as it is, there may be some entertainment value.

That is beautiful. Like a wildflower meadow that is open at the entrance and all the way up to the house. I get what you were saying now. Thank you for your time and effort, no virtual reality glasses needed!