First, east is a wonderful exposure for growing a lot of things. I wouldn't worry about poor growing conditions too much; just your classic super sunlovers might not get enough sun to bloom. Even with a small tree in the garden I would not be concerned about finding nothing that will grow (if you can grow rhododendrons in your zone you're definitely home free). East is also an excellent exposure for containers as they get shade just when the sun gets too hot, and a few big containers can do wonders as hardscape. Second, contorted filbert is eventually a BIG plant, and you can take my word for it, eventually arrives a lot quicker than you expect. I would not plant this near the house. Finally (rant on, not really directed at you) why does everyone always have to base their front yard landscaping around foundation planting, or make it the sum total thereof? Your house is quite cute, the area urban enough that it does not need grounding, and while the foundation isn't pretty precisely, it would be quite as effectively concealed by something like island beds or perimeter beds at the public sidewalk, or for that matter quite smart if painted and gussied up with a little flagstone pad with containers. Out in the yard your shrubs can grow as large as they like and the deciduous ones will grow better getting more light and light from all directions. Rant off. I am not here to say you should do it my way nor that my taste constitutes good design, I'm just saying that you might be able to overcome some of your constraints and concerns if you permit your brain to release itself from planting at the foundation. KarinL

Karin, it's interesting and enlightening to read what others think of our house and landscape, even if we may not agree or take up some suggestions. We live in an area where we don't have a large number of options for landscape/garden design, unfortunately! So no worries about me being offended by criticism/suggestions, etc. We appreciate the help and we will work to think about each decision in terms of its purpose. We originally had purposes in mind for each bed in our backyard, though it may not look like it now - with the exception of the hydrangeas along the back fence. They were originally planted behind our garage (where the pool equipment enclosure is now). When we put in the pool, we moved them to the side bed (which didn't exist before the pool) along the fence, but the neighbor's black walnut tree hampered their growth. So rather than throw them away, we made a new bed along the back, sort of a temporary spot until we figure out what to do with the rest of the beds. I won't bore you or anyone else by enumerating the purposes of the other beds in the back, but just want to add that we also did have more visual interest and contrast in flower, foliage, and form - but many of those plants didn't survive. We've been in a sort of holding pattern back there for a couple years - and I'm looking forward to improving that landscape. But back to the front yard/landscape. One of our goals for changes remains to revise the long bed along the drive for the dual purposes of easier maintenance and including more variety in its plants to provide more interest in months other than July. Another goal is to revise the small bed near the side steps to make it better looking (instead of a hodgepodge of plants, as it is now) and as a memorial garden for our daughter, with beautiful plantings. We also still want to improve the visual impact/visibility of the front door. To me, that is a separate goal from emphasizing the front entrance, if by entrance one means the wide front steps (which aren't truly the entrance to the house, but visually they do give that impression). We understand the goals of Laag's ideas about beds in front of the steps and a wide path from the driveway to the steps/porch. But in terms of practicality, we don't want people to stop midway up our driveway and walk up the path, because then they block the entire driveway. Also, the steps are covered with snow for the entire winter (it's too expensive to pay to have them cleared each time it snows), and a walkway would also be covered in snow, so the practical function of a walkway beginning partway up the driveway wouldn't apply during those months. I've been bothered for a while by the sense of imbalance between the long driveway bed and the expanse of grass on the other side of the drive, so another purpose of making changes is to see if we can balance that. Laag's suggestion about a grassed area in the long bed was so helpful - I just don't know whether that is enough to achieve balance, or if we will need a bed under the birches. A new purpose resulted from a number of comments here, and that is to soften the impact of the veranda wall. I think we are just so used to how our house looks that we don't see it for how it really appears. You all have opened our eyes to this issue! I haven't been in the back yards of the houses above us (in the back) to see what they can see of our back yard. It "feels" private in our back yard most of the time, probably due to the fence, but I still don't do any skinny-dipping. ;-) The front feels very public to me (it's a busy street and in the spring/summer/fall, a very busy golf course), with the exception of the veranda. On the rare occasions when we are seated there (it's usually too hot/buggy/raining/cold), we have at least the illusion of privacy behind that fortress wall - though with close neighbors, we have to watch how loudly we talk. My sister mused aloud a few years ago about the idea of putting a hedge across the front of the yard (on the lawn on the house side of the sidewalk, if you're facing away from the house) to screen the street and provide more of a sense of privacy. A neighbor a couple of houses down has a partial bridal wreath hedge in the yard and she was noting that at the time. I'll update as we get further along in this process; meanwhile, if anyone has more comments/suggestions, we're very happy to have them.

Jules, I wonder if I could indulge you in taking a hypothetical look at the two trees. Instead of the trees that are there now, we're going to switch them out for new, high-tech, no-trim, trunk-less trees that float in the air. The tree canopy works like a window shade and stays at whatever height you want once the crew sets it. It can be raised or lowered and then stays permanently with no further bother. The first setting is included free in the price of the tree. The other unique feature of the trees are that instead of growing at the top, they grow at the bottom and each year the canopy will work its way a little closer to the ground. For a couple hundred bucks, the crew will come back out and re-set it wherever you want. No trimming ever! The first picture shows where the canopies are now. In the second picture I pulled them down a little to see how that would look and wonder if you think it's an improvement as far as making the house look better. Pull it down farther... or raise it?

Very nice! I agree with hiring a good professional to draw up a simple initial plan for a beautiful and high-quality use of your space. Your lovely home is close to the street, so if it were mine it'd be important to me to stop the eye from shooting directly to the front of the house, because I wouldn't feel as if I'd left the public domain for private until the door closed behind me. And then I'd have to keep moving toward the back until the feeling really sank in--like the first 20 feet inside a store where no one stops to browse. Toward that end, just for instance, I might step that porch down all along it to either a formal strip of lawn or a nice old-timey paved patio and put the planting beds, including any trees, along the perimeter fence to form a gentle enclosure. The plantings would allow a view in yet still provide a feeling of separation and some degree of privacy. It would also be designed to look very good from above.