Thanks for the feedback! I think I may be thinking too much about this. After all, I can always rip a shrub out and replace, right? Obviously, Im new to all of this. My gardening experience is limited to an 18- by 18-foot cottagey-style mixed bed that is in its third summer. Yes, I was looking at the "shrubs for sun" selection. I will have to check the exact timing, but I would guess that the eastern portion gets sun from sunrise to about 1 p.m. and the northern side from sunrise to about 10 a.m. Also, the sun is intense here because weÂre at 6,000 feet or so. Perhaps I should look more into the shade-tolerant choices though. I will keep in mind the tendency to grow away from the house. Although it makes perfect sense, I hadnÂt thought about it much before. I am mostly OK with mostly sticks in winter. I am willing to forego winter interest for spring and summer flowering in the case of the hydrangeas and weigela. I was hoping that viburnum might offer some fall interest and possibly berries for early winter. I just donÂt care that much for evergreens I guess. Ideally IÂd love a layered look with evergreens at the back of a bed, but I donÂt think weÂve got the space for that. Plus, there's no unsightly foundation that I need to cover up. I love the look of dogwood in the winter, so IÂm willing to have a plain old green blob the rest of the year. I was hoping that perhaps I could get three to four seasons of interest: Virburnum and weigela for spring flowers, hydrangea and roses for summer flowers, color-changing leaves and hydrangea blooms for winter, red dogwood twigs and boxwood for winter. Berries in winter or fall would be a plus to the viburnums. I decided I disike the thorns of barberries as well. I dislike holly for the same unfriendliness. Hmmm. I never thought about the foliage not being varied. I LOVE Japanese maples. I tried to plant one two years ago and it did not last. IÂm not sure if it was due to my inexperience or not. However, we do get pretty nasty winds that IÂve heard can be difficult on them, especially in the winter. I guess my desire for the Black Lace Elderberry is because it is as close as I thought I could get to a Japanese maple. Finally, I guess I was focused on dwarf varieties because 1. IÂm terribly afraid of planting anything that will outgrow the space and require tons of work. Also terrified that anything I plant could hurt the house. 2. I guess I thought if I used smaller shrubs, I could use more of them and get a more layered effect. I really know very little about foundation planting design, so I may be way off base. As a little more background, the house is a two-story stucco house, about 2,000 square feet. The eastern-facing portion of the bed is about 14 feet or so long and 5 feet deep. ItÂs also mostly stuck between the house and a paver patio. The northern-facing space is also about 14 feet long and varies in width from 4 feet to 7 1/5 feet. IÂll try to get a photo or two on here. Maybe that would help. IÂd like to try to photoshop things in to see what they look like, but I havenÂt gotten around to it. Are there any good websites out there that discuss foundation planting styles? Thanks! And sorry again for being so long-winded. I'm really interested in design and gardening though, so I'm having fun learning!

I don't think most people looking at my garden would notice the various styles of gardens as they are all sort of cottage style with a mix of plants and a lot of overlap. My garden is currently 'in transition' so not sure exactly how it will end up! LOL Depends on how much I can stick to the plan I *may* make in the new year. January/February is usually when I plan my garden but have almost never been able to follow the plan so who knows! So based on history I have had several different types of gardens based on location. I have an area with mostly conifers in my front garden so had a shade garden which was not very successful as those trees take all the moisture and nutrients and it's a struggle to keep it amended and watered enough. Have now had the trees limbed up so there will be less shade and have amended and mulched heavily. It will still be a dry-ish garden so I need to use appropriate plants there. The only plant that survives well there is Lily of the Valley but it isn't invasive as the soil is dry and poor so it's a good place for it. Another area is near the bird feeder and birdbath and I allowed several different types of perennials to self-seed for years so it was a jungle and I called it my 'wild bird garden'. This area has now had all weeds and self-seeders removed and has many spaces between plants. I hope to *never* again allow it to go wild. I'm using a lot of cardboard and mulch to help with this. There are lilacs, a spirea, perennial sunflowers, delphinium, and some new perennials but there are lots of spaces for other plants and I'll move several from other areas. I also have a couple of "dry-er" gardens that are further away from the house so I infrequently water those and only tough plants survive there. Various poppies, irises, day lilies, potentilla, and perennial sunflowers are there. Nearer the house I have my rose bed with a few other perennials and usually annuals. There are also several very mixed perennial beds with many hardy perennials and a few shrubs. These are the beds that get tended the most and they are too full so many plants will be moved to other areas in the spring. Some plants I will move are columbine, Lady's Mantle, iris, lilies, some groundcovers, lamb's ears, maybe delphinium, blue flax. I also plan to propagate more Walker's Low catmint as can hardly have too many of these. I always add herbs in between the perennials so need to leave/make spaces for them. Everything I grow is extremely frost hardy altho I do push the zone a bit and have some zone 4 plants. Everything else is considered an annual. I'm amazed you use lilacs lavender lass to keep the deer away as the deer here have loved my lilacs. I now have deer-proof fencing so hopefully will see lilac blooms next year and be able to grow many other plants.

I have a bougainvillea book...that shows grafted bougainvilleas on one trunk. Having their bracts complimenting yet contrasting can be amazing to see, Since their care would be the same...I would not see an issue with this combination pot. Though the roots would eventually tangle so you might not be able to later take and separate them. But I see no issue with them potted in the same container. Same care goes into each variety. Roots growing from the bottom of the pot...you may wish to have it on something so it doesn't root into the ground where it sits. That is suggested in the book I have.

In your area i think I would build with pier and beam construction with a fully (cement) enclosed and insulated crawl space. The crawl space provides space for electric, HVAC and plumbing to run under the house and also gives you a thermal barrier (dead air space) under the house. It does not go down into the ground enough to hit a 3' high water table. I have built one house with slab on grade, and having the plumbing inside a cement slab has not been very convenient for troubleshooting problems. I also had all my HVAC plenums in the attic, which is not the best design for a cold area like you have, where heat is the priority. Air distribution for heat works better when vents are low. Bruce