JWillimas i love the Italian gardens. What I was saying is that in that particular link, they were very grandiose. This is not 'germane' to the average homeowner, even if they do have columns in front of their homes! someone who doesn't have any vision or any idea on garden design is going to look at those in complete bewilderment. My point was, make it germane to the normal homeowner looking for some curb appeal. no need to get your drawers in knot, I was polite when I said it. There was absolutely no judgement on you. Now, in comparison, look at DigDougs rendition. This is relevant and something the homeowner can actually relate to. Not the Tivoli Gardens. I get where you're coming from, but the execution from your end is lacking. Make it applicable for them, not you. Doug took design elements from those grandiose gardens in your links, and showed the home owner how to apply them to suit their yard. Much better, yes? but thanks for posting actual pictures instead of links. I don't need wikipedia links for columns, mkay?

Hmmmm. I think you don’t get much oomph out of the narrow flower bed that sits between the walkway leading to your door and the garage. Don’t know what the budget is, but I would be tempted to hardscape that entire area — maybe super-nicest would be brick like the house but you could more easily do it nicely by adding 2 or 3 giant squares of concrete. So then you end up with one very wide entrance to your house (flowing from the short walkway that connects to the driveway). I would then decorate that new hardscape by using your big container plants to add dwarf trees, realizing they would need protected in the winter (possibly keep some on wheels). Add other container plants, maybe some in colourful planters. Replant the small ornamental that is at the corner of the garage door into a container. The local nursery can give you great ideas for the flower beds on the left side of the house. I would be interested to get some low creeping or droopy plants to soften the edges of retaining wall. Do pansies grow in your part of the world? And I would take the shutters off the house!

Oh wow… what a house. I would hire a landscape architect with experience with MCMs, even if you do the labor yourself. We have a sloping small backyard (in LA), but had someone draw up some plans based on our rough ideas. He also let us know what we could and could not afford on our budget. I thought we could afford a deck using certain material (i looked at material pricing plus estimated labor), and he said that is NOT in your budget, hahaha. He was also very helpful in designing it for us to add stuff later easily, whether underground or above ground.

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