yes, it is heavier. This house is similar to the house the DH and I just sold. It had a raised concrete patio in front of the house. I didn't know how to landscape in front of that PIA :o) and I don't know how to landscape in front of this one either. I don't know how this owner feels about their patio, but I didn't want plants large enough that they would obscure the view. Also didn't want the predictable symmetry of two same-size pyramidal evergreens on each side of the house. As I said above, I'm no designer. I'm just playing around with pictures, trying to keep reality in mind. To be real honest, if it were me, I'd never plant the large shrub by the corner of the house, just because I'm onery and it's one of those things that "everybody" does, so I wouldn't! That, and we had to cut down two at our previous home 'cuz they had grown to well over 30 feet high. Needless to say that they dwarfed our little ranch/tract home, a house that already sat on a hill. It was atrocious. Anyhow, thanks for the notice re: balance or lack thereof. I'll leave that to the homeowner, but I would love a suggested solution to landscaping around those darned patios. I don't have one anymore, but I'd still like to know. Moon

The single picture doesn't give an idea of how much property you are being called on to care for so please indicate the total amount. Your strategy would be different if you're reigning in five acres or 1/2 acre. While planting some perennials in strategic locations could be nice, it should be limited until you see if living that kind of lifestyle is for you. It takes work and time. Nearest to the house would be the best place to start with that. I think the easiest care, best looking landscape that this could turn into is one in which the forest canopy is cleaned up. ... which means trim all the scruffy branches off of trees so that the trunks look clean and open and limb them up so that a view is maintained within the yard itself. Remove the scrawny saplings, shrubs and weeds. For the time being, kill the weeds with herbicide and mulch heavy with free mulch from the tree trimming companies. (Surely, there is tree trimming going on in the vicinity ...?!) (Invest in a backpack type sprayer as a carry type sprayer is not at all practical for a large property. You'll need good cutting tools (loppers, pruners, saw, etc.) Flimsy ones will not work well or last long. Mulch is good on a temporary basis, but a groundcover capable of large scale coverage is the best long term solution. Forget about the huge quotes. You can clean it up and get it under control for a few hundred dollars if you put it into low gear, be practical about it and persist. It is very easy to rid a property of poison ivy so you shouldn't let fear of it get in your way. Also, observe how others with large wooded lots are managing control of their properties. See what they're using for large scale groundcovers. Look especially at nice homes in the best neighborhoods.

I would leave it in place permanently :-) Both the newspaper or cardboard will degrade and eventually disappear so there is no need to remove. But how long it will take to actually smother the grass, killing the root system, may take a bit longer than you expect. That doesn't mean you cannot plant in it before it is fully dead - only that the ability for the grass to resprout if it is disturbed is increased if the roots have not yet been fully killed off. I'd check after a couple of weeks but a month or even two should give much better results.

I don't want to take all the fun of selecting shrubs away from you! Check locally and see what plants are easy to maintain at the sizes shown and have the personalities (leaf size/color/flowers/evergreen, etc.) that appeal to you. There would be a few options. The flanking space is that to each side of house front. We can't see how the house fits into its surrounding.