This is a long thread I just stumbled upon so I didn't do my due diligence and read through all the comments to see if my recommendation was already suggested so please forgive me if it was. I would plant 'American Pillar' Arborvitae along the entire fence line and give it a couple of years. It's cheap (I found them for $7.50 a pop for an order of 100 plants last year), narrow (3-foot at base when mature), tall (30-foot max), fast (3-foot per year, once established), densely evergreen (no see through branches), cold hardy (to zone 3), disease free and long lived (no known problems with a lifespan of it's ancestors measured in centuries). What more can one ask for? Here is a link that might be useful: American Pillar Arborvitae

OK, you have the plants & you need to get them in the ground. Raspberries take up quite a lot of room in a sunny area. They can get out of control quickly & grow long swaying boughs. I tried growing 4 in about 10 ft. by 3 ft.area, not nearly enough space & not full sun so I ended up taking them out after a few years. Strawberries like a lot of sun but can probably take a little shade(in So. Ca. anyway) don't bury them deeper than they are in pot. They spread by runners next summer so figure out your bed so it is easy to get to plants & from all sides to pick berries. Lilies spread so if you are tied up with kids or getting older might want them somewhere so if they multiply it won't ruin your garden if you don't get to them each year-they like lot of sun.They are most attractive when several of 1 color are clumped together. Iris don't like being messed with until divided. Lily of Valley like lots of shade as do most Hostas. Sort out your plants by area they need to be in,then arrange them in their pots until they look right, keep your veggies separate from other plants & try to keep your herbs in a bed by themselves, chives, oregano, onions,etc, they get messy & might put parsley around outside edge of this bed to make it more interesting. Get some graph paper & start planning on paper so you know where you will have trees how much shade they are going to give & if they can have shade plants under them. Get your sunny areas figured out & that will be area for veggies,berries, herbs,if you are planting corn,peas, green beans, squash they take up a lot of room so you will have to cut back on shade. If there is nothing behind garage & a space back there in shade you can make that your lily of valley area & break it up bit with couple of hostas. You don't want your garden & yard so much work you don't get to enjoy it. Digging out the lawn to put all this in will be lot of work so have to make it more manageable.If you want paths you need to include them. Need place to sit & relax & have friends over so you can enjoy fruits of your labors.If your library has Birds & Bloom magazines, there was lovely evolved garden in there some months ago. All gardens evolve as years go by, you find what works for you. The perfect spot at your neighbor's 2 doors down may get you O results at your place so lot of it is trial & error.I love rhubarb, planted it & it was going crazy,hanging over in lawn so I moved it,never have found a place that works since. I had planted a lovely peace rose there I don't have any rhubarb now. It doesn't like wet feet. So you may have to move plants that aren't happy anyway no matter how you plan it out. Good Luck!

hey everyone , thanks for the replies !! ill try to reply to everyone in small paragraphs : we are in Chardon , Ohio , 40 minutes east of Cleveland. By Mentor, Kirtland, etc .. all were known for is snow and maple syrup. the snow usually all melts away by mid to late march though. were not shopping at tyty , but used them for a pic reference . there are several nurseries by me , just dont know which are the best. some people have japanese maples around me , they seem to do fine ... but i am no expert . they are nice trees, but expensive by me . i have a small red oak to the left of the driveway from the picture's view... i could probably just uproot it and replant. ide say its 4' tall and about the diameter of my thumb . its the ONLY oak on my 2 acres. my woods consist of pignut hickories, black cherries, sugar maples, bigtooth aspens, and a few basswoods. the only 3 elms on my property are all huge and dead. i have the ability to replant the red oak and i have a ton of sugar maples that are under 8' tall . crabapples are great. i have been eating them since i was a kid. i will incorporate one of them in the mix for sure. i see that the bradford pear is a pain in the butt and cracks and splits since its trunks are so close theres no room for expansion i guess. however, the Cleveland Select pear tree seems to get a better reputation . i wouldnt line the driveway with them , as i do like functioning trees like maples and crabapples, serviceberries , etc. i can respect the notion that those choices are better than ornamental trees that are pretty but probably wont outlive you and dont bear fruit. i dont plan on living here longer than 5-10 years, so any tree i pick i wont be able to see it in all its glory. thats ok though . also , i have a septic system in the middle of the yard so i cant plant them everywhere as i would like . they have to be within 15' of the driveway and they can be as big as i would like . the house is surrounded by 60-120' trees . here is another link to my layout but shot in the fall . you can see the 2 septic line service covers in the grass painted in green. Middle of the yard and inline with the pine trees in the corner . i need to get a blueprint of the septic drain lines so i can maybe plant a few in the middle of the yard too! from left to right in the pic there is a basswood and a couple pignuts in the front we just love and then a couple white pines. we have a lot to digest now from all the replies. ill get back to you im sure with more questions once we narrow or selections down . thanks again!!! keep the replies coming . :) Here is a link that might be useful:

I was gonna say that your inspiration pictures are showing all new, young plants, and see that Gardengal has already mentioned it. It's not going to work out squeezing them into a 2' beds. 6' deep bed would be more reasonable, but in no case less than 4' deep. If you have less, everything growing at ground level will be growing out of the bed and you'll have to keep constantly hacking at it. Also, you don't want the tree form to be leaning over onto the lawn before its canopy begins ... unless you want to be clocked in the head every time you mow the lawn. I'm in 9A, too. Some of the plants I'm using as small tree forms are variegated Pittosporum, crape myrtle (sizes vary considerably), Bougainvillea (large and requires external support), Vitex (rangey growth is difficult to shape), and Japanese Ligustrum (also large ... lots of trimming). Others that would work include Glossy Abelia, non-dwarf Indian Hawthorn, non-dwarf Lorapetalum, and some plants that are used for hedges, such as Viburnums. For more examples, look around where you live and see what people are using for small tree forms. For summing up how to grow, first decide how many trunks you wish the trees to have. I think there's nothing homelier than a two-trunk small tree. I like lots of trunks so that the end result looks like it could be a bouquet. Maybe a dozen would be a minimum for me. For you it might be 1/2 dozen. It's your call. If I don't have enough trunks, I just cut the shrub to the ground (6") once in spring and let it regrow with more, which is more or less a doubling and trunk arranging process. Then keep the shrub trimmed in the shape of a sugar cone, where the angle of the sides is what you want the trunk structure to be when the tree is mature. Do not worry about there being foliage in the trunk area while it is young. Once the tree reaches the point where the canopy would begin (above your fence) then you can start removing foliage & side branches up to 50% of the plant's total height. You'll do this every year in the early Spring as the tree grows. (As it reaches double the height of the fence, eventually, you will have cleared out all foliage that is below the top of the fence.)