Welcom, Soxi! Thanks for posting the photos; they really help. I would agree with those that suggested that you plant on both sides of your entry sidewalk. Your walkway will go through the garden instead of being the edge of the garden. Over the years, I've yet to make a garden too wide, but I've often had to widen them. I've also had to whack things away from the house so it could be painted, so I'd suggest leaving a minimum of 2-3 feet between where the plant's width will be at 10 years (the usual info given for mature size, though most will get larger) and the house. I also don't like the look of plants lined up - I prefer having layers of plants, and I include bulbs, shrubs, vines and perennials to provide a longer season of interest, so bed depth is needed for that. I try to include at least some hardscape (like a trellis, birdbath, etc) or evergreens in most of my gardens so that there is some visual interest between when the first frost kills most of the foliage and when everything is buried in snow (or in years like last year with little snow, for most of the winter.) As Mad Gallica mentioned, often this period is several months of the year, so anything I can do to make March and November and any other snowless months less dismal outside, is all to the good. This isn't a foundation bed, but this could be done on a smaller basis in a your beds. A good chunk of its interest is year-round, and the evergreens and trellises add interest as background and support for the flowers in the growing season as well as providing all the interest during the 6 or 7 months in the non-growing season. From December 2010 In laying out the shape of the beds, be sure that they are easy to mow - don't make those inner curves too tight. I use the black plastic edging buried up to the top bead just outside of the bricks which edge my beds; the grass hides it and it keeps the grass from growing between the bricks. The lawnmower wheels run on the bricks and the blade misses the plastic edging, so a separate pass to edge the bed isn't needed. While I don't find the plastic aesthetically pleasing, it does reduce maintenance without being too obvious. Here's a photo of a bed edged this way, and you really can't see the plastic. From June 5, 2012 As a relative beginner to gardening, it's easy to get caught up in just the flowers, but also try to think about foliage. Varied leaf shape, color, and texture will add to the appeal of your garden even when there isn't a lot in bloom. Check to see if any of your plants have nice autumn colors. Try to plant so that you have at least some plants in bloom all through the season as well. The annuals will help with that, but also try to spread out your shrub and perennial bloom.

Hi Treeguy. What part of WNY are you in? I'm in Rochester NY (City NW) and am growing Musa Basjoo, Musa Sikkimensis, and Musella Lasiocarpa in-ground. I was told that the Sikki and the Musella would have to be dug up over winter, but I left them in-ground very covered up in mulch and they're doing great. This was their first winter here. MY palms are all in pots and while not in-ground, they ARE in an unheated porch out back. Monitored temps dipped as low as low 20's some nights with usual highs in the upper 30's/low 40's. There was a brief super-cold spell where the lows read in the teens, but daytime highs were 30's. My palms are T. fortunei, T. wagnerianus, T. takil, T. latisectus (everyone expects this one to die, so I'm thinking about mailing it to a cousin south), and two Butia capitata. The pots aren't insulated or anything, so I was lucky.... but they lived. I can't plant in-ground until I buy a home, but I'm definitely planning on it. I have waggies which I germinated from seeds and they spent winter out in that shed too, but I brought them in during the cold spell.

Well, whether or not they come back l plan on buying about 6 new Cardinal flowers at the upcoming native plant sale, and judging from last year there should be an abundance of L. siphiticas emerging in the garden this year. It's good to roll with what's going on and keep enjoying the marvelous things happening in the plant world. There are a lot of really cool plants that don't have any problem coming back. I had a Dutchmans Briches plant pop up where none were ever planted and I'm thinking it came from a seed that was decades old from a time when they grew in my neighborhood before it was "developed". You are all beautiful!!!!! For Milo and Sudan!!!!!!!

Since no planting can be figured out until the hardscape is planned, you should limit your request for help to hardscape to start with. It's going to be hard to help with hardscape until you can make the site and your expectations better understood. Will there be walks that link various doors? These should be made obvious on the plan. Would the larger patio be adjacent to the deck? Is this the front yard or the back? Do guests enter the property through this yard? Is that the permanent location of the hot tub? You didn't mention a fence around the carport. Is that a passing thought or something you're committing to? It's important to stay at a single position with the camera while capturing a view. I would suggest you show us the yard from this view (see plan) providing a full 180* of slightly overlapping pictures. Because the area is at a lower level, it would be best if you found something 2 or 3 feet high to stand on for the pictures, and hold the camera in the vertical format. If possible, set the pictures to a size or two up from what you're showing above, as those are small. The above pictures might have loaded sideways if you're uploading them from a phone. Try submitting new pictures via computer.