Also, you might consider Chamblee's Roses. They are shipped in gallon pots and are more mature than roses of many own-root vendors. Chamblee's selection is not as extensive as some, but they do have nice roses. Another vendor with larger own-root plants is High Country Roses, though their selection is aimed at colder climates. Still, you might find some you like there; I have. Amity Heritage Roses used to sell the largest own-root bands around, just gorgeous plants, but I don't think they are currently active. It didn't look like it to me when I last visited their website. Probably there are others, but I'm only mentioning ones I have purchased from myself. My personal favorite vendor is Vintage, and I buy the majority of my roses there, but you do have to mature them in a gallon pot yourself. Rosefolly

Patty - what you describe is exactly what my SS was doing last year. Picture the long canes wirosarian has in that great photo (lovely garden scene wirosarian), just bunched up under the trellis for safekeeping. 3' high ad 4-5' of floppy cane is what she had last year. This year it's more like 8' of floppy cane, but that definitely seems to be her growth habit. I can't see her being a hedge (even though mine might look like one) unless you had a set of hoops under it to prop up all those floppy canes at the desired height. Yep, land sakes alive - she's a sprawler - nothing happened except she was feeling happy and verrrrrry relaxed. Annececelia- you think I'd FEED that monster? I'm not getting within a foot of it until it stops eating the landscape. Seriously, I rarely get around to feeding my roses anything but alfalfa most years, and I don't think SS has ever gotten any. You must treat yours right to keep her mannerly. At least until your back is turned (da-DUm, da-DUm, da-DUm...) Cynthia

@Yardvaark firstly, I can't thank you enough for taking the time to shop that out so I could see it and thoroughly explain your feedback, I really appreciate it. Second, I do have some follow up questions to your post, but if you don't have the time/desire to reply, I do completely understand. I am just grateful for the initial feedback and I don't want to capitalize on anyone's time. Regarding our existing elm tree...I'm totally seeing the need to limb this up but I admit it's also very scary as I don't want to damage the tree. We inherited it this way as the previous owners did minimal maintenance. I am frustrated because I asked the certified arborist we hired what approach we should take with this tree and she told me that trees like this should only be minimally pruned with the smallest cuts possible and you never want to take large limbs out. But looking over these pictures my eyes are opened to how ridiculously large it looks covering our deck! I am afraid that the limb to the right you mentioned, however, is integral the tree at this point and don't want to totally stress it. I wonder if we could keep these limbs but really thin them up? Is that even a thing? I can have someone else out to take a look. Harder right now as we are in lock down. We were also told never to prune our elm after March 31st to avoid attracting the beetle that can spread dutch elm disease, so I'm afraid we have to wait until next year to fix this either way! Here is a picture of the elm closer up: And from the backside of the tree, note the left limb that is the right side from the street view is pretty connected to the main trunk: And regarding the street tree and redbud on left, from the placement in your mock up that's pretty spot on to where I was imagining them, so I'm happy I'm on the right track there. I am, however having second thoughts about the redbud only because upon seeing it I wonder if a tree there would block too much of the house creating something similar to what I'm currently dealing with on the right (albeit smaller scale with the size of the Redbud vs Elm). I'm really intrigued by your suggestion to curve the walkway, as this section has been totally stumping me. My husband strongly objects to curves because of our houses squared edges, but I am trying to show him the value of juxtaposition and contrasting lines. I agree with not wanting to close in the sides of the walkway, although I'll admit I was considering adding a front border at the street and planting there, so I'll definitely reconsider this. The one thing I'm not sure of though is continuing the pavers in the planting area in front of the courtyard. I've had my mind set on creating a little separation and privacy in this area as right now we are super exposed to our street. I want to sit out here and see my neighborhood but not be totally open to it, if that makes sense. I envisioned plantings in front of the courtyard that would create this soft separation, my husband has even suggested a low fence. So I don't know if I love the whole area being hardscaped. I tried a photoshop app on my phone so please forgive my shoddy attempt at this, but this is what I had in mind for that dirt area in front of the courtyard (not these specific plantings, but something mixed like a low grass, perennial shrub, and maybe dwarf evergreen shrub. Keeping things 3-4' max height and natural looking). I would wrap it around the whole courtyard towards the house and in front of the left brick wall. The dirt area here separating the courtyard from the walkway is 5' deep: But this is where I'm not sure if the Redbud would block off that left side too much. I think I would love the view from inside, but street view does it cover this side of the house? And then I thought well what if I didn't do the Redbud there, but maybe a cedar screen with some plantings so it's less of an obstruction but still living: I had really wanted to put a Redbud somewhere, just love them. Maybe in the center with the screen in the courtyard? But from straight on, I'm afraid it would block the front door too much. I cheated it left and forward a little here, but maybe that doesn't matter.. And finally (yes!) do you have any other alternatives to grass in that middle section? I was hoping to remove the grass for something less water heavy since we are keeping the other lawn areas. I was also wanting to alleviate the water hitting the hardscape so much when watering as we have hard water and calcium deposits abound. But if the lawn would really be best to tie in the two sides of our property, so be it. It's already irrigated anyway! I know this is so much info. I am trying to be thorough but also without expectation as I understand this is a lot. We have already spent money on a consult and design advice with the arborist/designer so I was just hoping to have a better picture before paying for more. Thank you again!

@Biff Jessop I'm not sure how to gauge the situation. Apparently once upon a time, RVR used to have correctly labeled inventory of 'Licorice Tea', but it seems nobody has actually received the correct variety in recent times, myself included. I'm not sure about the others. I know several people have bought the ones you've mentioned and apparently received the correct plant.