Hey everyone, I'm back! We met with the landscape designer who gave us some ideas for layout, materials and plantings (most of what he provided was non-evergreen perennials). We chewed on that for a while and had a local stone mason put in a walkway and a few small stone walls for us. Here's how things ended up: We were having a hard time with the area along the driveway because we plow in the winter and I was worried about hitting anything we put there with the plow. We ended up installing a small stone wall set back a bit from the driveway and put a small sweep in it that roughly echoed the geometry of the gazebo. We threw a few large stones in the mix for interest but, honestly, they may be moved, laid down or removed all together. As we try to think about plantings we find they're very much driving what our options are which we find is making things difficult. In the end there are a few things that, in hindsight, we'd tweak with the walkway and wall layout but overall we're please with how it all came together. So now we're onto plantings. Frankly this is the hardest part for us. We took a trip to to local nursery yesterday,(it was huge) were they have acres of plants discounted for fall, many are 40% off. We walked through, took photos of what we liked, but we're still struggling to decide how everything will fit together. There are definitely some nice rhododendrons we like and we'll probably grab. Worst case, if we don't like them in this bed we can move them somewhere else. Our goal is to get the 'bones' of the garden in this fall. However, as we walked around the garden center and tried to figure out what we should be considering it drove home the point that we didn't know how many we needed because we don't know where everything is going. We came back last night and tried doing a few layouts using the layout plan below. The brown is our bed area and each square measures 2'x2'. I note that we're definitely going to widen out the bed around the Gazebo. However, we're struggling. Around the gazebo we we're thinking of placing a rhododendron at each corner with some other summer flowering plant between them, something like a hydrangea or summersweet. We were thinking of carrying the rhododendron across the front of the house but we're worried it's going to become too repetitive. We're tried a few different layouts but we're sort of stuck. We're leaning away from any sort of small tree in the large flowerbed to the left since we're planting a large ornamental tree in our yard to the right of the house (where the small lilac bush is now). We also worry that putting a small tree in the bed would look odd with any sort of medium to large evergreen shrubs just 6-8 feet behind it? We seem to think so. That said, we totally recognize this isn't our bailiwick. Currently, we've kinda dismissed small trees as options. Maybe that's a mistake. We've gone back and forth a hundred times but we're definitely spinning our wheels. So, I'll put the question to those who have far more practice - how would you approach laying out the bones of this garden? We just want to be sure we have a good mix of evergreens in here, we were thinking rhododendrons or some other flowering shrub, since leaves are only on the trees for about 6 months of the year here.

While as with all trees results are going to vary with site conditions Betula nigra is genetically a full sized tree - I think it is too large growing for the planting sites you are showing here. For example Seattle has one with an average crown spread of more than 62' (measured ~2005), with the largest known examples (elsewhere) being on the order of 120' tall with trunks about 5' thick. You do want something of some size to match the scale of the house but the magnolia will get big enough to do that if it does well. If it is not a superior named cultivar with a tall habit, fully evergreen foliage presentation (more than one example of these has been on the general market in recent years) I would replace it with one, as they are much more attractive than the shrubby, nearly deciduous version that drops all but one or a few leaves here and there. Another thing I would like to point out is that your house has a geometrically symmetric facade which means that this is one instance where a formal planting with matching pairs and shearing etc. is actually what is called for. A pattern mirroring the design of the front of the house on the ground in front of it and consisting of plants and other natural materials like stonework is what will best serve to integrate your house with the large lawn, which introduces a pastoral feeling. It would also be better to have the plantings extend out from the house more - and perhaps concentrate around the building less - even if the facade was not geometric.

I second Yardvaark's comment on the plants on the side of the house near the AC. They are absolutely too close to the wall. Whenever you buy plants pay attention to the mature heights and widths. If a plant will be 5 ft wide at maturity, plant it at least 2 1/2 ft from a wall or fence, otherwise it will lean. Fill in with annuals and perennials while it's still small. And while I agree with screening the AC, be sure to leave room for air flow around the unit. Crowding it with greenery will interfere with its efficiency. Adding trellis to the open space beneath the porch is the quickest way to cover that void. See the picture below. You could paint it to blend with the brick or match the house color to make it stand out.The terraced area off the back deck was an attempt to add level space for a sitting area. If it seems rocky it is likely because they put down gravel. Consider putting down pavers so the area can be used more often. The end of this terrace where the path goes down the hill looks like a good place for a fire pit if that interests you. The few shrubs along that terrace edge are a good idea to keep people from falling over the edge. Add more evergreen shrubs to make it safer.

Before you get much further into the weeds on this project, you really should have some sort of general plan for the entire backyard (at least). It doesn't have to be done all at once, or even soon, but you don't want to get into a situation where a large shade tree is wanted where a small, ornamental tree is already established. So where are you thinking you want large shade trees? Which way is west? If you already have an elm tree, what variety is it? What sort of growth habit does it have? Is it likely to die of Dutch elm disease before it gets to be a good size? After you've generally figured out tree placement, you start thinking about shrub placement. I wouldn't get too hung up on the idea of evergreens since a lot of deciduous shrubs have dense enough branching to give decent sight blockage even during the winter. They can also often grow quite fast. Large grasses are also a possibility, though a bit of a cliche.