Hey there! I moved into a 30 yr old house ~5 years ago. When I moved in, all we had were overgrown evergreens (yew, juniper, arborvitae) and azaleas. We ripped out 95% of the evergreens and ~25% of the azaleas to make room for some other things. It has been quite a learning experience, but I have had a lot of fun. Stan's comment about just moving it is a good one. However, around move 4 or 5 my hubby gets kinda crabby. Make sure to leave a couple feet between the house and shrubs to discourage termite infiltration (they like it dark and protected) and algae on siding. Also, as Stan said, carefully read the descriptions for shrubs and trees. They REALLY don't like to be moved, and sometimes they are too big to move once they start growing into your living room window or over the roof. Personally, I like to see out my windows. :-) I didn't want to spend thousands on bulbs and planted them around. You can always fill in more in the Fall if you think the spacing is too sparse. Also, Daffs multiply pretty well and will fill in as years go on. If you move bulbs before they bloom in Spring, they will spend resources on reestablishing roots and the flowers will suffer. If the bulbs MUST move this year, I would wait until after they bloom. You have quite the adventure ahead of you! BTW, we have a plant swap in May each year. We are still working on the exact weekend, but try to come. If you don't have plants to trade, just bring food. Preferably chocolate food. ;-) This is where I got A LOT of my perennials and such. I even got a tree one time. Swaps aren't one for one, so don't worry. Just come, eat, and have fun. Jen This bed was planted Fall 2006, and the picture was taken Spring 2009. The tree was just over a year old. The daffs really filled in. From Jennifer Jungle 2009

emg84010, What will you and your family eat? What do you know how to grow? Do you have much sun in your yard or mostly shade? I would recommend taking a Square Foot Gardening class (available locally from me and other instructors). Whether or not you choose to use the Square Foot Gardening method you will learn a lot about what, how, and when to grow vegetables and other edibles. Here is a link that might be useful: Square Foot Gardening Foundation

Congratulations on your new project. Floor area and size of house is certainly more than able to contain what's needed and desired for two people. I'll let others comment on the floor plan. Your elevations are full of builder's cliches: stacked gables, a tall hipped roof unrelated to the gables, decorative vent panels for the attic truss space (are these really vents and designed as part of an energy-efficient "tight" house construction, or just more exterior decoration?) and a serendipitous assemblage of exterior siding materials. The elevations would greatly benefit from simplifying and unifying the shapes, forms and materials into a much more harmonious design. For example, pick a roof type (gable, hip, shed, etc.) and use the type consistently throughout the design without adding other roofing types. Your plan has more than enough bump-o's and notch-o's so as to avoid the dreaded "slab" elevation, and a dull, lifeless exterior. Pick one or two favorite materials and stick with them throughout the elevations. Any needed vitality and life can be injected with carefully coordinated trim and window color. A good architectural reference for large houses such as this is the shingle style, which emphasizes large, horizontal elements wrapped with a continuous exterior finish material. Google shingle style and study the horizonal massing, the types of roofs that harmonize and the use of a consistent set of exterior materials. Your site plan seems uninspired and utiliterian. With such a large lot, why wouldn't you set back from the streets and create the opportunity for integrated landscaping, front and rear? With all of your living spaces along one side of the plan, why wouldn't you orient that side to the south to take advantage of passive solar-energy strateties? If it was my house, I'd consider locating it in the green oval space toward the north end of the side, and orient the living areas to the south. I'd open the east-west line of trees so that there was a directional view to the south, and plant screening materials so that I did not have to see the road intersection at the extreme south end of the site. Floor plan, interior spatial sequences, exterior massing and site planning should all be considered together and be harmonious and reinforcing with one another. Good luck on your project.

Which color shingles looks good with sable brown? First we decide sable brown with Gaf weathered wood shingles and white trim. Now we changed our mind and ordered dark bronze windows. I really like to get same color trims and gutter. But now I'm thinking if weathered wood will look too light.