"Is there a trend that anyone has seen on landscaping styles...?" Greenwood, of the two choices you present: concrete landscape blocks vs. micro "boulders"...I wonder if either is the correct choice. Even though you are out in the yard, you are really "building" on to the house... which already has a type of stone in its construction. Introducing an element foreign in character to what's already there seems to add clutter instead of interest. However, of the two choices I find the manufactured blocks (though I'm not nuts about the color) less objectionable. The micro boulders seem very out of character for the house. Then, why be concerned about "trends" when current fads don't necessarily mean improved appearance? It looks like you are trying to hide where the ground meets the lattice, but not trying to actually raise the grade. So why install a curb or "retaining wall" that is empty of soil on the back side? Instead, you could let the plants alone provide the height that screens the lower portion of the lattice. A trench edge to the bed or a flush embedded mowing strip (at least 8" wide) would be more appropriate and less cluttered looking. I'm not trying to make planting suggestions in my picture... just trying to make things look settled and show lattice/ mowing strip alternative.

I have similar temperatures to you and acid, fine-sandy to loamy soil. I'm not sure if your soils will be similar in pH and texture. Some smaller fruiting & flowering trees that I like and should be fully hardy for you: Cornus alternifolia - Pagoda dogwood - Lovely spring flowers (sort of lacy, not like typical flowering dogwood), summer dark fruit with bright red stems that when ripe attracts the birds; nice, though not spectacular, fall color; beautiful winter silhouette Ilex verticillata - Winterberry holly - a deciduous holly that has bright crimson berries after the leaves fall. 'Winter Red' holds the berries the longest, according to research I've read. Be sure to plant the appropriate male in an unobtrusive place in order to get berries. Some of the smaller crabapples have lovely spring flowers and colorful autumn fruit. Some varieties will hold their fruit until early spring when they will attract many birds to gobble up the fruit: cedar waxwings, robins & grouse all have visited our tree. If disease is a problem in your area, research disease-resisitent varieties. I also love hardy hydrangeas which all have long-lasting flowers. There are H. paniculatas, like 'Pink Diamond', 'Pinky Winky', Limelight, etc. I also have 'Annabelle', an H. arborescens, and there are several other arborescens varieties. Flowers of all these are in the pale green/white/pink range, and most move from pale green through to white &/or pink. The H. macrophyllas that bloom on old and new wood like 'All Summer Beauty', 'Dooley', 'Penny Mac', and 'Endless Summer' continuously throw out new blooms from early summer until frost. Here in central NH they sometimes die back to the ground in years when it gets cold while there isn't snow cover, but they resprout and bloom on the new wood. Well mulched I think they would be fine for you, since we get as low as -22 some years, though not every year. A good resource on Hydrangeas in general is the book by Michael Dirr, though you will have to ignore a lot of plants that won't be hardy for you - maybe you can borrow it from the library. As others mentioned above, the 'Northern Lights' series of azaleas (deciduous) are hardy as well as some of the deciduous azaleas from Weston nurseries in MA. In addition to nice spring flowers some have colorful fall foliage. As noted above they need acid soil. The PJM group of small leafed evergreen rhododendrons may be hardy enough for you as well. Below I've given you a link to a discussion of clematis in the shrub border. They can be grown on obelisks or scrambling across the ground or can be guided to grow into shrubs or some combination of these growth styles. I grow type 3 clematis and trim them back in the late fall, so the obelisks provide winter interest, at least until the snow gets so deep they are no longer visible. If deer are an issue in your area, choose your evergreens carefully. Both yew and arborvitae are favorite winter deer forage around here and so are typically misshapen or even eaten down to bare stubs. Some of the smaller selections of spruce are nice and don't seem bothered by deer. There are some small or weeping hemlock selections that might suit you as well. I also have and like a couple kinds of clethra, several native viburnums (dentatum, cassinoides, and acerifolium), some old-fashioned once-blooming roses, including rugosas which have decorative hips and scent that is stunning, elderberry (Sambucus), weigela (nice flowers and some have nice leaf colors), Viburnum plicatum tomentosum (though I'm not sure this will be fully hardy for you), Physocarpus (ninebark) 'Coppertina', Aronia (chokeberry), Amelanchier (serviceberry or shadbush), some of the hardier magnolias, high bush blueberry (flowers, fruit and great fall color), lilacs, and an old-fashioned hardy forsythia. The leaves of my red-twigged variegated dogwood are pretty disease prone, so I'm not sure I'd recommend this. For additional seasonal color, I plant bulbs (especially iris reticulata, daffodils, alliums, and early species crocus) in my shrub borders as well as cranberry as a non-aggressive ground cover and several low-maintenance perennials: Siberian irises, iberis (perennial candytuft), a select few campanulas, heucheras, tiarellas, hostas, variegated solomon's seal (Polygonatum), cimicifuga AKA actea, Baptisia, and lady's mantle (Alchemilla) among others. These are all quite hardy, not fussy in my garden, have foliage that looks nice throughout the growing season, take little or no deadheading or even have decorative seed pods and won't spread viciously, either through seeds or underground. I start my shrub borders by piling several inches of compost or well-composed manure on top of the soil and plant into it and the native soil, however deep the rootballs are. After planting I mulch with several layers of newspaper topped by 3 or 4 inches of wood chip mulch, which gets renewed with lighter layers every few years as needed, keeping the mulch away from shrub trunks. I keep the beds well-edged and only have to weed for a few minutes a couple times of year. I used to dig the compost in, but this works as well or better and is lots less work! Have fun planning and planting the new border! Babs

As you consider plants, do your research. Look for plants that are drought tolerant (less watering), and slow growing (less pruning). These characteristics can make a big difference. However, you need to realize that there are not any NO maintenance plants. Trees are very low maintenance in general. They need lots of space, obviously, but if chosen well, they give more bang for the buck than any other plant. Liriodendron (tulip poplar): great shade tree, very fast grower to maturity. Attractive year round. Drought tolerant. Minuses: the roots grow shallowly, so it can be somewhat difficult to grow other things under them, like ground covers, for example. Still, I think they're one of the best. Oaks: Some are very fast growers like Pin Oaks. Some are distressingly slow, like White Oaks. Crepe Myrtles: Disease resistant (except mildew and that is easily prevented by choosing the right varieties). I have never known them to be attacked by insects. When pruned well (PLEASE! prune well! :) they are one of the best for the south. They have an extremely long bloom time, and are VERY drought tolerant. Their winter form (when pruned well) is as beautiful, if not more beautiful than their summer form. minuses: BUT, they do require a fair amount of pruning to keep suckers cut off at the base, and to train them into a graceful shape, especially their first 2 to four years of life. Vitex agnus: beautiful, blue blooms, lovely foliage. They need a fair amount of pruning, though less so if you grow them as large shrubs instead of in tree form. Shrubs are, as louisianagal said, far lower maintenance than perennials, but again, they are not No maintenance. Raphiolepis indica (Indian Hawthorn): A great evergreen shrub. When given adequate space, (They easily get five to six feet wide. Give it to them) They are very close to no maintenance. They are neat and tidy all year long. Mine only need a light shearing once a year. Even less in dry years. The spring bloom is nice, but short lived. These plants make great bones in the garden. Encore azaleas: other than deadheading and a yearly feeding, these are very easy and reliable. They take more sun than the traditional azaleas, and their late summer to fall bloom is long and invaluable. I second the motion for Nandinas. They are one of the most under appreciated shrubs, in my opinion. They look wonderful in every season: beautiful lacy textured evergreen foliage, white spring blooms, drop dead gorgeous fall and winter color, and then there's the gorgeous clusters of red berries in winter. What more could you ask? On top of that they are drought tolerant, disease and pest resistant, and grow in full sun to full shade. Their one flaw? Most of them sucker. Some more than others, the old fashioned, large ones being the worst. I like Firepower too (no berries). I also love Harbour Dwarf because it makes berries. Compacta is a lovely larger form. Hydrangeas are fabulous for shade in the south. Endless Summer is particularly wonderful. I have Blushing Bride too, but it is being temperamental about blooming, so the jury is still out for me. I just purchased Twist and Shout. We'll see if it lives up to the ES name. I am also growing White Out for the first time this year. The snow white blooms are amazingly beautiful. I can tell you that it scorches if it gets more than a few hours of morning sun. Too soon to say for sure, but so far, it's a winner. Other than deadheading and watering, hydrangeas that are planted in the right location are virtually maintenance free. Korean Boxwood. This is a great plant that hardly anyone uses. I don't understand why. It is slower growing in the beginning, but that is a real advantage after the first three years or so, as it only needs shearing once a year. It will also grow in full sun to nearly full shade. Other really good ones: Hollies: there are so many good ones! Viburnums: look beyond snowball bushes. They are great shrubs. Arborvitaes (Thuja): the one called Emerald is excellent. Tall, skinny spires are in short supply here in the south. This is a great one. Camellias, both japonicas and sasanquas, Roses (all these are self cleaning, a very important attribute) Knockout Roses, Oh So Easy Paprika Rose, Nearly Wild Rose (very thorny), Cassie Rose, Carefree sunshine. All roses do best with a light pruning after each flush of blooms. Typically, I prune 3 times: in February, late May, and Mid July to early August. None of these are ever sprayed at my house. They all bloom from early spring to hard frost. Perennials require a fair amount of work, but some less than others. The trick is to find plants with good looking foliage, a good bloom time (anything more than a month is great), a moderate speed of spreading, and that are disease and pest resistant. REad in the forums. You can find all kinds of lists. Just be sure to pay best attention to the lists that are generated by people in your zone. Perennials, more than any other, vary wildly in their performance from one zone to another. Keep in mind that although the Pacific Northwest has the same winter hardiness zones as the Southeast, summer performance is dramatically different. Note: Daylilies are one of the most dependable, and longest blooming perennials for the south. They are also the ones that require the greatest amount of maintenance to grow them well. Three feedings a year, division every 3 or 4 years at least, daily deadheading and deadscaping during bloom season, and deadleafing after bloom time. I grow them. I love them. I limit how many, so I can care for them. I highly recommend that you get a copy of The Southern LIving Gardening Book and read it carefully. Don't buy anything that this book doesn't say will grow in your zone. It has detailed info on nearly any tree, shrub, perennial, annual, fruit or vegetable that you can think of. If it's not listed, don't even bother. It very probably won't grow anywhere in the south. And speaking of books....I'm done! (Can you tell that I love plant passionately? :)

I really enjoyed reading your reveal. Read it on my iPad this morning lazing in bed and pored over it for a good 1/2 hour. It was more engaging than a book, lol. I totally LOVE your new kitchen, and this is one of the best reveals I've seen. Enjoyed reading the goals you had for the new kitchen, seeing how all your choices came together, the peeks inside your drawers and doors, and reading about the things you decided that others might consider crazy. Not crazy at all! The whole point of doing the research is to consider the alternatives and then choose what works for YOU. While I might not have made all those same decisions, you wouldn't have made the ones I chose either. That's rather the point, right? You don't live in my kitchen and I don't live in yours, LOL. There is something very freeing about deciding what works for you and just going regardless of trends. And I totally get where you're coming from on the slide in range with glass top. I've had a glass top range in the past and really liked it. Not everyone needs or wants a spendy induction or gas range so I say good for you!! Things I particularly admire: The new layout moving the fridge wall and getting a wider opening. The great new views from your sink and peninsula area -- what a difference that makes. Your drop-dead gorgeous cabinets! Your lovely granite. Drawers and the use of space -- the mostly 4-drawer bases without a lot of stacking was a wise choice. The new fireplace wall (wow, what a difference the black paint makes). And a small thing, but I like that you carried the toekick past the dishwasher, it looks really nice. Great job. Enjoy your new kitchen and may it bring you many years of new and happy memories!