cant help if we dont know where you are... big city name..

the lilac should be cut back thru a process called rejuvenation pruning... watch a bunch fo these .. its usually a 3 years project.. but it could be sped up ... if you dont mind losing bloom for a season.. you can do it all at once.. but do note.. where you cut.. 3 to 6 inches ...NOT AT HEIGHT ....

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=rejuvenation+pruning+of+lilac&iax=videos&ia=videos

i would start by removing everything.. that you dont want.. and then take some more pix.. and in the mean time.. figure out what you want to keep .. if anything..

i would probably go with a trellis of some sort on the driveway side of the porch .... to grow fast growing vines.. to block the driveway view.. then add some conifers or slower growing plants that will take over that job in 5 to 10 years... morning glory for an annual.. clematis for perennial ...

even faster and more complete than what you have there now.. would be a garden curtain .... you could let down.. when you are sitting out there ...

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=outdoor+garden+curtain&t=ffab&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images

there are forums for conifers.. shrubs.. perennials and annuals... if you want more peeps to discuss plant selection...

ken

Here are a few suggestions:

Called Mae, many of us had no garden planning experience when we started, unless we were trained. Don’t be too hard on yourself.

Well you said you didn’t have $$$, so I think perhaps a deck, while lovely would be too expensive.

As Ken said, let us know your growing zone and or city and state where you live so we can figure it out. Also give us an idea of your sun/shade conditions. I was thinking the same thing as Ken (great minds…blah, blah, blah)in terms of a trellis with perennial climbing vine to provide privacy at the driveway’s end. I also like the idea of keep what you like and chuck the rest. Without more location info it’s hard to suggest plants. Your yard is long enough to create a focal point towards the back such as a swing, fire pit or additional seating area. These ideas would involve removing grass and laying down pea gravel or stone (a bit more pricey). The swing would not require grass removal.

I do like the Doug’s idea of a nice border and some pavers up to the porch area.

Get back to us with requested info.

debra

Thank you all for your comments. I live just outside of Philadelphia, PA. For some reason I was not able to post all the pictures I wanted so you are not seeing the entire yard.

Ken, I will take your advice and remove everything I don’t want and post new pictures. Thank you for the information for the lilac. I like your suggestion re the trellis. I was just at a Nursey last weekend and saw a beautiful trellis with euonymus growing on it. When I saw it I thought “ I wish I had a place for that”, and now maybe I do.

Dig Doug’s Designs, I admire your work and always enjoy seeing what you do to beautify a landscape. However, I am looking to create something low maintenance. Your design, though beautiful looks like high maintenance.

Celery, You design is more in line with what I think I need. I had not at all considered using rocks/boulders in the design but I love the idea and they are certainly low maintenance. I do’t care for the little pebbles but would like the boulders or large rocks in a flower bed with small evergreens and a few perennials.

djacob, I live in an area where the houses are close together and neighbors share a driveway. I am trying to creat a backyard room so that when I am in my yard I do not see my neighbors’s shed or car parked in the driveway. With this in mind, a swing or fire pit atone end of the yard would be lovely. I would probably go with the swing because l would likely use it more that a fire pit.

I’ve read through hundreds of these posting and have learned a lot from so many of you. One piece of advice that reverberates in my head is from Yardvark instructing posters on how to take pictures to give a full view of the area. Many of my pictures did not post so I am going to try it again. Looks like I can only post 4 pictures at a time. Stay tuned for more..

The area along the white picket fence is the area I am trying to make disappear.

In the 3rd photo, the limelight Hydrangea to the right of the Nandina will go. Below are more photos from other areas of the yard. The large crepe myrtle is dead and will be removed soon.

I'm a fan of moving plants, rather than discarding them and older, decrepit lilacs often get rejuvenated by cutting them down. I have a bunch of old lilacs that looked half dead. All the ones I took most of the larger trunks off of are looking healthy and good and the other ones are looking half dead. So, this year, I'm going to brutally hack the rest of them.

I'd consider moving shrubs to the line of your hedge. You can radically cut many shrubs. You'll lose this year's blooms, but you may bring them to a size that's a better fit for your garden.

One of the things many gardeners do is impulsively buy lovely plants without thinking of how they go with the rest of the garden. Over time, this leaves you with a bunch of lovely plants rather randomly scattered in an arrangement that makes no sense. We all do this.

The way to rehab a garden is to look at what is working from a perspective of size, shape, height, color and try to selectively remove or add things to fix the problems. For example, if you think the color of your Japanese maple doesn't coordinate with your garden, but you love it, you might bring in other similar tones in smaller plants. While I hate barberry, it's a smaller shrub with the same color tones. You can also find daylilies and heuchera that will echo the color. Similarly with the lime tree. There's lime heuchera, lime spirea (another plant I'm not fond of and find invasive) lime bleeding heart, etc.

Repetition (of color or shape) tends to make things look more coherent. You have a lot of big perennials that could be divided to create repetition. So, I'd start by looking at what you have for plant material.

Sigrid, I appreciate your response and advice. I am not sure what you mean when you say “ move shrubs to the line of my hedge”. Which shrubs and which hedge are you referring to.

Last year I did drastically cut back the lilac and now see a lot of growth. I cut so drastically that I did not expect anything to survive. I am considering keeping it now.

The maple tree was an impulse buy. The spot where it sits is not ideal and I really should give it to someone who has space for it. My neighborhood has a garden club and we share plants regularly and I am sure someone would love to have it (and dig it up as well.). I like pinks, whites, purple and. yellows in the garden so the red maple doesn’t coordinate. Thank you for helping me realize that.

I will look to see what I can divide to create repetition. I love the red twig dogwoods and would like to have at least one more so that I have an odd number. You have given me much to think about and reconsider. Thank you much. Now back to the yard for further inspection and analysis..

Doug, that is beautiful and more in line of what I want.