I've never been on this forum before, think 90% went to landscaping school!! Way I see it is the front door looks too small, It seems like a side of house door. So the area around it needs to be changed. The walkway would be great going from front door to the driveway on this side of that tree far enough so the roots of tree don't buckle the new sidewalk. Then between sidewalk & house you have a nice area to plant some shade plants near tree & others closer to house. Anyone parking in front of house can walk up the driveway to the new walk which would have a lovely curve to it. I think a nice birdbath (or fountain if you insist- most get turned off about as fast as they are installed as pump costs money to run, birds mess them up etc) Get a nice ornamental small tree later so that goes towards left of pic & off of the curve of walk a number of feet(between left tree & walk but towards street) You can go with a couple of plants with stands by front door until you get walk in & deceide what bushes to keep up by house. With 4 little ones you aren't going to get it done overnite. Walkway is most important & getting area around tree with some plants, hostas if you can grow them, impatiens for quick color, don't know where you live so don't know if Boston Fern by front door or some other large draping plants would soften & improve look. I can see the front stoop being covered with brick with half circle steps down to walkway but then you would need brick along path to driveway or you could make the 1/2 circle steps of imprinted cement or with whatever pattern you wish. I'm in So. Ca. & weather & all plays a big part in what you do in most of the states. You want to make that door not stick out but part of landscape. 2 plants on 1 side & 1 on shorter pillar. Could be cut logs, pillars taken down from Colonial style house, clay tiles. Lady just painted 1 on Garden Junk forum, I imagine they come in different sizes & you could paint them black or white etc. I think round would be good as you want the plants to be focal point. A cut up telephone pole 3 heights, 15 in, 20 in & 25 in. would add interest. Just be sure the poles can't tip over easy & hurt the kids. Oh, I don't think I will ever dare come back here when they get through trashing my "crazy' ideas!! I just have always looked for ways to get what I want without spending a fortune!! Good Luck!

You folks are too kind. Yes, this is the worst flowering I've ever seen since I started gardening, but then, it's just flowers. The plants are generally fine. We haven't had any slides (quite a bit of earth shifting and bulging, though, with all that rain in the winter). Some plants have actually been beautiful, though the roses are a distraction; and I never thought I would find myself saying, "Thank goodness the roses are nearly done blooming and the garden can start to look decent again"! I was down in the big garden yesterday evening. My husband had mowed most of the main paths, and the contrast between the mowed areas and the beds with their shrubs and cultivated herbaceous plants and wild grasses, with Italian cypresses sticking up here and there, was, from certain angles, beautiful. I'm not taking the weather well, it's too sunny and too warm and leaves me sleepy and lethargic, but it has been lovely the last few days, the air washed clean and blue, a breeze blowing, the trees the deep green of early summer. The lavender and common wild daylilies (the only ones I like) are in flower now, strong colors that go well with each other and with the colors of sky and woods. Down in the shade garden rose 'Centifolia' has somehow managed to preserve a good portion of its blooms and is looking most satisfyingly romantic, without losing its dignity in the process. 'Chapeau de Napoleon' also looks pink and lush, if you don't go close enough to see the beetles, and is entwined with the silver and gold of anthemis: a happy sight. I appreciate all the sympathy, but in fact I know that this doesn't even come close to being a disaster, not even a second-rate one; certainly not to be spoken of in the same breath with people who've lost their homes to a tornado. All of us, everyone who has written here, goes through hard times of drought, flood, winter ice storms, spring freezes, humid mosquito-plagued summer, dreadful bug infestations. Even with this bad spring, I consider myself one of the luckiest gardeners around, with a soft job when it comes to getting plants to grow. Many of you have harder conditions to deal with than I do. Today DH and I went out to the far end of the property where there's an old pear tree in the middle of a field. Years ago we planted two roses there because at the time we didn't have any other place for them: 'Alberic Barbier' and 'Gloire de Guilan'. They're out of reach of water and have gotten practically no attention since we planted them, but lo and behold, they're alive and blooming--with no beetles!!--and with a good firm tenacious hold on existence, too. Last fall or winter we went there and cut away brambles and wild clematis and hawthorn from around the roses, and today we trained 'Alberic Barbier' further up the pear and gave the brush another haircut. GdG is still small but appears well established. The countryside is really, really lovely this time of year; and on the way back we stopped by the cherry tree--the best cherry tree in the whole world--and picked a colander full of fruit before returning home. Really, the world is a beautiful place. Bart, your spring sounds exactly like our spring; DH and I share your frustration about those weather reports. Our inch of rain was probably a couple of millimeters. Good luck with your watering: it sounds like a lot of work. Do you have a shady place to sit and pass the summer? That's a must in Italy, plus a long siesta every day, and try to get things done early in the morning and in the evening. Jackie and Jeri, I'm glad for your rain, which sounds like a blessing! Though I can, with some mental exertion, imagine getting tired of rain. About the supplemental watering, we don't water our plants after the first year, and we have a regular summer drought that runs from two to four months, THOUGH we get a generous annual rainfall, about 40". The plants do fine, perhaps helped by the depth of clay under them, though of course the roses don't bloom when they're dry. But everything lives. (I hope that's true this year as well, with a drought that begins in spring and not in summer.) Sammy, I like your comment about the companion plants! It's very much that way in my garden! But then, in spite of all the roses we grow, I've never considered mine a rose garden. Good luck to you as well! Laura, I hope your garden gets better weather too! Ingrid, for heaven's sake, rejoice in the lovely garden you've had this spring: it makes me feel happy just to hear that it bloomed really well. I appreciate your and others' good wishes. We have a wonderful amount of beauty here, and are definitely not objects of pity, the plague of beetles notwithstanding. Jana, Well, that's pretty much our rule. Different people garden in different ways. Greybird, you're one of the gardeners who make me realize what a soft, cushy gardening job I have here. I'm glad you finally got some rain!! We suffer from wind too, not to the extent that you do, though. I imagine windbreaks are not a possibility? I'm looking forward to the maturing of the seedling trees we keep planting. No doubt I'll be an old lady by the time they make their influence felt. Paula, one of the many kind voices I've heard after my complaining. I think the truly beautiful, albeit dry weather we've had since I wrote my first post has had a beneficial effect on my mood. Plus the roses are nearly out of their misery and the garden is entering a new phase. We're doing pretty well, and a good crop of cherries certainly helps one's mood. It's okay for the moment. We may even get some rain in a couple of days! Thanks for listening folks! I wish we may all have a change for the better in our weather! Melissa

Athen', I'm so sorry! I have so many Weigela's that I sometimes get them mixed up! Weigela florida ÂElvera - Midnight Wine is a cutie, but it is smaller. I meant to say: Weigela ÂShining SensationÂ. It's really beautiful, just like I described originally. It would be quite easy to keep at 4'. I would simply give it a clipping down to about 3' or 3.5' after it's second mid-season bloom (late-July). Remember, it blooms on old wood so you'll want to give it plenty of time to recover from that pruning before the first frost so that it gives you plenty of blooms next year. I think you should have no problems keeping the Physocarpus opulifolius ÂSummer Wine - Seward at 4'. No problem, at all. Again, just don't be too shy about pruning. I think Lindalana's advice about using Sambucus 'Black Lace' and Dirtdiver's advice about using Cotinus 'Royal Purple' or 'Grace' and coppicing them in early spring (like you would a Buddleia) is a great idea for other applications, but I doubt you'd be able to keep them at 4'. They're much more likely to go to 5' or even 6' in one season. It's too bad, because they're both so beautiful; especially for us purple-leaved addicts! As mentioned, they're also tough and drought-tolerant. Sorry about the boo-boo ealier. Again, best of luck! Steve

I was curious and googled pruning Helmond's Pillar which is a similar shape to yours. Most of the resources said 'doesn't need pruning' and this one sentence: "Remove any floppy or unruly shoots from fastigiate berberis, such as 'Helmond Pillar', to preserve shape. You can prune other varieties after flowering" The two people I know who grow H's Pillar discretely tie it up with twine: one in the winter to keep it from splaying the other all the time because it is planted in too much shade and grows loosely. Just curious, Have you checked to see if it is on your state's invasive plants list.? I love the plant, but it has become a problem in open woodlands in Mass.