I really envy you your sweeping backyard. If it were me, I'd focus on some natural planting along the back that I could view from the deck. I'd muck around by the creek, cut down the tree of heavan (ailanthus) and plant red maple, pin oak, sycamore, basswood, hemlock, river birch, sweetgum, nyssa sylvatica (common name escapes me, maybe black gum?) and silver maple. Some lovely specimen trees to look at, many with interesting winter bark. Then I'd plant some understory flowering shrubs--native rhodies (the carolinia ones, can't remember exactly, they smell great), witch hazel, amelanchier, sweetbay magnolia, spicebush, viburnums, etc. Then underplant with some pretty spring bulbs. I'd be vigilant to keep the poison ivy at bay. wood chip it, etc. Then sit back on my porch with some lemonade and watch the birds at the feeder. Up by the deck I'd plant some persian lilacs for the heavanly fragrance. A little grove of japanese maples and japanese white pine because I think those trees are gorgeous to look at. Then a big apple tree. Someday I might put a brick patio at the bottom of the deck, with a pergola over it, with a climbing rose and wild clematis providing shade. My cousin has a similar back deck with a pergola, and the wild clematis does a good job of cascading over it. My reasoning for doing decorative trees and shrubs and a more natural landscape is once they get started, much less time spent fussing with them than perrenials.

This seems like a good start and would be very helpful to people seeking information about how to take good photos. My only critiques would be: 1. Make it more concise. The ease of reading will be amplified by the forthcoming instructional photos, but there still seems to be an excessive amount of text. 2. Keep the tone friendly. In many places, it comes off as self-important and condescending. I gather from both the length and the tone that you are frustrated with poor photos on the forums, however, a concise and friendly set of instructions will encourage more people to actually utilize them. Hope this helps! Cheers, Peren

This is a long thread I just stumbled upon so I didn't do my due diligence and read through all the comments to see if my recommendation was already suggested so please forgive me if it was. I would plant 'American Pillar' Arborvitae along the entire fence line and give it a couple of years. It's cheap (I found them for $7.50 a pop for an order of 100 plants last year), narrow (3-foot at base when mature), tall (30-foot max), fast (3-foot per year, once established), densely evergreen (no see through branches), cold hardy (to zone 3), disease free and long lived (no known problems with a lifespan of it's ancestors measured in centuries). What more can one ask for? Here is a link that might be useful: American Pillar Arborvitae

Looks like an entrance to a forest trail. Very nice, botann.