I wonder if an "oval" of grass would help in this case??? I just looked up the definition of an ellipse on mathworld and my eyes are still spinning :-) I think Reyesuela makes a couple of good points. The first, regarding the grass shape, is that when you make your beds, you should pay attention to the shape of grass you are creating, not so much the shape of the bed - the bed shape will be more or less immaterial once you get it filled, while the grass shape will always show up. And actually, since you like formal, I might almost play with a rectangle of grass under the window surrounded by straight beds on three sides, obviously not going right to the road to avoid the snow plow - or putting low, tough plants like the most vigorous hostas on the road edge. The second, if I understand correctly, is to create a space within your front yard where you can be, or to enclose your house, rather than making it a sort of frame for your house to be simply looked at. I strongly agree that, especially when you have a small amount of space, what matters most is how you want to feel when you are in it or in the house looking out. Depending on the feel of your street, you may want to be visible; I don't know. What complicates this approach is what you say about the snow plow... you might be best off to make the front edge grass, along with the edges of the driveway where your car door needs to open. I would not not not do a standard foundation bed under the window. So predictable. I think a pretty patch of grass, tidy beds - not necessarily symmetrical plantings, but formal is good - there is really something about that row of Rhodies that just looks right. You could remove sod under them, joining their little patches into a long straight bed, underplant them a bit if you widen the bed. karinL

above i wrote this: conifers are trees.. and frankly they NEVER stop growing.. presuming they dont die ... the important thing to learn is the sub-heading Conifer Sizes .. and learn all about annual growth rates .... it should have read this way: conifers are trees.. and frankly they NEVER stop growing.. presuming they dont die ... CHECK OUT THE LINK BELOW ... the important thing to learn is the sub-heading Conifer Sizes .. and learn all about annual growth rates .... [and the link is in the prior reply] you said in reply: As you can see, my lot is pretty small, and I wanted to frame my house a bit with the trees. How tall and wide does the Bakeri usually get? check out the new link below .... especially the pic there.... bakeri can grow up to one foot per year ... and unless you want to be cutting it down in 10 years.. it better be planted.. 8 to 10 feet from the house.. MINIMUM ... which again.. is why you need to define the garden bed.. before you start choosing plants ... while at the first link.. look into the definition of a DWARF plant.. and should you want a plant that lasts in situ for more than 10 years.. you will HAVE TO get.. mail order... a conifer that grow less than 6 inches per year ... ken ps: if you insist on a large picea pungens.. look into Hoopsi ... and forget about the real old cultivar bakeri ... mine below with yearly growth notated ... Here is a link that might be useful: link

Joanne, I think you are absolutely on track by getting all of the elements together to see what looks best. I took AGES to pick the paint color in my guest bedroom. The reason I was so cautious that time was I picked the color for the back bedroom just by looking at paint chips against the wall, in natural daylight and at night with the electric lights. The color didn't end up being ANYTHING like I expected when painted all over the walls. And it didn't go with the other pieces in the room like I thought it would. Plus looked different because I had to paint the trim too, (the PO's son had painted the trim in that room hyperlink blue!). With the guest room, the wall color looked great. Then, I had the floor sanded and refinished, and the floor color ended up being totally different than it had been before, throwing the look of the walls off again, as they looked different contrasted against the different floor color. I'd get something approximating what you think the new roof color will be, and yes, try to find something approximating the mulch color. Will you be using the same type of mulch as you have now? If you're going to make a big investment in this block, don't feel guilty about really taking your time. Also don't feel guilty about looking some more. In that guest bedroom story above, I looked at paint swatches from five different companies. The brick that I hate in my backyard patio just came from the one company my landscape designer worked with. I was overwhelmed by the brick issue so I let her make all the decisions for me, something that was a mistake because she wasn't really going all out to find the best options. Mine was a small job so I'm sure it wasn't worth the trouble to her to spend time searching for the perfect patio block for me. She just basically said take it or leave it and I had already invested time and money in her so I didn't want to throw a wrench in the machine, but now I am stuck with something I don't like, that cost 4K so I am pretty much stuck with it forever. I will not be able to justify tearing that out when I have so many other big ticket items in my house that need attention. If this is a once in a lifetime do-over for your yard, you have a right to take as much time as you need!!

Be aware that due to box blight having spread across North America box should be avoided in future plantings except for a certain small set of kinds that are resistant enough to be still worth planting. If you do a web search you should be able to check and see if the kinds you are buying now fit the bill. With a house that tall looking you are probably going to have to landscape the area in front of the facade out from the base of the house to an end point that is at least as far away as the house is tall. In order for the result to adequately integrate the house into its setting. This is the main practical reason for making formal gardens in rural settings. That is to produce a transition area between a discordant looking large boxy formal house and the much softer visual character of the surrounding pastoral scenery. Having a similarly geometric garden directly in front of the facade only is enough to accomplish this effect.