Hi,

I think you have too much color with the three beech. It's also likely that the dwarf Japanese maple, itself, will be colorful as well. I might suggest that you shift to conifers for the narrow forms:
Middle: Picea glauca 'Pendula' or Picea engelmannii 'Bush's Lace'
to the sides: (2) Chamaecyparis nootkatensis 'Jubilee'.
The dwarf: gain some color with Acer palmatum 'Skeeter's Broom'. It's not a commonly planted dwarf Japanese maple such as 'Crimson Queen', however, it's hardy to zone 5a.

Your other choices I really like. Amelanchier x 'Autumn Brilliance' will bring birds to your garden and the fall colors are great. The weeping Katsura is a fantastic choice.

One other suggestion for the middle columnar is Pinus strobus 'Stowe Pillar'. Green is often the best color versus a bunch of varied colors, however, Picea glauca 'Pendula' is a perfect choice in my mind, too.

Best Regards,

Dax

Thank you, Dax, so much for your suggestions!
I love conifers and have to use them in the garden. At the beginning I was thinking that I have to put deciduous columnar trees, just to screen the afternoon sun, but actually conifers will do that better. And I could see the too much color. Thanks for that too. I will be able to create color with smaller plants and change it if I am not satisfied, but I don't want to change trees. That's why I think that choosing trees is a major decision.

I like the conifers you have suggested, but I don't want to create any symmetry.

So, now I am wondering if I want to plant three different conifers, which three to choose?

Vila

OK. no symmetry considered:

Next to the gazebo: Chamaecyparis nootkatensis 'Jubilee'
middle: Pinus strobus 'Stowe Pillar'
last: Picea abies 'Cupressina' or Picea pungens 'Blue Totem' depending if you want green or blue.

These (4) have similar width, footprints.

Dax

Dax, thanks again!!!
Now I have to find out what we have in the local nurseries.

I just found that I don't really like trees with very dense canopy and want to see real 'Cupressina' and 'Blue Totem', because they look pretty dense from the pictures I've seen. Looking at all trees you have suggested my favorite is Picea engelmannii 'Bush's Lace'. I felt sorry you took it off the list. When I saw that tree I just felt I have to find it. If I find it in the nurseries I'll get it. If it is not one of the three conifers for that project, it will be planted in the Southwest corner in the backyard where I am planning to make a little rock garden.

Thank you again, Dax, and if you, or somebody else reading that, come with another idea about three well matching conifers I will be really happy to see that. I still have time to think and rethink.:)

Now I have to find out what we have in the local nurseries.

===>> i will yell.. DO NOT LIMIT YOURSELF TO WHAT IS TO BE FOUND LOCALLY...

or you will end up with what everyone else has.. booorrriiinnnggg....

you need to find out who the better nurseries order from.. e.g. iseli ... and find out what you can have trucked in for spring planting .. see link

this is the front of your new house ... lets try to invest in some landscaping that will make your new house unique.. not like everyone elses.. think of it as part of the building budget.. not a place where going cheap ... is best..

let me put it this way ... i am going to presume.. you are not putting in a plywood kitchen to save a few bucks ... so dont put in.. 'whatever you can find locally' out the front door ...

hope that makes sense

BTW.. i usually do not play in the design posts.. but just looking at you drawing.. seems like it is a bit crowded ... define the backbones.. get those in.. and you can cover ground over the years ...

ken

ps: my link is specific to conifers.. you will have to get other wholesalers who ship in about trees.. again.. talk to one of your better local nurseries.. their stock does not magically appear in spring.. they are ordering between now and new years.. for next spring.. and now is the time to do it ....

Here is a link that might be useful: odds are.. you wont find this stuff locally.. unless you have your nursery order it in ...

OK Ken! I agree! That's why I am asking for advice. If I knew what to do I wouldn't ask. Yes, I want to be different. Everybody around has at least one Maple tree and Linden, every second one has a Crabapple. Weeping mulberries and pea shrubs stay in front of every house. I am looking for something different, but I am such an ignorant in that field.

When I am planning the landscape for our new home I am thinking about three gardens. (Not sure if 'garden' is the right term.)

1. One little garden in the front of the house - East side,
   2. One stone garden - Southwest corner of the backyard,
   3. One relatively big garden - West side of the house.

Gardens #1 and #2 will be for display purpose only. But the garden #3 will be different. The discussion above is all about that garden #3. I want to be able to walk through it. I want to have a sense of a forest when I walk there (in 15-20 years, lol). Because of that I want to have more than one tree there. What I am sure I want to have is the arbor with climbing roses on it - 9 feet from the patio door) and a small fountain 9 feet from the arbor. All the other things I am ready to change. Defining the backbones is what I am trying to do. It seems, not quite successfully, though.

So, a technical question: Is it possible to fit 5-6 trees in that space 35X45? And not just to plant them, but to create a harmony and to make the trees feel good. If the answer is Yes, then is it a good idea to have what I have shown above - a round tree, a weeping one and three columnar trees? (Don't count the dwarf.) If the answer is No, then how many trees and what kind of trees (in term of form and size) will be appropriate to have there?

Ken, thank you for the link.

you are welcome..

i dont get this one: and to make the trees feel good.==>> i feel good about my trees.. but they dont have feelings..

for me.. i refuse opinion.. w/o a pic of the house..

if you have a decent camera.. take some pix of houses with something you like.. post them here.. and get ID's.. and HELP US define.. what interests you ...

5-6 trees in that space 35X45 ==>> depends on how loosely you define tree ...

What I am sure I want to have is the arbor with climbing roses on it - 9 feet from the patio door) ===>> in my zone 5.. winter hurts climbers.. and this is possible.. but it might not be worth the work ... you might do better than a rose ...

where are you???? i want to encourage you to visit an arboretum .. where you can SEE some things ... in MI i would recommend gee tree farms arb.. as well as hidden lakes gardens in tipton .. there are many around.. name your city ...

when you say one regular.. one column.. one weeping.. it tells me .. you need to SEE more things.. and i dont really count the WWW ...

ken

as an example.. this was a bare one acre 12 years ago ... and it took me 5 years of planting/collecting to fill it up.. and i had to see things.. to understand the diversity available...
{{gwi:240153}}

Ken, about the feelings of a tree... I suppose I just like metaphors.:) For me a plant will feel good if it has just the right amount of sun, water, space, competition with other plants etc.

Using software I have made the image below. It matches the above presented idea - three columnar conifers, a weeping tree and a round tree, plus some additions. That software has limited number of plants, so I cannot choose the exact plants that I wanted (not that I know what I want lol), but the image can give you an idea what I like.

I will appreciate any suggestions, including the rose replacement.

I live in Canada, Peterborough, ON. Visiting an arboretum is a great idea. There are some in Toronto that I can visit.
You have a nice garden, Ken! And much more spacõ... :)

Vila

And what do you think about this image (below)? I replaced one columnar with a round conifer. And replaced the Serviceberry with purple leaf Redbud. Do you think a purple leaf tree will bring too much color? I also wandering whether the Serviceberry will give me the screening against the afternoon sun that I need. Or maybe I have to mirror the image and will have the screen I need from the Katsura?

Vila

"And replaced the Serviceberry with purple leaf Redbud. Do you think a purple leaf tree will bring too much color?"

Just posting to quickly interject that at our last home I planted a Forest Pansy Redbud and while it leafed out purple, the leaves turned green pretty fast. If memory serves environmental factors cause some variability in that and your mileage may vary, but I suspect it's probably not as reliable as, say, Bloodgood or Fireglow Japanese Maple.

I don't know whether a purple leaf european smokebush/smoketree would work in your area or not. Just throwing out another 'purple leaf' idea.

Richard.