Beautiful Dave! I love your combinations. Everything looks wonderful together. How long has it been since you started putting together your gardens?
Cher

Very nice! What is the Japanese Maple? Love the Gold Cone Juniper also, mine half died over the winter.

Yeah, nice pics Dave, can't believe how far advanced your plants are to mine

Wow, Dave, your garden certainly is an inspiration for others to copy. I also notice your hostas. You have very nice combinations of plants. Thanks for posting the pictures!
Bernd

The maintenance has to be incredible.
I commend you as I'm tooooo lazy for
perennials.

Your stonework with the projecting slope
to the neighbors is magnificent.

Beautiful blends...

Dax

Wonderful!

Thanks.

Gosh, besides the beauty and great design I too am amazed at the maturity of your garden. I have been doing this (not at your level) for 18 years and my garden is nowhere near yours. Great job!
Gary

What's that Daphne 7 pictures up, variegataed leaf...larger leaf than the burkwoodii's? Or....whatever it might be?

Thanks Dave.

Dax... Rhododendron azalea 'Brianne' available from Stanley.

gardenj76...which one are you referring to..there are several.

chohio...about 12 years ago.

Thanks everybody for your positive comments.

Dave

i remain stunned.. that we are both z5 .... and yet you are about a month ahead of me ...

the buds on my pungens.. are just beginning to crack open ....

i understand zone is low winter temp .. but i always thought a zone 5.. was a zone 5.. across the board ... so go figure on all that

thanks for taking the time to get them all uploaded ...

ken

The magic of your gardens Dave is that you're able to fit the thousand plants you have into your quarter acre(0.4 maybe?) and nothing seems to be crowding anything out. Just simply tremendous work and the upkeep alone speaks of great work ethic.

I'll also echo Ken's thoughts as well. You're way ahead of gardeners even here in the PNW - Many of my plants are just beginning to push - yours think it's mid-summer.

Thanks again for sharng - that's a lot of photo's too!!

-Will

You've acheived a very nice balance. You have lots of conifer specimens, but your liberal spacing is allowing them to really show their individual characteristics. And you've used a really nice variety of perrenials showing lots of textures and colors.

It's just a really nice set of garden spaces.

mark

Re: Echoing Ken's comments:
We/same weather pattern - had an May in April and this month is turning out to be an April in May. That's the reason.

Dax

... and we have been having late March in mid May in the UK. Finally looks like it might warm up a bit next couple of days... we hope!
Great pictures and beautiful plants. Stay safe from the tornadoes. I notice there have been some very strong storms earlier this week in Kansas and Oklahoma in particular.
Richard

Interesting photos is that a rare Thujopsis cultivar
each side of the Fagus sylvatica 'Tricolor'

blue_yew...Thuga o.'Degroots Spire'

Sprucebud...The weather in Kansas City hasn't moved much out of the 60's. Right now it is 52 F. Unseasonal for sure. 8 inches of rain in the last 2 days. I have lived her all my life..never seen a tornado. 4 years ago one came within 10 miles of the house...very destructive and leveled everything in its path.

Will...Back yard is 95' deep -25' for the 'Canardi' Junipers and 110' wide. That is 8250 sq. ft. of growing area. That in turn = 0.1893939 acres.

I still have room for another island with the Pseudotsuga m.'Graceful Grace' as the anchor point shown here. I am probably not going there. This has become a full time job...believe me. It takes a month to clean all the winter trash that has blown in aside from the 3000 or so gum balls from the Sweet Gum..I have installed a 30 inch high intrusion barrier on the bottom half of the chain link and that should help. You can see it in some of the above photos. I could work in this garden 4 hours a day in the growing season and still be behind.

This needless to say has become a monster and I say this because it looks like your are headed that way. What I didn't do is plan for the future I just kept adding...and if you read between the lines you need to take time to do that. This is a very addictive hobby. You have an overwhelming amount of plants for your given area. At some point it won't be fun anymore.

Small gardens pack punch and diversity and I have achieved that. I am just glad that I realized over kill can ruin the whole thing. At some point I will move on and never look back. I am beginning to think that way.

Just a little friendly advice...don't take it wrong. You have done a wonderful job with your garden design and we all appreciate your willingness to participate and post photos.

Dave Future island that is not going to happen.
{{gwi:727289}}

Thanks for the pix and the heart-felt thoughts, Dave. You have a good combo of what is needed to look good now and somewhat into the future. After all, all the plants can't be spaced for 50 years down the line. Not in an urban or suburban landscape anyway. And Grace looks fine there on her own.

tj

Excellent pics. Thanks. Lot's of good ideas for me to try.

Stunning photos as usual Dave, wonderful combinations of texture and form. Everything looks so lush, serene and inviting. Thanks for sharing pics of the fantastic results of your years of hard work. It's truly appreciated.

Dan

no matter what dave says ....

i will bet a buck.. that island gets done.. sooner or later ... cant let a good plan go to waste ...

lol

ken

Dave,
Incredible photos, as usual. I'll echo everything that has been said here. And folks, the garden is even more beautiful in-person. I think Dave missed his calling and should have gone into landscape design. His yard is stunning.

sprucebud,
It gets warm in the UK? (:o) (sorry, I couldn't resist!)
Mike

very nice Dave. What is the hardwood tree in the back of this pic?
{{gwi:643504}}

poopsko... The deciduous tree you are referring to is
Ulmus x hollandica 'Jacqueline Hiller'. Also goes by the name Ulmus x elegantissima 'Jacqueline Hillier'. One in the same.

Tends to be a shrub. I tweaked mine for the look you see.

Dave

"I think Dave missed his calling and should have gone into landscape design".

I have no experience in landscape design. Just common sense as to how things should look. Most people that visit my garden don't have a clue as to what's involved to achieve this look. They want to hire you to achieve the same results for them They want the look and they want in right now. That is the way things are today. It takes years to put together something unique as opposed to buying nursery plants thrown in a hole surrounded by river rock.

To get it right it needs to be done by you. Every move and look has your personally in it. A lot of times you don't get it right the first time and as things evolve tear outs and re-dos are the norm.

Plant selection takes time, sometimes years, to fine the right look you are after. Add rock, bricks, flag stone to tie it together and all of a sudden you look back and 10 years have gone by.

I should have taken notes day by day as this thing developed. A wealth of knowledge transferred to paper on how to succeed in something you know nothing about.

It's been interesting and as I look out the window I am at peace looking at all of Gods plants. The possibilities are endless for the garden of your dreams with all the plant material out there.

Go for it and do it yourself.

Dave

Bump to the top because these images and the immense hard work behind it should stay on the front page all Spring.

""Go for it and do it yourself. ""

I'm following your advice!

-Will

Will...you have the best setting in the world for what you are doing.

In time it will all pull together. You will cull and give away...fret and do over and finally come to the conclusion you have arrived.

The best,

Dave

What's the pungens in the second pic down from pendula bruns? Looks like a hoopsii, but was it sheared or something?

'Hoopsii" It has never been sheared. I never shear any of my conifers with the exception of Tsuga canadensis 'Gentsch White'.

Dave

Anyone know what the two junipers (weeping ones) are in the 6th picture from the bottom. thx

Ah alright, yeh that's what I thought it was. But then I got confused when I noticed that it seems to be missing growth right in the middle of the tree.

"Anyone know what the two junipers (weeping ones) are in the 6th picture from the bottom".

I probably know because they are mine.

Actually 3...left- right. Juniperus conferta 'Blue Pacific' staked. Juniperus procumbens 'Greenmound' staked. Juniperus horizontalis 'Momber' on a standard.

"Ah alright, yeh that's what I thought it was. But then I got confused when I noticed that it seems to be missing growth right in the middle of the tree"

It was a odd ball when I purchased it. Actually interesting when you do a full 360 of it.

Dave

Also, what's the conifer on the right in the tenth pic from the top? With the sparse needles? I think that it's the same thing next to the gold drift? in the third or so pic under the hoopsi