where in MI??? ...

sorry.. but i cant get much out of the pic ...

ken

I'm near Romeo. About an hour north of Detroit.

I was going to guess Lapeer..

its not adrian.. lol ...

when starting something like this.. we usually start with the back bones of the project ... the stuff that takes decades to get where you want ...

and with that i mind ... i would say ... thats a lot of grass ... whats the plan for heritage trees??? ... or is that grass where the septic is???

april is tree planting time in MI ...

is there a retaining wall up near the house.. i cant tell ... is there a driveway on the right????

ken

Yes, all the grass in front of the main part of the house is the septic field. There is a small weeping cherry on the right that marks the actual tank. On the left there is a crabapple that has been really damaged by the heavy equipment. Here is no retaining wall - it is just dirt that gives that impression. We had the porch added with the addition so almost everything was ripped out. My house is about 500 feet from the road - it is a farm property. I will try to get more pictures. Thanks!

The walkway is just a runner my husband threw down so people could get to the porch without having to walk in the mud. We are planning a brick walkway in that location. The shrubs were planted by the original owners over twenty years ago. We bought the farm two years ago and it is a work in progress.

The septic tank is right next to the little weeping tree and the field goes out from there - nothing with big roots can be planted in that area. We were thinking of French drains for the downspouts - that is just what the builder gave us and they will be changed.

So you think only perennials against the house on the right side by the walkway? We got a landscaper to look at it and he said hicks yews - but I don't think there is room. It is also a northern exposure, so quite shady.

What's the deer situation? They loooove yews.

no shrubs between walkway and house ... IMHO ...

next backbone ... where are the spigots.. so you can water whatever you plant ... i see one one the far side of the new part .... has to be one on the other end ...

its important to plan this part ... for ease of pulling hoses around ... as planting shrubs or conifers ... is not really a sprinkler thing.. for the first two years ...

your landscaper ... didnt come up with much of an original design ... hence the reason you must educate yourself.. as you are in this post ... a landscape architect drawing up a long term plan ... if in the budget.. might be an idea ...

so the septic field is straight out the front door.. basically to the driveway ... consider that your new bocci court ... lol ...

that leads me to an idea... that you think about sweeping out from the corner of the new part .... and sort of mirroring the driveway ... to isolate.. in the design ... the expanse of the bocci lawn ...

again.. back to the backbones ... conceptualizing the future.. will get you there ... just throwing in some random bushes ... will just get the job done ...

but the future need not be all accomplished.. in the next 6 weeks ... so i guess what it boils down to .... do you just want the same old. same old ... or are you a gardener ... or want to become one ...... who wants to work a 2 or 3 year plan, lifetime plan????

if the former.. i might be wasting a lot of time here .... beyond the discussion of the backbones .... and dont get me wrong.. i am happy to do it ....

ken

Thanks for your great advice. I am trying to get a feel for what I like and not just follow someone else's (landscaper) plan. I've been looking at a lot of pictures on houzz and I realize I do not like the hicks yews idea. I am much more drawn to a mixed border. Like I said - it is a large farm property - 30 acres, so there is no reason for me to have puny 6 ft border beds around my house. I have room. :)

As for your idea about sweeping out from the corner and mimicking the driveway - I get why you said that, but what you can't see in the picture is that my property extends about 300 more feet to the left of the house. There are evergreens and grass in that area. I will try to post another picture of my house from the street so you can see the scale of what I am working with.

I love gardening and this farm is everything I ever dreamed of - I want it to be beautiful - I'm not young, so this is it for me. I want it to be done right. :)

Spigots are on the addition indention and on the indention by the driveway.

May I just say that I love your square porch and can imagine it highlighted by a pair of climbing roses up the two pillars...

I love roses, but have never had too much luck with them in the past. I wonder if they would have enough sun with the northern exposure. It is hard to gauge right now because we are still getting snow! But please keep offering any and all ideas - I would have never thought of roses on those pillars, but I do love that idea. Thank you!