We have a very large grassy front yard that needs to be replaced with something more environmentally friendly, easier to maintain, and better looking. We'd like a bit of a screen between us and the road and were hoping for fall color, too.

We contacted a local nursery and asked them to put some trees and shrubs in but they want us to choose them and we're at a loss.

We also don't know the best place to site them. While we want a screen, we also want to be able to see the existing landscaping - the brick wall and evergreen - from the upper floor windows. Our septic leach field is in the front (right side, near the house, when you're looking at the front) which limits our options.

Someday, the walkway in front of the house will be widened and curved away from the house, and we don't want to do anything to prevent that from happening.

The existing landscaping is 13 years old and in need of freshening but we'd like to get the trees in first so they can start acclimating to the space.

Some parts of the landscaping are wonderful - there are hundreds of daffodils along the rock wall, big clumps of iris, and lots of rhododendrons and azalea. We don't want to do anything to compromise them or the evergreen tree.

The road is dirt but doesn't get much traffic.

We live in southern NH, zone 5, and the property is surrounded by tall trees. We're about 400ft above sea level. The sun rises behind the house (right side) so the front gets sun most of the afternoon. We have no sprinkler system and don't want to add one.

The evergreen tree in the front was decimated by deer 2 years ago and is just now starting to fill in. In the first pic you can see the redbud tree that split during a snowstorm. It's a hard area to garden.

Can someone help us decide which trees/shrubs to get and where to put them? We don't want anything that will attract deer and don't mind raking leaves as long as they're safe for composting.

Also, should they be put directly into the grass, or should we create mulched beds around them? The grass is full of grubs and rodent holes because we won't use chemicals to control them.

According to the plat, the road frontage is 150'. From the road to the
house is 110', from the driveway to the septic field is 75', and from
the road to the septic is 60'. The rock wall area at the front is about
10' wide and the walkway and shrubs in the front of the house are about
7' wide. So, the area we're talking about is 80' deep (walkway to rock wall),
75' wide x 40' deep at the house end, and 150 wide x 40' deep at the
road end, including the area where the little tree is.

I have hundreds of pix if you need a different angle and I can take more.