That's beautiful Doug, that helps me really visualize how I should clump things together.

I was just coming here to post one idea I had but I think I'll have to go back and study Doug's picture some more.

But just for fun, this was where I was going prior.

Green-limelight hygrandeas
purple-black lace edlerberry
yellow- sun king goldenleaf aralia
dark green-something high and narrow maybe a collande apple, foxgloves or sky holly?

I'd fill in the rest with compact hygrandeas and blue-gray foliage plants (silver anouk lavender or blue hostas) or possibly a low growing spruge. Not sure if I am on the right track or totally off.

IMO, the bed line is too close to the existing trees, is too busy (lumpy) and seems to lack an artistic feel. I also disagree with the way it dips close to the corner of the lot -- where the bed ought to be the deepest. I'd consider moving the playhouse farther from the big house ... possibly to the corner of the lot (if that works with your scheme.)

hi yardvaark! I don't disagree with you but while I would like less grass my husband wants MORE grass. I think he would be happy if the whole backyard was grass. so while I think he might be up for changing up the grass borders slightly, I don't think he would agree to remove a big chunk in that back corner.

Have you assessed if you need screening from things outside of your property? And where the screening might be? Where it is needed will probably require taller, fatter shrubs.

we will be replacing the back part of the fence with a standard wood privacy fence. I think that should give us enough privacy. We are in the city and friendly with our neighbors so we don't mind if our neighbors can see partially into our yard.

If the husband's need for grass is overruling bed shape, size and edge form, then that is a constraint that must be lived with, in spite of it not making sense artistically. In your plan, where the bed is the shallowest, there are three lines ... what do those represent? If that area is 4' depth, it's likely going to be too shallow for shrubs that would be placed there. Seems like you would want the bed to be 6'-8' depth, at least.

There is the flip side to the screening issue. Maybe there is something outside of your property line that you don't want to see -- or see fully ... the side of a neighbor's house, the back of their garage ... an unkempt area -- any of which happen to be visible above your proposed privacy fence ... ?

Taking your plan as is, and making no value judgement of the plants, I would still tend toward organizing like plants together, such as this ...

In Doug's plan, he took advantage of a sight line that extends to the front of the property by placing a garden bench at one end of that axis. You would want to determine if that is something you'd want to do so as to work with the existing tree and make the accommodation for the bench. BTW, it does not look good when trees are too close to a bed edge. Their separation from the edge would be partially dependent on the size of the tree, with larger trees needing more bed.

hi Yardvaark-I've been working on my husband with the grass borders around the tree without much luck. The green lines on the above drawing I was thinking of putting tall and narrow, maybe Japanese Holly, columnar apples, or foxglove, just to give an example.

As for privacy screening...I guess I haven't given it much thought in this section of the yard. The house to the north of us has a couple of large trees on the fence line that overhang into our yard so I don't think it would allow for anything too large there. I wouldn't mind have some more privacy to the house on the west side but I was hoping the fence and see shrubs would help with that. Although I'm sure there is a better solution.

As for the bench under the tree for the sightlines, I do like that idea. I actually moved one of our bench under there this past week but it's a cherry tree so there was some unfortunate bird pooping issues so I think I'll need to find an easier cleaned bench or maybe skip that idea so people relaxing aren't unexpectedly hit :)

How much better life would be if only we could be as carefree as the birds!

I would definitely analyze the need for privacy or screening before you get too far along in planning. A privacy fence works well for what's at ground level. But if there are two-story houses nearby, you might not want neighbors being able to observe your every activity from their second story windows. Or, maybe there are things you'd prefer not to see that show above your fence. If solutions make it onto the plan, they stand a chance of eventually being incorporated into the yard.

I would strive to make the plan, as much as possible, what is desired -- even fixing the bed lines -- even if some changes may not be implemented for a number of years. Some changes might be comprised of a number of adjustments over the years.

While the site line doesn't seem to work for a bench looking outward, it might still work in the other direction, where an art object -- a gazing ball or something -- can be see at the end of the path, as viewed from the front yard.

Where neighbor's plantings overhang the lot line, they may be doing you a favor by providing a plant that serves your needs. If not, the overhanging portion of the plant can always be trimmed back to the line in order that you are able to implement your own landscape solutions. Either way, you win.

Why have you planted a climbing hydrangea to grow on your cherry tree? I suggest that you plant it near a trellis or a pergola so that it can follow a reinforced structure and be pruned, as required, and show off its coloration. Another suggestion....when planning your beds, create a deep edge to separate your grass from the bed. And mulch to further distinguish the bed from the grass. Perhaps your husband’s desire for an all grass yard has to do with “trimming” the edges between beds and the grass. Good luck with your project.

Thanks Yaarkvark for the ideas. I do like the idea of something there, maybe a bird bath or something like that. The trees on the north side are ones I appreciate and enjoy (magnolias and a cherry blossom tree) so I don't mind the overhang and they provide a pretty view from our bedroom. I'll have to give some more thought on a privacy screening on the west side. We do have some arborvitae we plan on using on that side .

ptrecket- he wants more grass because we have young kids and sees grass as an additional area for them to run around. He also likes the idea of having grass for badminton, croquet, etc when we have guests over. While I agree clean edges look very nice, people just don't tend to manicure their lawns as much here as other areas of the country, I'm not sure why. But we do plan on doing some edging and mulching with compost once we actually have some plants in to mulch.

My first thought was the same as ptreckel's - why would you want a climbing hydrangea going up a nice tree? Seems to me that they would fight each other.

One more thing - don't make your bedlines too wiggly. Make them more swoop-y rather than wiggly. Wiggly is harder to mow along. Have your hubby use his mower to mark your bedlines - that way he can be sure they're easy to mow along. Maybe that's part of his concern.