Left longer side.

Nothing, eh?

tall order for us to tackle your entire landscape....that said...

blue spruce are not such a good choice lately in midwest , because needle cast

although a plant will last a long time before getting sick

there should be many , many nurseries within 2 hrs. of you

and always mail order

smaller plants will establish more easily , and be cheaper

many on this forum are collectors , so some might suggest that you could fit like 90 plants there

ron

but then there are the sensible ones

Assuming you paid a pretty penny for all that. I'd recommend doing it right and hiring a landscape designer to help you with your vision.

Otherwise give us a top view for perspective

Looks nice. Lots of potential there!

I'd do one space really well to my satisfaction before moving to the next.
kinda like how do you eat an elephant.
Or like mentioned above bring in a pro.

You rock work and surrounding area is incredibly awesome!
I see a showstopper in the making!

Could you show a satellite view?

now you have to buy a satellite

Thanks guys! Satellite image below. The red is a VERY generic idea of the new patio/paths/wall area.

Dirt was brought in on Friday and my dad and I got the beds mostly to shape. I spoke to the contractor and he is allowing me to use his account to purchase at a local tree farm / nursery. Im not able to go check out their abundant selection until Wednesday, but I should have plenty of options.

I have the same concern about Blue Spruces longevity, but I also love the look/color to play off of. It's weird how you can see some local incredible specimens and then others that are terrible.

Just trying to find the right mix of conifers regarding hardiness/size/color.

I‘m confused by that view. I see no reason to put in screening conifers by the house. Dwarf and intermediate make good sense.

if that is your property I’ve never more recommend working with a designer.

Don‘t screw this up - many of us would kill for that lot!

I don't know exactly what you mean or what defines a screening, dwarf, and intermediate. Well, I guess I kinda do.. I'm definitely not trying to create a wall of Norway Spruces, but just by using conifers in the beds it is going to provide some privacy from the street views, and also shade from the setting sun on the other side, which is the goal. The #1 goal is looks and visual appeal, so please don't get me wrong that we are just going to plant a line of trees, lol.

By throwing out the mention of the Blue and Black Hills, I guess we started to consider them if they would be within size requirements for the next 20+ years before being an issue, and thought they could be considered for the lack of availability of others and their value. Now that I have the landscapers account to use at this new (to me) tree farm / nursery, that should no longer be an issue. I'm liking a few that I have seen in their online catalog such as Hoopsii BS, Horstmann's Silberlocke, etc. But definitely looking for recommendations on others, good pairings visually and stuff that is hardy with the least amount of issues.

My dad was a landscape foreman for 20+ years way back, and we are both OCD perfectionist so we are pretty good at design and making things look right. This whole patio/wall project was my design that I had contractors bid on to obtain my vision. I was out there everyday micromanaging and probably annoying the s*** out of them.. they were great and accepting though!

Again, always great to hear different opinions and ideas that we may not be thinking of, so totally open to suggestions and recommendations! You are all spot on that we have to get this right, and I'm running out of time (not to mention the mud pit and having a large dog).

For time , I personally would look at this as a 3 year project

ron

Ron - This year's goal is to just get the trees in and mulch the beds. I'll worry about filling out and completing the rest of the landscape next season.

So where is the road you want to screen? I’m not seeing it or I’m missing something.

tj

I probably should have included them in the satellite view..

You have enough room for the trees to be a bit further from the house. I think they would still function as a windbreak. Considering their mature width I wouldn't plant them in the rock surrounded beds.

I would add some hardwoods along the road to create more of a natural woods there, less of a line of trees. Even tree trunks can provide a visual screen in winter.

Large growing conifers should be well away from your patio. It will be very claustrophobic if multiples are planted in your new beds.

Having here the same problem I always have. It's disorienting to have all manner of disjointed views from different camera angles. It would be so much more helpful to see it all in one view as if we were standing there. Usually, with a back yard foundation landscape (which I would mainly call this even though part of it extend outward a bit) it is important to see an outward, and an inward bound view. We're seeing parts of these and having a very hard time of reconciling exactly how they all fit together. The satellite view helps with the overall layout, but not much with views beyond.

OP, I suggest standing with your back to the center post under the deck. Take a series of slightly overlapping pictures that pan from far left to far right ... so far that some of the house shows in the first and last photographs. This way, we can see the whole broad view including the background and how things relate to one another.

I would not bother yet with the inbound view (where one stands away from the house and captures a panorama looking toward the house), as we see some of it already and it may be enough.