Forgot to mention we are adding new fence boards to cover the fence that appears to be orange!

Where are you located?

tj

@tsugajunkie z5 SE WI +

Southern Ontario, Canada

For shade against the hottest sun of the day, site a large tree to the west/southwest and group smaller ones closer to house/deck/patio. If you have room for more than one large tree, by all means plant one.

I wpuld not do cedars after just removing mine that were overgrown planted way too close together 50 yrs ago so none were helthy. IMO you needed to have aplan before this stage but now I need to know where is the veggie bed does it get good sun all day? What was the plan with all the angles in the patio? More info please and alwyas a to scale plan is the best . I find placement of trees needs careful thought as to the roots and where they go. I like pergolas but they need to be thought out also,

Veggie garden is small and located on one side of the shed. We are not to keen on any large trees because we just had one removed last year. As for the cedars, being middle aged we probably won’t be around in 50 years when they are overgrown! The angles on the patio were the cement guys suggestion. I thought maybe once we figure out a pergola/gazebo we could soften up the angles with some round plants/bushes. This is all so overwhelming! Thanks for anyone who can offer any advice.

There is a huge discrepancy between the old grass and parts of the patio and front grass. There is someone coming to fix this and he will require machinery to complete. We figured while it was all ripped up would be the time to solve the privacy issue so the landscaping needs to be figured out sooner rather than later. (Lord help me)!

I would check with local nurseries for trees and shrubs that do well in your area. Some trees that I think are interesting are Gingko, Weeping cherry, Smoke Tree, Japanese Maple. These would be great specimen trees. You will probably need small shrubs in the areas next to the angled pavement. What a fun project!