Clumps/clusters/drifts of the same plant are always more aesthetically appealing than soldierly rows

Thanks for the advice! Do you like clump or curved better? Sounds like a clump maybe ?

Why didn't they put the deciduous tree trunks between the evergreen trunks? The tree/shrub arrangement looks really weird IMO. It will all fill in eventually, but in the meantime -- no, put the trunks of the trees between the skip laurel trunks, it will look much better.

Hi mxk3. I think because the river birch trees have a lighter trunk and maybe it will pop against the dark green on evergreen. The fence along the back is a white vinyl fence so maybe they thought it would was the river birch trunk out? The skip laurel have a range of 5-7 feet wide so there will still be some white vinyl fence popping through here and there. I’m going to review your advice with them. Thanks for the input !

"The fence along the back is a white vinyl fence..."

Then you really need to plan out the trunk placements better. With a staggered trunk line you eye will hit the tree/tree trunk, not the white vinyl.

BTW I have a couple of river birch, and the trunks stand out, even the one planted in the middle of the grass down by the road. It's one of my favorite trees.

I love my river birch trees too. However, they need a lot of water (as the name suggests). Even with my mature river birches, they leaves yellow and fall in a dry summer. They are also very messy - they drop a lot of little twigs.

Hi RTHawk. I love them too! I am doing three different clumps of 3's. Its towards the bottom of a sloped yard so hopefully will get plenty of water. Drip lines are also being installed from the irrigation system. This should hopefully keep them hydrated like they crave. :)

Hmmm, yea they're twiggy but I don't find them to be messy at all -- although my reference point for that is willows and silver maples LOL! They do love lots of water, no doubt about that. The one by the house gets runoff from a downspout and has more than doubled in size in the 5 or so years I've had it while the one down by the road gets no supplemental water, and while healthy, is expanding at a much slower clip. No yellow leaves in summer, but yellow is their fall color.

Thanks MXK3. These should get good water, so hopefully will get good strong growth like the ones you say are by your downspouts.

‘Curved’ looks best to my eye.

Thanks for the input GardenHo!

You’re welcome!

And I'd prefer to see them in a cluster rather than a curve. The curve does not fit with the other plant layout.

Thanks gardengal. I am leaning towards the cluster also.

ken just keep in mind that these continue to grow (outward) so be sure to give them plenty of space. Otherwise they may end up looking like a blob. That’s why I suggested the curve to give a more layered look

Thanks gardenho. I don’t mind the curve but drawn to clump so far. Was told to plant 3 feet apart so there would be free space between them. Maybe I should up that to 4 feet between. I have the space.