With spring here I want to get our recently purchased foreclosure's front yard in decent shape. I will be the first to admit I lack the decorator/designer gene and have a brown thumb, I accidently kill most plants. My front yard is 20'x20' with another 5'x20' strip we share with a neighbor and faces South/East with full sun. Just on the edge of our property line is a large Maple tree that belongs to our neighbor.

Our budget for landscaping & fixing the yard is $1000. We also have a few imperfections we need to camouflage the main one being the front windows are not even with a 2' height difference. The house is about 22' tall at the peak and the windows are abt 6' from the ground. The windows are to a bedroom and bathroom, so privacy is another issue since we are located on a busy street. Luckily I have many friends and family members with numerous hosta varieties that I can get free, so hostas will be incorporated somehow. Also, our neighbor uses the 5'x20' strip to plow snow onto during the winter, so whatever we plant there needs to be resilient.

Here is a picture of the house as it is and some links to designs I thought up.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y3meO_g8Exk/T2q4jf1Z1oI/AAAAAAAAAQw/Dr4f9eZXK3c/s1600/house+landscaping+crub+apple+tree+copy.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JOnnvkIHvgc/T2q4im5-tbI/AAAAAAAAAQo/oXdir6pe0qs/s1600/house+landscaping+awnings+2.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CCFa-O6-_-0/T2q4hA1ARKI/AAAAAAAAAQg/5HFWmx-pjwo/s1600/house+landscaping+5+shrunk+copy.jpg

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