Thanks for posting. It can take a brave soul to post a project on the Landscape Design forum. You have a lot of nice elements there and I think that plenty of people could get ideas from the landscape. I might have wanted more evergreens and I am not a big fan of landscape fabric and rock mulch but that is more of a personal preference.

If this were my landscape one thing I would like to see is a destination spot or two in the garden...something to give people a reason to venture out into the garden. I am curious. If you have guests over do they go out onto the lawn? If so what do they do there and how long do they stay? I may have rearranged the birches and created a seating area or bench over in that corner. It is a little are to see how well the deck flows out into the patio.

Actually...if this were my landscape I would need to clear out most of that stuff to make room for kids toys and a playset! ;-)

- Brent

P.S. Last week I might have complained about the number of pictures...but I finally broke down and got Internet via cable since dealing with dialup since 1994!!!

Hi Brent... thank very much for your feedback! Always nice to hear some others' opinions. Sorry about all the pics... I knew there were lots so gave fair warning in the subject heading + resized them all! :)

I, too, like evergreens... but what was the deciding factor for me was that the city planted 7+ spruce outside my fence in the park already (see pic #5). Just thought it may have been a bit much for my taste. Part of the reason for the paper birches was to give some different colours (white bark + turns nice yellow in the fall). They say that birches survive in poor soil conditions... but I still think they are a bit finicky. So we'll see how they do...

When I have guests we usually sit up on the deck or are in the hot tub. People generally don't venture down into the lawn area. I guess not much to look at down there yet until stuff starts growing up and filling in.

The river rock was actually an extension of the rock that I put in along the south side of the house last year... more for functionality than anything else. I just found that the south side of the house was frying the grass... no amount of watering would save it so cut it out and installed the decorative rock. I kind of like the effect of the rock and the bluestem... reminds me of the cottage. But of course different strokes for different folks.

The kids factor could be an issue sometime down the road (gulp). I'm a single guy for now with no kids... but you never know that can always change...!

Thanks again for your opinions... really like to hear what others think. Especially people who are into it enough to read up landscaping stuff on the forums.

Cheers!

i think your design is wonderful and i love the colour of the wood as a contrast against your brick! I too would need more room for the playset, but nce my kids were old i would love an escape like that, at maturity too it will be wonderful!

The areas around the ash and the paper birches look very awkward to mow. I think it might be easier to extend the planting areas to include them.

Also, is that bare soil? It's hard to tell from the pictures, but if it is, you might want to consider getting some mulch on there.

Yes, saypoint, that issue definitely crossed my mind. There is enough room to get a mower around the trees without hitting the fence... but will also cross into the planting area. So your point is definitely worth considering.

With the exception of the river rock all of the beds are bare soil. Mulch has crossed my mind... but someone told me they can attrach a lot of ants. Do you think that would be a concern? I do indeed like the look of mulch...

Mulch retains moisture in the soil, reduces germination of weed seeds, and returns organic matter to the soil at it decomposes (assuming you use organic mulch, which you should). Appearance is just a plus. I don't think it attracts ants more than anything else in the yard.

With all that hard work and effort toward a nice looing yard you won't be single for very much longer. Get some mulch out there are you will be pulling lots of weeds and needing that hot tub for an aching back.

Wow, I'm impressed. And you're a single guy?

Not for long!

LOL... thanks for the comments. :) And if you know any nice women in southern Manitoba area who are into gardening just tell them to look up "landscape-rookie" on eharmony. ;)

Seriously... I just ordered 10 yards of mulch and should be delivered very soon. I totally see what you guys mean by the weeds.... ugh. Good call.

On a not-so-great note my lawn seems to be infected with a bit of a fungus (I think pythium blight) so its not nearly as visually appealing as in the pics anymore. Looks like some dethatching and power raking are in my future for the fall. I just hope it doesn't spread to the plants. As much as I am not a 'chemicals' fan I'm going to look into some fungicide just for prvention. Applied some cornmeal last week so hopefully that will help, too.

Don't know about Manitoba--but here in NC "brown patch" is a fact of lawnlife...though fungicide helps. I've never had it spread to my beds...I don't think it does.

I'm with Saypoint---extend that bed. Good luck in ALL your "projects."

melanie