What a shame, losing all those trees. Is the fence your property line?

Could you add a directional arrow so we can determine North?

Suggest you get rid of the ivy growing at the base of the crape myrtle. Requires removal by hand because of the waxy coating on the leaves that repel herbicides. After removal, some resprouting will occur, but that's easy to deal with.

Will follow this, leaving planting suggestions to the more expert members here.

Rosie, in Sugar Hill, GA

Thanks Rosie. I'll go pull the ivy. The fence is more or less the property line and the landscape design is oriented with North at the top; so the fence line on the southeast of the yard (where blueberries were planned) is where all the trees are being cut down. They're out there cutting it all down now:(

Here's what it looks like now.

Yikes! There is a positive in this though. You won't have the intense root competition from all those trees and you'll have more light.

Thanks for the update. Hope others will be commenting soon on that plan. Looks well executed.

Rosie

I think you'd want dwarf apples ... easily capable of being over your head and double a tall man's height, but not sky high like the non-dwarfs. Research to see which apples accept Atlanta growing conditions. Some do. Some don't. Pikes may know which varieties prosper but when dealing with retail, verify the advice.

Even though you like a full look, I'd avoid planting large shrubs or other trees below trees. While "greenery" is great, it is not necessarily better looking than a well ordered landscape. Cramming things in may look fine in the beginning, but it loses impact as things become hard to distinguish from one another. Plants seem to have a way of getting larger than people think they will.

So maybe a couple of smaller apple trees and some blue berry bushes on one side and then put a more organized design of bushes, perrennials, etc on the othe side. I also just found out the Bradford pear tree on the south side of our yard is beginning to split and my neighbor is suggesting that we cut it down before it falls. Argh!!!

Re the Bradford, get it out of there. They're weak-wooded trees, as you are seeing. Again, another opportunity to site a distinguished tree in its place. I had a 38' pear taken down three weeks ago, had stump ground. Thrilled it's gone.

There are lots of understory trees in the Atlanta area with dogwoods topping my list of faves. It all depends on the amount of space you have.

Yard has very strong opinions toward "well ordered" landscapes. Remember this is your property to do with as you like.

Here's what it looks like now.

{{!gwi}}

Why not go back to your original designer for an opinion or suggestions? The design was made with the trees in mind, and suddenly the parameters have changed. It wouldn't hurt to ask...

Catkim - We did go back to our original landscape designer and told him about the trees being cut down. Unfortunately he wants to charge us again to "redo" the design. I figured i'd try and see what I can come up by searching online, etc before paying for another design. The yard looks so different now :(

neutral, would you list the plants GardenMason included in the design that are in the area that's changed so much. Perhaps many of them are still suitable.

Here are the original plants. Itea, clethra, fothergilla, green-leaved spireas, good mums, yews or plum yews, Arkansas blue stars, deciduous azaleas, camellia, hydrangeas. I'd like to keep as many of these as possible. I guess my main concern now is trying to figure out the best way to use landscaping as a screen from the busy street on the other side of the fence.

Are you more interested in forming an evergreen screen along this fence, or just having screening foliage in the warmer months? I'd think that dogwoods might be a suitable choice for something that doesn't get too big, but would give dappled shade in summer. Personally I don't find apple trees the most attractive tree to look at year round, and would probably choose something more ornamental. Apples also tend to require quite a bit of multi-season pruning to keep them to scale, whether they are dwarf, semi-dwarf or regular sized.

bahia - Im really open to all suggestions. I'm thinking that once the county finishes the work on the on the other side of the fence, I could see about planting some evergreen trees outside our fence to help create a privacy screen. I'd rather do something more ornamental in the yard. Here are some pics I've found online that strike me style. I like the fullness. I guess doing some ornamental trees and then adding some different shrubs and perennials to help fill in the area is the rough plan!

{{gwi:51522}}

{{gwi:51524}}

Thanks again for everyone's help with this!

Have you talked with DeKalb County about what their plans are?Think that should be done before you make choices for inside the fence. IF you are given permission to plant on county property, you'd have to figure out irrigation.

Hope someone will say what dept. you should contact.

So I spoke with Dekalb County today and they are only going to be putting grass in where the trees were cut down, so it really leaves me with a blank canvas.

I like the idea of adding a few dogwoods and was also thinking of planting a bunch of tea olive shrubs to create a back drop to whatever perennials we decide will work well,.

@rosiew ... "Yard has very strong opinions toward "well ordered" landscapes. Remember this is your property to do with as you like." Ah, Rosie ... where to begin ...? I don't know what makes you think we are in disagreement about a person's right to control their destiny, but "do with it as you like" is the bottom line for me, too. Thinking that I think otherwise means you've misunderstood something (or maybe many things!) I've said. There are many times that people wish to do things that are not in their own best interest. If I advise against such things it does not mean they can't call the shots and have what they want. Maybe you could tone down your opposition just a bit ...? Where you disagree, instead of mischaracterizing me, the most productive opposition you could offer would be to submit your intellectual arguments and make your points. Then we could make progress. I don't know how you define order, but to me, order is a key component of design. The recent photos submitted by neutralground, though they're not what I think of as the pinnacle of great landscaping, neither are they bad or without order. There is a distinct theme, edge, background, foreground, flow, color organization and quite a bit of repetition.

@ neutralground ... notice that in the photos you've submitted, there are not shrubs and perennials growing up below other trees. The perennials and smaller shrubs are placed in front of trees and large shrubs. The smaller plants get their share of light and the scene doesn't become "muddy" by them growing indistinguishably up into the taller plant material (like a "natural" area). Compare this to the bed space that you are offering. It's going to be difficult to create a similar scene with trees and shrubs all in the same narrow bed. (Look around your neighborhood. Plants have a way of becoming much larger than people think they will!) If you keep the tree foliage limbed up so that the lower plants can get light and have space to make their display, that's one possibility. Another is to place trees on the outside of the fence and give the other plants a little separation from them that way. But trees, large shrubs, small shrubs and perennials all in that same narrow strip -- without limbing up the trees somewhat to create separation with the shorter plant material, well, it's going to get messy. Keep in mind that some of the lower material, unless very shade tolerant, may suffer and show it. I don't think the fence is something you are trying to completely obscure. So be careful of cramming so much into the scene that it happens. You might consider "blocking out" plant silhouettes along the fence just to discover (and share) exactly what you do wish to be obscured by foliage. It might help define your direction for yourself.

bumping