Visit Van Dusen Botanical Display Garden (Oak Street, Vancouver) and UBC Botanical Garden (Marine Drive on UBC campus) in season to see what you might like.

if want info pertinent to your actual front yard... post a pic of said front yard ...

i also suggest ... you visit local gardens and arboretums.... to see .. what thrives in your area ... just about ALL my inspiration came from actually seeing things i liked.. in person ...

there is a fruit forum ... to grow fruit .. usually includes a pest management system of spraying 3 to 5 or 6 times per year ... most people will not get much of a fruit crop on a hope and a prayer of simply planting a fruit production tree in their yard ...

finally .... w/o seeing whats there now ... let me suggest ... that if the house is 20 to 30 years old ... and no gardener ever lived there ... there are high odds.. that you should tear out what is there and start over ... usually.. most things planted just after building were poorly chosen ... planted with no concept of ultimate size ... and there fore too close to the house ... and usually sheared into shapes that leave much to the imagination ... but that is all conjecture...

sooo ... post us a pic or two ...

ken

You may have to net sweet cherries if you don't want to watch birds take all the fruit.

Thanks for the feedback! I have to say that I may have underestimated this endeavor a bit. I thought I just plant a few trees and then harvest delicious fruit .. seems not to be the case and i may be better off buying fruits ...

Still I want to get some color in the yard. The house has some above average effort flowers and plants (in my opinion) and a sprinkler system for the plants. All looks a bit neglected but at some point in time someone spent some effort.

attached is a pic (looking south).

The idea of visiting local gardens is good but then i lose this year as by the time it grows there its probably to late to plant. So I want to install some plants and then maybe add more next year

:) Matt

Diablo Ninebark has red leaves, as does Japanese Maple and sand cherry.

Blue Spruce and Blue Atlas Cedar have bluish needles. There are also yellowish conifers.

Sassafras has nice Fall color and little blue berries.

Forsythia of course has yellow flowers in the spring, but is pretty boring the rest of the year.

Crabapple has fruit and flowers that provide color. The fruit have to be turned into jam to be eaten.

What is your hardiness zone? Do you get a lot of rain in the Winter or the summer? Not familiar with conditions in Western Canada. Most of us probably don't have a good grasp of what would survive in your area?

This post was edited by edlincoln on Fri, Jan 9, 15 at 12:13

#1 chainsaw that boxwood L. that thing is making me angry.

#2 that are is too long and skinny, it feels like a thoroughfare, not a garden. I would set up some sort of barrier to divide it into two sections, house and street. make the house section welcoming, like you want to actually walk out into the garden instead of avoid it. then the street area, that would be a good place for flowering trees as a backdrop.

#3 is that mixed ivy and juniper at the drive edges? oh, i would ditch that eventually. maintenance nightmare.

There should be no reason why you can't buy and plant things that catch your interest while they are blooming or otherwise in season, as most retail garden center customers do. As it is already January witch hazels and other sources of winter color are in bloom right now in my area.