Another opinion

This week I got another opinion on the design. It was cheap - he literally just drew over the other design with his ideas. He had some good ideas and it was more or less what I was after. Here are his annotations:

Design 2

These are his comments from top left to bottom right (roughly):

1. In place of the Bottlebrush Buckeye, he suggested Burkwood Viburnum or a Burning Bush because he didn't think there'd be enough light.
2. Same for Japanese Anemone for which he suggested pink Astilbe instead (labeled "1").
3. He wasn't thrilled about the Dogwood tree, and instead suggested a Rosebud Tree.
4. He agree with heavily trimming up the existing viburnum.
5. He was unsure about the Blackeyed Susans (labeled "2") getting enough light. Instead he suggested Gayfeather.
6. Likewise with the Cransebill 'Rozanne' (labeled "3") in place of which he suggested Stella Daylily.
7. He agreed with getting rid of the existing spirea bush (replacing with endless summer hydrangea).
8. He suggested putting the hydrandea bushes around the corner and to not have the one out away from the house (he 'X'ed it out in the design). I agree.
9. In front of the hydrangeas (labeled "4"), he suggested planting white Astilbe (7). He said it would in with the pink Astilbe. I like it.
10. In front of those around the curve (labeled "5"), he suggested planting 8 hostas. I'm not sure I like this idea. And I'm also a little concerned with the area under the tree not having much winter interest.
11. He didn't like the idea of the Liatris 'Kobold' in front of the window (labeled "A", previously "4") and instead suggested planting 3 Blue Holly bushes (which actually was what was there before I ripped them up earlier this year).
12. In front of those (labeled "2/7"), he suggested either Stella D'ora Daylily or Sedum 'Autumn Joy'.
13. In front of those (labeled "6"), he suggested Myrtle Vinca ground-cover. I'm tot sure about this.
14. And finally, an alternative to the the barberry is a single bush of either Globe Blue Spruce or Euonymos along with "summer color" annuals (labled "B"). Euonymos is what is on the other side of the sidewalk so that would tie into those, so I'm leaning in that direction.

And that's it. I wish I could have had a completely fresh design instead of just modifying the existing one, but it was one of the ways that I was able to get it for cheaper - I got what I paid for, I suppose.

I still don't feel 100% confident in everything, but I do think it's closer to what I had in mind, so I think the rest is up to me. What I feel the most confident about is the Hydrangeas, so I think this weekend I'll get to work on removing the existing bush on the corner and plant some Hydrangeas (I still have the potted one that my mom gave me)!

A landscape design

Recently, I hired a professional landscape designer to help with redoing some of the landscaping in the front yard. Visual design is not one of my strong points and since this is our home and also an investment we decided to hire some help with it.

First, I'll explain the problem. I have touched on it when I was spreading mulch and, of course, the recent landscape alteration which is really what spurred this endeavor since a large area was wiped clean of all vegetation. Much of the shrubs on the South and South-East corner of our house are old and overgrown - they just don't look very good and for a while I have been thinking about what I could do to about it. Ultimately, I think the best thing solution is to replace them, but with what? And so, here we are.

This is the design (click to enlarge):

Landscape design

And the list of the new plants with links to an image search for visuals of them:

• Crimson Pygmy Barberry
• Boxwood 'Green Velvet'
• Hydrangea 'Endless Summer'
• Bottlebrush Buckeye
• Dogwood
• Japanese Anemone
• Blackeyed Susans
• Cranesbill 'Rozanne'
• Liatris 'Kobold'
• Sedum 'Angelina'

Overall, the design is a lot more plant-y than I was expecting. I thought it would blend better with the existing landscaping, but it seems quite different. In general, I like it, but I'm also hesitant.

I really like the hydrangeas around the corner of the house. I also think that the Blackeyed Susans would be really nice as well as the other plants in that area: Cranesbill, Japanese Anemone, and Bottlebrush Buckeye.

What I'm most unsure about is the line of Boxwoods under the tree. I have a hard time envisioning it, but it just seems too linear and similar to the bushes we have now. I think I'll have to see if I can get an alternative idea for that area - perhaps just having fewer of them and more separated?

Of course nothing is set in stone yet and I'm sure they can give me some other options for some of the plants. I'm very anxious to get started on this project, but I also don't want to rush it.