Congratulations Annette,I just wish you all the joy in the world get down and dirty and have fun

Annette, I know what you mean by getting "inspired" by British garden shows :). After watching those simple islands won't work for me...
I knew from the start that I want a yew hedge at least on one side of the backyard and a few yew plants closer to the porch from both side for screening. The first thing I did I planted yews
This spring I will be planting tall evergreens - precisely 2 pines - also at the back. Did not make up my mind about Oregon Green Austrian pine, Watererii or Japanese Pinus densiflora 'Umbraculifera' as I do not want spend fortune on arborists and it is almost impossible to remove a tree once it reach 20 + smth cm in trunk diameter in Toronto.
I was following existing garden plan up to now, but thinking about something more interesting like dividing back yard into quarters and sub-quarters with bigger paths.

I have a couple of color- themed beds that I like. One is purple/white and the other is red/ yellow.

In the other beds I try to plant Peonies that won't clash near each other.

I agree with Alex to try to put the hardscape in first.

I know you are going to have fun, and we all can't wait to see it!!

Thanks Oscar, and LG!

Alex, we also want to plants evergreens for a privacy screen, my DH loves arborvitaes.

I also want to plant various, smaller sized evergreens throughout the garden, to add color and different kinds of foliage textures for points of interest. It is amazing how many colors of green there are!

I also have the Golden Chain tree (Watererii) on my list, after seeing it in the Garden Answer videos. It would get planted at the back of the property. The Austrian pine is beautiful, but gets huge!

Further, some flowering trees, such as the cherries, ( we've always grown Kwanzans), crabapples, dogwoods, and plums would be wonderful..

LG, the idea of color themed beds is wonderful!

My ultimate goal this year, besides getting all of my current plants into the ground, is to find a tri-color beech tree. The leaves are spectacular!

Tri-color beech tree (picture from Pinterest, in an article from The Spruce)

Annette,
Thanks for the acorn! I have a chamaecypris 'Boulevard ' that is a beautiful frosted blue.
I love it ! Not my photo

Some claim Oregon Green Austrian pine will be 20 -25 ft at maturity....I was talking about Pinus sylvestris 'Watereri' with bluish needles. Some are even cloud pruning it.

LG, you're welcome, and 'Boulevard' is beautiful!

Alex, thanks for the clarification about the tree names, and, I had to google cloud pruning😳! It's wonderful technique, and I would love to have this done on a compact evergreen!

Jeff and I spent several hours on Sunday planning where we're planting trees on the AL property next week! He has around 80 trees being delivered, think the biggest ones are in 20 gallon pots, smallest in 3 gallon, everything from oaks to a fringe tree. We used the map we got when we had our land surveyed and marked circles relatively to scale on it based on the maximum size for the type of tree. Tried to position them so we had a good mix of huge trees (eventually!) mixed in with spring flowering ones and fall color...I was surprised at how much space those 80 small (now) trees will eventually (I hope and pray) cover when they mature. Don't know if I'll see most of that, maybe Alayna (daughter) will see them in her lifetime!
These trees will be next to the road and across it, we don't plan to put anything in our build envelope until the house is up. Figured we can get more bang for the buck planting smaller trees now that will hopefully be growing well when we build, then bring in larger trees around the house when we're actually there to take care of them! The smaller ones we're doing now should have less transplant shock, hopefully they'll do okay. A bit anxious to see how the test peony garden is doing, they have had so much rain down there from fall until now....

Sounds exciting, Liz!! Are you going to rent a backhoe?

I hope it won't be too muddy next week. Our outlook is warmer, but more rain heading in for this weekend !

It will be fun to see what stage your test peonies are at.... they should be ahead of Annette's and mine!!

Liz, your plans for the new trees sound wonderful. Because you'll be in a warmer zone, those trees will grow a lot faster than you think.

Good luck to you and Jeff getting them planted, I know it's exciting to get more trees in ahead before your move.

My DH planted Cryptomerias in front of our current home when we 1st moved in, and over 14 years they grew tremendously, and reached to top of the house. We won't be planting these at our new home, when they dropped their old branches, it was just too messy.

I agree with LG, it would be fun to see the progress of your peonies in AL, The plants here have begun leaf out. I hope to check on mine this weekend.

And yes, more rain here this weekend, at least it's going to be much warmer.

So we seem to be in the home stretch with building our new home! We were supposed to close on May 30th, but due to the vast amounts of mistakes that had to be corrected, concessions were made by the builder, and our closing date was moved to June 21st.

One of the things that I asked for was a 5 foot bed all around the back edge of the property. We'll also be putting up a fence. The landscaping was put in over the past 2 days, and the beds were done today. I'll need to do some serious soil amending before I can replant my peonies, irises, day lilies, and other plants, since they put the pine straw down on the hard red clay🙄!

The front porch is being completed, and the shutters should be put on this week.


These pics were taken while I was standing on the driveway looking down into the backyard from left to right. The steps are one of the concessions from the builder. Not shown is the part of the bed on the right side of the house and right side of the backyard.

I eventually plan on making the beds more scalloped in appearance.




I'm also looking forward to getting my plants back, and getting them into the ground. It's been blazingly hot here, and my plants have suffered. I'm hopeful that with the rain on the way this week, that I won't loose any more plants. Unfortunately, my BIL only conveniently waters them when he knows I'm coming to check on them🤨!

Oh, so sorry, Annette! I hope you'll not loose more plants! Your house looks amazing! like a castle! I only imagine what you could do with the landscaping! You will create a wonderland garden!

anyagoro said:Oh, so sorry, Annette! I hope you'll not loose more plants! Your house looks amazing! like a castle! I only imagine what you could do with the landscaping! You will create a wonderland garden!

Beautiful home and hardscape, Annette! I am sure you will do wonders with your yard. Can't wait to see its progress and development through the years. Congrats!

Exciting, Annette. You're getting there.

I remember in my master gardener course that they told us after all that topsoil has been moved that serious amending and even new top soil should be brought in to have successful plantings after new construction. They told us all of the topsoil is lost during the construction process as they move dirt and compress the soil with all that heavy equipment.

Thank you all for your kind words!

I'm hoping that I don't loose anymore plants either. I do have 2 new potted Itohs, Duchesse de Lorraine, and most recently Joanna Marlene, (I've snuck the latter in, hoping the DH doesn't notice😂), that I've kept on the patio of our apartment. Once we've moved in and gotten settled, I'll see what offers are still available from the online vendors, to replace some of the lost plants. I'm looking forward to the Adelman's sale this fall!

Tracey, I agree about adding the topsoil, the red clay has been seriously compacted, and it's now like cement. I'll be also adding a lot of Black Kow composted manure and soil conditioner.

Your new home looks fabulous, Annette! I'm sure you will have the landscaping looking great in no time.

I look forward to seeing all the new Peonies you add. Definitely watch for sales. Did you get the Hollingsworth printed catalog? They have buy 2 get one free offers on several nice Peonies. These specials aren't available online.

Enjoy your new home!

Thanks LG! I don't have a current Hollingsworth Catalog, I'll check to see if I can get one mailed to me.

Hi Annette! It's past the last closing date you mentioned

Are you moved in now? How's it going?

Hi LG,

We closed on Friday, and started moving some of our personal items this weekend. My plants are still at my SIL's home, so hopefully I can make arrangements to get them here this week.


It's been a crazy 9 months, with having to move 4 times, and I'm glad we're finally in our new home.

Thanks so much for checking!

Hi Annette, I was thinking about you also I am glad you moved into your new home Enjoy settling down! Good luck with all plants!