I was thinking of puting in lava rock for the top, also adding some lights maybee 4 or 5. Iv got some plastic edgining im puting down, I was thinking of geting some evergreen yews, as Iv planted some in the back and they seem to be doing well. Iv a few pictures Ill put up, any advice would be greatly apreciated, maybee a quick drawing by some one if they have the software would be cool to. Nothing fancy, just a 5 minute jober would be cool.
These pictures Iv posted are all Hi Res shots, so click on them for a better closer look(Nikon coolpix s550).I have an earl mays near here that has a few plants left but that is about all. I think a 3 plant evergreen yew hedge might look good under the two bedroom windows to the far right of the house. As for the front door, near that area Id like to maybee plant a few ground shrubs that don't get taller then 2 feet, something light color maybee. I just don't want to plant some expensive plants and have it look terible.
One of the reasons Iv tilled so much up by looking at what is tilled, the grass under the giant ash tree is hard as a rock. I cant belive there is even any greeen there. I will end up having to till the entire front yard and seed, but for now just the portion outside of the plastic edging I will put down some peet/sand/top soil mixture with seed that should do the trick. The entire yard is as hard as a rock, its all clay so when ever I want to plant something I have to buy dozens of compost/manure bags and soil to put down. Also Iv recently trimed back both the trees in the pictures, you can see the two bare branches shooting towards the house, I havent decided If im going to leave them or get rid of them, they were hanging over the house by about 20 feet before I chain sawed them a few days ago.
Theres also some sickly looking shrubs as you can see near the front door, there were 5 to begin with but that was before I trimed the ash and they got no sun, I think they were plants that needed alot of sun, I didnt plant them though. Should I get rid of them 2 also, or nurture them for a bit. I variety would kinda be nice but they are easy to rip out, takes only few minutes with these. Would a hedge spaning across the entire front area look good. I seen this hedge yesterday that planted one evergreen 4-5 tall and wide, along side this yellow looking shrub , then another green evergreen, would a color combination of two colors look better? Thanks for any advice. The last picture is a row of evergreen yews I planted in the back of the house recently. I Also put in new plastic edging/weed cover underneeth the new bark that you can see that surrounds the evergreens. Thanks for reading and for any adivice.
ps. One last question, Iv got in my last picture a evergreen yew in front of a window seel as you can see. Would it be ok to leave it there and trim it around the obsticles, or should I move it to the front? It hasnt been in the ground but a month or so. The room under it actually gets water in it when it floods around here, so its always going to be covered by a plastic seal as you can see also. Is it like common sence not to plant a shrub in front of a basement window? Thanks again!
update:
Its come to be that time when planting some new things in the front after the work that was done last year needs to be done. I went to menards today and picked up 4 different types of shrubs. I got one in the corner that is a 6-8 feet tall and 6-8 wide juniper that should fill in the large corner section near the steps, in front of the steps are some boxwoods that get 5 feet tall and 3 feet wide. For the front I decided on some red rose rhododendron on the outside of two yews. The red roses get 5-7 feet tall and wide and the yews get 4 feet tall by 6 feet wise.
If taken a bit of time on how to place them. Is there anything anyone can see that I'm doing wrong with the placement? Do I just place them in a line like you see? I kind have them swiveling outward like the plastic boarder goes. Should I put something closer to the house then other? Here are some pictures, its rainy out today but you can get a good idea, also its dark here in Nebraska as its 8 oclock.
updated
I planted them yesterday, the ground you see if from me reseeding the entire front today. Here is how it turned out.
