I'm not sure I understand the reason for the round raised bed. The side curved bed flows nicely into the bed in front of the porch, and the raised bed seems unnecessary. I think it actually breaks up the flow of the bed. The bed in front of the porch needs to be deeper, or you won't be able to fit much of anything in it. What did you have in mind for planting there? If all you wanted was a low groundcover shrub planting or a few perennials, you're probably OK, but there's not enough space there for much else. Read some of the other recent threads here and you'll see that it's a common mistake to make beds too narrow. There have been a few discussions about the extruded concrete edging on this forum in the past. I feel that it looks too commercial to use in a residential landscape. It does address a need for keeping the grass out of the planting beds, but it isn't very attractive. It also means you will have a hard time making any changes or additions to the plantings in the future. Depending on whether you're a hobby gardener or not, you can either plant the side of the house with groundcover and run a stepping stone path through it, or make a shade garden. Did the trench for the water line go down the side of the house? If so, you may lose those oaks if the roots were sliced off by the trencher.

Why are you making more work for yourself? Why do you need a terrace in the front of the house? Build a retaining wall on the end and plant with potentilla to give some color to a dark area then make a curved bed starting at the steps and going down the drive with low growing spreading junipers, plant bulbs in the fall and leave the spruce alone. Sometimes simplicity is the best answer to complexity.

Hello FB1- A white oak is very, very beautiful and must have acidic soil, from my understanding, so I am assuming that's what you have. Out here, you can only find them in East Texas (acidic). But the OP said his soil is alkaline. They can be successfully grafted onto a bur oak rootstock, and I'm considering getting one of these (probably the next tree I plant). My hunch is that your microclimate doesn't resemble the OP's at all. A black walnut gives off a toxin harmful to other plants and trees. This effect will likely be more pronounced in SLC. A tulip tree requires a ton of water in the heat and and will drop leaves in mid to late summer, when shade is needed most. A hackberry is very common here and plumb ugly. I hear that a lot. I think all native trees have their uses, but I personally wouldn't plant one in a front yard. A sycamore is a beautiful tree, but with a destructive root system. Any maple that is not native to an acidic soil is going to be shorter lived in an alkaline/droughty soil, and are known to have shallow and greedy roots. Many well established maples (that are not on the list I provided earlier) died recently in the drought of the last few years. here in Texas (10-20 percent, statewide). There is plenty of information on this forum, OP, why smaller is better. Interestingly, small seedlings of gingko (non-named cultivars) may turn out to be female, but aren't as slow as one might think, at least here in Dallas. It's a "must-have" tree, imo. It should be planted where shade isn't needed quickly. It would be real easy for me if I lived in SLC, given the information provided, what trees I would chose. The last thing to think about, and this might not be as important to you, is how responsible is it to plant a tree that wastes resources in the form of irrigation. Costs money, and is a lot more work than a tree that you can simply let go for the most part, and will thrive and be happy, healthy, non-destruvtive, long-lived, and BEAUTIFUL, as well. Never undertstood the fascination with most maples planted where they were never meant to grow. If you don't give them a lot of tlc in that type of environment, they're chlorotic and ugly, imo. All for a few weeks of fall color. You can tell a yankee down here, lol, by the type of maple in his front yard. Best, best wishes, OP, I've exhausted the subject or at least my experience/knowledge on droughty/hot/alkaline microclimates. M This post was edited by Mackel-in-DFW on Wed, May 14, 14 at 9:42

if hapypaws meant thuja green giants .... be clear.. that you do not have room for those .... period ... [your welcome hapy] if you want to throw in some vertical aspects.. look into degroots spire .... comparatively thinner in the years to come .... https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Thuja+occidentalis+%27DeGroot%27s+Spire%27&t=ffcm&iax=images&ia=images my first thought.. along the garage.. was also ... drag those ugly bushes toward the fence.. and make the walkway along the building ... though im not sure as to ID .. and the cost/benefit of moving those things .... the spires might look better along the fence ... and give you a wider walkway ..... you probably have to get the lawnmower thru that space???? .. is it a rider??? as to general planting.. see link ... note the timing aspect .... planting is an early spring thing.. not the heat of summer thing .... so either get it done early.. or wait until fall ... for best chance at success .... or bifurcate your your plan ... https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub why are you fixated on holly??? .. nothing wrong with them.. you just mention them many times ... plz give us a more specific big city name .... if you plan on joining us more often.. its best to go to your members page and add you location.. as you note most of us have ... it matters ... you too hapy!!! is snow load damage really a zone 7 issue???? lastly ... do not plant so far down the driveway.. that you have problems with seeing down the road when backing out .... ken ps: whats the tree out from the porch toward the monster tree??? ... how far is it from the porch??? .. and while your are at it.. whats the totem pole tree and whats the deal with that?????