July 23rd we will be closing on our new house (new to us). Many of the shrubs in front must be removed, I want to follow the rule, tall shrubs in back and short in front. I want to stay away from conifers. The front of the house faces SE. a1 by tsebmj, on Flickr The next two photos are in the back yard facing SW and NE. It is void of landscaping except for the grass. I plan to have a shed next to the fence in the back. a9i by tsebmj, on Flickr a9l by tsebmj, on Flickr
John, click on Plants in the line just under GardenStew/Forums and do an advanced search for Zone 5 Check out these shrubs, you could find ones that meet your requirements and haunt local garden centers to see how many they stock.
Congrats on your new house! Wondering what style of garden you want? A few things I will always have in my zone 5 gardens are Lilac, Moch Orange, Weigela, Burning Bush, Bridal Wreath Spiraea.
toni great forum. I don't know why I never seen it. Didn't we have a forum for landscape design at one time?
I don't know what style yet. I did a Google image search on landscape design and what I got was photos competing for the front page of Better Homes and Garden.