At my old house we had a retaining wall around the front raised flower bed. I planted dianthus, creeping phlox and canterbury bells all along the top of the bed. The Dianthus (pink or purple blooms, may be more varieties) maintain a compact root system and will gradually start creeping along the top of your wall as will the creeping phlox(white, purple, or magenta blooms). They both flower in the spring in zone 6. The canterbury bells will flower in later may but will mound in clumps of green foliage with delicate bell flower shoots popping out of the top (comes in white, blue/purple). All of these plants will soften the hard line of a rock wall and will make it look like it has been there for generations after a few short years. I love what they did for my retaining wall. All have compact root systems and are relatively drought tolerant! Good Luck! Tracy

Do not plant perovskia (Russian sage). People will tell you it's not invasive, but we ended up with 20 feet of it from one plant.

Thank you Tracey, I planted some dianthus and some of it is growing great and some doesnt look so hot.They were from different vendors. Canterberry bells sound great. Ill try to post a pic of the wall.
the house is still under construction.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Hi Christine
Thanks for the warning. I actually considered Russian Sage. There are many plants I planted at the house I live in now that I wish I hadnt. LOL. To bad they dont come with a warning.

I can't wait to see your pictures of the wall! Another plant I forgot to mention if you like them cascading down the wall is rock soapwort! It is too pretty! I love mine!
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heres the wall, unfortunately the only place we could put the sand mound was in front of the house.We put the wall to make it more visually pleasent. I just took some update photos, when Im finished with the roll Ill post them.
If this link doesnt work, I posted one to you above.

Here is a link that might be useful:

I took a peak at the wall! I think you will love the way that will frame your house after you have plants blooming there! Is it mostly shade of does it get a lot of sun?

The wall gets morning shade then sun until late into the day. THen the left side shades again.
feel free to puruse the rest of the pictures.The house we are building by ourselves. Its post and beam inside.And Check out my landscape album. Its just a few pictures of the property, ponds creeks and paths.
cyn

Wow! I loved all of the pictures! Your house will certainly be a stunner when you finish! I think my favorite pics are the ones taken of the back of the house through the woods. That round 2 tiered section is fabulous. You're building this by yourselves? That is a huge undertaking. It looks like you are doing a great job. Is that lake on your property, too? How much space do you have on your lot? I am glad that you get enough sun on the retaining wall. I should have asked before I suggested those plants for you. That will be perfect for the ones I mentioned. Are you going to have city water or are you sinking a well?

Hi Tracey
We are building it ourselves. Hubby is not a builder and works full time so its taking a while. This is our third summer.
We had the well put in last summer when it was 100 degrees here. LOL The ground is very soft because of high water tables and the truck got stuck It was quite an expericence.

The pond is on our property we have 3 all together. ITs 11 acres that borders our home we live in now. It became available so we decided we didnt want someone building right against our house so we bought it then decided we would build a house. Its within a 2 min walk but cant be seen from our present house. Im really excited about landscaping, more so I think then the actual house. LOL
I have a few more gardens to put in as soon as the cut timber is out of the way.
THe photo of the creek and the area to the right Im thinking of making a japenese garden. Two creeks come together and there are rocks sticking up and lots of rhododendrens and pines. I would love to put a structure and some paths with plantings.Not sure if it gets enough sun though, its kinda dappled.
The one pond is right in back of the house. It will be visible from the Kitchen window. I just wish we would have done this 20 years ago. So much to do, not enough time. LOL

cindy

Hi Cindy!

That is an amazing undertaking! How perfect that it is so close to your current home. You must be itching to put your personal touches on the house. It's no wonder you've been doing so much with the yard!

Friends of ours relocated from here to West Virginia and have been building their home themselves for the last 10 years. It is fantastic. 72 acres In the mountains. They have hills, valleys, marsh areas, you name it! They started an orchard when they first bought it. Just gorgeous. The house is perched on the top of a hill, the valley with the orchard is just below there. They have a vaulted ceiling with windows all the way up in their living room that overlooks the valley. Great place for a cup of coffee in the morning.

We live on 1 acre and it seems huge to me. We would have ultimately liked more property but time, money, kids demanded we make the move when we did. I love our yard. We're bordered on 3 sides with huge pines. I really enjoy the privacy and the quiet. The animal life gives us quite a kick too. We've been here 3 years and have been making changes slowly.

The Japanese garden by the creeks sounds like a lovely idea! A little japanese bridge going over would be so pretty. There are a ton of perennials that do well in rich soil, shaded areas. You would be amazed. Siberian water iris would be great by your creek. When not in bloom they look like rich green ornamental grass. They have nice delicate purple flowers that float on top in the early summer. I'd love to watch them in the breeze sitting on a wooden oriental bench. The oriental theme would compliment the two tiered round wall of the house. Semi pagoda.

I primarily have always had full sun to part shade perennials but now am finally branching out. I am currently making beds below some of my pines for shade perennials. It is slow going but will take shape soon.
The gardens that were here before us were untended for so long and overgrown. I wasted a lot of time trying to salvage what was there and restore the gardens. I finally scrapped that and made my own plans. Soon hubby will be using the excavator to clean out a couple of those overgrown beds that we have. It will be a combination of daylilies, hosta and whatever else I find that will be suitable. I will be trying to put in mostly unusual varieties. I want a lot of contrasting foliage for interest. I am still learning about the different types of plants.

Funny, your hubby is not a builder and he is building a house. My hubby is a builder (bricklayer/contractor) and we don't have time to build our own! He is working dawn to dusk building for others. Right now he is building a 3600 sq ft house on 3+ acres. Brick facing 3 sides. He put in the foundation. Carpenters are finished with the framing and he will pour the basement floor. Huge job. Taking forever.

Keep me updated on what you add. Keep posting pictures!

Thanks tracey
your hubbies a mason, the outside of the house will be stone up until the second story where it is wood siding. LOL Except in the front where we are considering stone to the eve.
I do have some siberian Iris so I will plant some back there when I start that project. I have so much to do in the front and back yard right now, I cant even think about it yet. like I said, I wish I was 20 years younger.I also purchased blue flag iris which is a native and grows well in wet areas. Im trying not to plant anything that will displace natives.
heres an update picture of the wall

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That is looking so good! Are those black eyed susans in the top left of the pic? What are the burgundy foliage below that? Nice contrast!

My hubby is going to be jealous after you stone face the house. He just loves that look. We have a very rustic 3 season room that he wants to put a floor to ceiling stone fireplace, Stone BBQ Pit outside, and then a raised stone fire pit with a flat top outside in a second stone patio. Sort of like a round stone coffee table with the center hole for burning. Great for evenings sitting outside with friends.

Currently we are putting in a sandstone patio around my rock bed. It is half done and staying that way until he slows down a bit with work. Sigh...
LOL
So, have you started keeping a notebook for all of the sections that you are getting ideas for? I need to start keeping one. I get an idea or see a plant for an area I'm not ready to work on yet and by the time I am ready I can't remember what that great idea was! My memory is shot. This is where I need to be 20 years younger! LOL

Your BBQ pit & 4 season room sounds lovely . I like that idea. I want to put in an outside kitchen with a garden room. It will probably be all field stone floor.
the flowers at the top are coreopsis and the pink/purple is dianthus.For this year i just wanted something to hold the soil. THe wall is still going upward so I have to limit what Im planting there.We dont want the sandmound visible from the road.
I havent started a note book but its prob a good idea.