Second area I'd like some help with--this exposure is basically due south and gets full sun, though the wall with the chimney is actually facing east and therefore gets shade in the afternoon.

{{gwi:14397}}

Again the tree would be a pink flowering dogwood.
The blue things I awkwardly Photoshopped would be either Endless Summer hydrangeas or Nikko Blue hydrangeas. Opinions on these? Is one better than the other in our area?
In front of the fence, he put in light pink flowering shrubs, but I'm leaning more toward a hedge of Double Knockout Roses. Since our house is red (but not as orange as the image makes it look) which color would work best here, the original red, or the pink?
At the corner of the house would be a Butterfly Bush/Buddleia--Nanho Purple? I have had great luck with one on the other side of the house so am thinking of just transplanting that one there.
To the far left of the image are more clumsily Photoshopped blue hydrangeas as this area is fairly shady after midday due to rooflines.
I'd use catmint or salvia in front of the hedge and then vinca minor again.

Thoughts? If you hate the idea of the Dbl KO rose hedge, can you tell me why exactly and offer some alternatives? TIA!

Nice house and land! The photos look great, but keep in mind that many of the plants shown to be in flower won't be blooming all at the same time.

I am no landscape artist so I'm just going to comment on the fact that if you have lots of deer, they will love the hydrangeas and the roses and you'll have to spray them to keep them from being eaten.

I would post on the landscaping forum to get landscaping ideas, and ask folks here what grows well and what the deer will or won't like. Good luck with it!

Thanks, jayco! I wasn't sure which forum to post this in so I just figured local would be good--I like the idea of posting it into the landscaping forum though and will do that.
As far as the deer, I have been very lucky so far with keeping them out of my roses and the few hydrangeas I have. Four years down, and only nibbles on my roses the first year--since then, I think the strong scent of my dogs has helped, as well as the catmint I plant copiously under the roses. That stuff is like deer repellant, I swear!

Hi,
I was wondering what the light pink flowering shrubs are that your landscaper was planning. I like the idea of a rose-hedge, but
if your planning to put in vinca, you might consider something
to keep the ground cooler/shadier
Mind, you have been indeed very lucky. We are also in Westchester and here the deer eat every rose, all hydrangeas and even
some salvia's. I think Buddleia's are fine in any color. You can't go wrong with them. You could also consider a lilac. There are a some the deer don't eat.
Good Luck. Your house is going to be adorable!

This forum seems not to get very much traffic, so that's another reason why the Landscaping forum might be useful.

I agree with you about the catmint deterring the deer -- I use it among my perennials and it definitely works. However, hydrangeas are a lot higher up and are notorious for being "deer candy," so be careful if you plant them. Sometimes things don't get eaten for a while simply because the deer haven't found them yet. You can be lulled into a false sense of security! And in my neck of the woods (Ulster County) they do eat lilacs as well, though it's not a favored food.

Thanks, everyone! I did post this in the landscape design section as well, and as you guys expected that forum gets more traffic.

I'm actually rethinking the vinca for several reasons; when I think about it some more, I really wanted a low evergreen edging as opposed to a groundcover, per se. Is liriope evergreen in our zone? Is it deer candy? Any other suggestions for what I could use for that purpose?

About the deer, you're right that we have been lucky so far. Though they have eaten more than their weight in a lot of plants for some reason they have always basically left my hydrangeas and roses alone. I really have no idea why! Meanwhile they've nibbled or sometimes really chewed on hollies. I think my deer are a little funny. They do tend to try to avoid coming super close to the house, maybe because we back up to over 100 acres of arboretum and they're slightly shy? The dogs, as mentioned, have also helped, both by barking and by peeing outdoors.

Liriope is not evergreen in my area. CIA restaurants at Hyde park used it on their new courtyard. Just had lunch there the other day and it's all kind of black. It will probably come back but it tends to start a little late in the season and looks not really great until it starts new grown. My personal experience has been mostly with the varigated type which the rabbits at my house love. It does fine at a friends house, but in both cases it also looks crappy until the new grown starts. Also hard to cut back before it starts new growth.

By the way, I don't believe catmint "deters" deer. They just don't usually eat it. Depending on the area, the deer will eat everything except Canada thistle and poison ivy.

Thanks very much for the input, corapegia! That's good information about the lirope especially. I guess I'm still on the hunt for a good edging plant, preferably evergreen and fairly well-behaved. Hmm. I do notice you're in Z5 as opposed to my 6-6b but not sure that makes much of a difference with regard to liriope.

BTW I know that catmint isn't really a foolproof deer deterrent (as if there were such a thing!), but it really has kept them away from my roses and hydrangeas the past 4 years since I've lived here. I figure if my deer herds hate it, I'll plant more of it! Plus, I just like it :)

Catmint, when planted amongst other perennials, has the effect (for me, anyway) of deterring the deer. I've been told (don't know if it's true!) that deer can't see very well and that the strong odor of the catmint overpowers their smell and confuses them.

That makes a lot of sense; it sure is smelly (in a good way, to me)! They also avoid bee balm like the plague, probably for the same reason.

You might have the wimpy deer in your area. In our gardens north of New Paltz and in Woodstock, the deer eat the monarda, too, and while the deer don't eat spirea, the rabbits do, and while the deer don't eat siberian iris, the voles do. Good luck!