First Time Home Buyer
 

An easy alternative to hiring a designer or decorator is to go through some magzazines, looking at ads and photo layouts (buy some design mags), tearing out the pictures you like. That will give you ideas. Bring them with you when you go shopping.

VM,

I know most designers work off a percentage of what you spend, but some will do an houly fee consult instead. You might want to look into that.

I would also look into having the tree professionally trimmed - it can make a world of difference.

Shade plants
 

Ditto on hostas--I just bought a couple more for my yard, which has extensive shady portions. Impatiens do really well in the shade, but they're an annual and I'm not much into that kind of thing (I also don't like the colors they come in much).

One thing I bought this year to go in my shady corner is Evergreen Huckleberry. Besides the berries (I'm big on edible gardening), it has lovely foliage (new foliage in the spring is red), and tiny pink-tinged white blossoms. In the shade, it can grow to 6-8 feet.

That same shady corner of my yard also has a lot of lady's mantle, which is beautiful (frothy chartreuse flowers) but self-seeds like the dickens. If you don't mind this, or are vigilant about pulling up all the little starts, it's really nice, seems to thrive in shade, and works REALLY, REALLY WELL in flower arrangements--like baby's breath or something, only chartreuse.

Also thriving in my shady yard are various ferns. Bracken ferns also work well to fill in flower arrangements (last week's had orange roses, lady's mantle and a few sprigs of bracken fern), but also can spread. Sword ferns spread less, and can get really really big (I have a few on the shady side of my house that are nearly six feet across).

I'll second the suggestion about having the tree professionally trimmed. I bit the bullet and did that this year on my very large (read: 30-40 feet) flowering plum, and it's made a world of difference.

tm

Shade plants
 

I'll third it, and for another reason as well: to clear that deadwood that might fall on a young child. It also might fall on an adult, but it's less likely to be substantially injurious. Most big trees lose small branches regularly, and bigger ones sometimes, especially if the tree is not healthy. You really don't want that coming down on you or your child.

Also, depending on how much sun, azaleas can work as well.

First Time Home Buyer
 

Ask around for a designer. Tell everyone you know that you're looking and you'll get a lot of suggestions. I could probably find you a dozen that aren't too expensive within thirty minutes of making phone calls if you were in my area. A good designer will work with your budget, and you can easily dictate what you're willing to spend. Tell them that you're only paying for their time and advice, not for procuring something, though sometimes they can get great deals that you wouldn't ordinarily be able to get.

re: tree trimming -- note the "professionally." get an arborist. don't get lawn guys. they might go overboard. I've seen people have bad experiences.

Avoid "lawn guys" at all costs unless they are just doing your lawn. Don't let them near a flower garden unless they are capable of identifying every plant in your garden and describing its appropriate care.

Those "lawn guys"
 

Even if you have a "lawn guy" mow, don't let them spray. For some reason they seem to all have been indoctrinated into the world of 'spray it if it moves'. There's a reason pesticides and herbicides are called "economic poisons" -- because they kill things including higher life forms that you may not want killed or injured (lady bugs which eat aphids, birds, pets, and children).

Those "lawn guys"
 

And don't let them touch a crape myrtle. For some reason, every "lawn guy" in the state is under the impression that crepe myrtles need to be pruned to the trunk every winter. The hard core gardeners in my family call it "crepe murder."

Soapy water is a very good, harmless pesticide.

Those "lawn guys"
 

In my case, the numerous victims of lawn guys include Roses (doesn't anyone know how to prune Roses anymore - it's not that tough!), Rhodies, Lilacs (why have blooms next year when we can cut them off this year?), Phlox, Oenethera (if it grows low to the ground it must be a weed, right?), and, saddest of all, Japanese peonies (they, too, bloom best on old wood).

And why do people call themselves "landscapers" just because they can use a shovel and a lawn mower?

Those "lawn guys"
 

Someone ruin your yard?

How hard can it be to hose down a trailer pad?

Those "lawn guys"
 

Agree. An arborist can tell you if the tree is healthy and worth saving and prune correctly.
If, however, you decide to take it down, hire an (insured) lumberjack. Cutting a tree into pieces and bringing them down safely doesn't take an advanced degree; no sense paying premium.

e.g., I had a 60 foot douglas fir that had to come down (in the way of new construction) -- the arborist bid $1,400; the lumber jack bid $600.

Those "lawn guys"
 

It's not just any trailer pad.

You've clearly not seen what people can do with the little plot around the trailer.

(Truth is, is this suburb, the lots really aren't big enough for more than a trailer, though no one's told the McMansion builders yet).

Those "lawn guys"
 

This is waaaaay off topic and probably should go over to home improvement/DIY, but speaking of trailers, I'm lusting after http://www.weehouses.com/projects/weehouse.htm for my backyard as a studio/rental income/media haven. The new modern prefab stuff coming out over the last three or four years is remarkable.

Those "lawn guys"
 

I'm lusting after that spread they stuck the trailer on.

(Should we tell the folks on the FB that we're all talking lust on the Mommy/Daddy board?)