"The planting area by the house is almost 3' deep so if I make it any deeper, I would need to climb in to weed, etc." It should be designed for plants and overall appearance. Any resourceful person could attest to the fact that taking care of a bed that is deeper is not really a problem. There are many ways to overcome this. That patio is developing more gimmicky looking features. I would keep it simple and am suggesting a few alterations based on your initial premise. Also, the small space next to steps seems without purpose and would be better eliminated. I think it would "feel" better if the steps were a little more spacious and were oriented toward the majority of the patio. I'm showing the two versions side-by-side to make comparison easier. If I were on my own and starting from scratch, I think I'd eliminate the circle, too, if all it is is a paving pattern change. (Not talking about how used, but just the physical object itself.)

Thanks Yardvaark. The zoning allows external buildings in the back yard to be within 2' of the property line. We looked at it again and are considering just putting the same patio stone on the entire area instead of having a deck and patio on two levels. We would need to have a stone step from the house though. If we do this, we would have about 5' between the patio and the side yard where the deck and gazebo are now and would use either bark mulch or something similar since it would be too much stone if we had the patio and stones mulch I think. Thank you Dani. I really like your drawing. My concern is that without using shrubs zoned for our area we would lose that oasis feeling of being in a small garden because our growing season is so short. I also started changing out the straight back line for a curved line for the same reason. I would like to add a small tree in one of the corners - likely the circle side since it has more area. Perhaps a small hawthorne. Your rendering of the circle area is much like what I wanted so it is nice to see it come to life - almost. :)

All good info and keep it coming. Such a breadth of knowledge here! @missing Yes, it is exciting, but we want to choose wisely and plant well to avoid over extending ourselves. We have 10 acres, so plenty of room to grow. Recommedndations would be great, I don't know much about the online/catalog plant ordering business. I get a few things from Park Seed as otherwise my options are limited to big-box store selections or expensive nurseries. I didn't know all that about black walnut, good to know. I guarantee I would have found out the hard way, it is a variety we are considering. Also good to know about the multiflora, they are definitely not blackberries (I grew up with black/raspberry brambles) so we'll keep them in check. Too bad, they aren't completely unattractive. Didn't know that about the apple varieties either, thanks! @ Karin You're right, there is a forum here for the Hudson Valley, but it's growing tumbleweeds... I found some local message boards, but the posts deal more with everyday flowers and garden varieties than things like Mirabelles and Currants. Re: Schneeglockschen; my Mother is from Germany and most of her family came over as well, so it rubbed off on us kids as we spent holidays and summers with them. My other half lived there for 10 years and has family there as well, so there's lots of German influences in our thinking. I'd never seen Snowdrops (I knew the name) but had visited Husum in North Germany in early Spring and there is a "castle" that has tens of thousands of Crocuses covering the grounds mixed with the Schneeglockchen. I learned later that Snowdrops are essentially the same thing. Absolutely beautiful, and an effect I will attempt to reproduce on an albeit smaller scale in NY. We have the site and drive selected and mostly planned. We are planning trees and the like now so that we know how much to clear or thin beyond these areas. We also have a good idea where the garden and "mini" orchard will be, so that's why I elected to come here. I'd just as likely have bought foolish choices from a catalog or overdone it. Folks here have a good knowledge if what works and what doesn't. None of this is going to be planted until the heavy equipment is gone.

Carolina jasmine (Gelsemium sempervirens) is not hardy for your zone. Try clematis instead :-) Those porch pillars are made for clematis! And I'd incorporate some shrubs - you need some height and volume (in addition to the trees) and that's just not gonna happen with only perennials. And consider at least a couple of shrubs that will be evergreen to provide similar structure during the winter month. Try looking at a few good gardening magazines for inspiration - right now they are flooding the newsstands with spring editions. Better Homes and Gardens and Country Gardens have special spring editions that often feature great photo spreads on cottage-style gardens. Or spend some time at your local bookstore or library just browsing through the gardening books. And watch out shopping at Lowe's or Home Depot - you can often find some nice plants there at a reasonable cost but you are just as likely to find stressed plants as well and ones not suited for your locale (like the jasmine).