Garden Project : Still Day 2!

This is a frustrating week for me. I have already waited patiently for over a year for my garden project to start. Seeing the beautiful clear weather this week, I phoned the landscaper, and found out that he is doing his "last" lawn cutting of the season for his clients this week, and will not be coming until next week. By then we could be back into rain!

On top of that, he lost my descriptions of the flagstone and bench which I had picked out already a long time ago. I'm sure I kept a copy myself, but also misplaced it, after waiting so long. So somehow I may need to fit in a visit to the landscape depot again.

All I can do here is pace around, and try to visualize the new "secret garden" better. So here goes....

From the stairs, individual (large) flagstones set in grass take the visitor to the top of the hill, gently directing them to the garden on the right....

...where they will pass through a vine-covered arbour into the "secret garden"...

Okay, here you need to visualize the arch, since I haven't bought it yet... I saw this little beauty (Panacea Vine Arbor) on the internet last year (and it's still there this year!), but couldn't track down anything like it locally (i.e. in Canada), so still have it stuck in my mind:

The walkway leads to a small bench (a granite one, not the metal one I placed there today so I can check out the "views").... (From this upper side, I am thinking of placing back a row of lush peonies, with higher plantings behind, to give some sort of veil around, not totally blocked off, but a somewhat obscured view of the garden.)

The bench looks out between the branches of a young coral maple, toward the house...

Looking back out from the bench, through the archway, I guess there is a view of the chess set:

Here is another view from inside:

Where the white post is, I'm thinking of a lamp post, for evening lighting. The center garden will feature fragrant flowers, including a beautiful collector specimen Syringa Sweginzowii ("Chengfu Lilac") which was given to me recently by my gardening friend JJ. It is small, but I think will grow into that area nicely. I am thinking of setting it with 2 other lilacs (it may be a bit crowded, but I like fullness in the garden), each blooming at different times, and then lavenders and other smaller plantings around them and around the bench.

Here is a final photo from our 2nd floor balcony. We'll be able to see into the secret garden in winter, but it will be mostly hidden from the house in summer: