Blank slate back yard needs design assist

13 years ago

Hi all, I am new to the forum and hope I am even posting in the right place! We moved to NE OK last summer and purchased a not-very-old house with the common minimal landscaping in the front yard and nothing except bermuda grass and a privacy fence in the back. The property slopes slightly downward to the east in the back so that the fence does not provide terribly much privacy. We are looking to add perhaps a paver patio with seating wall right off the back of the house and will need to add screening expecailly to the northeast and east. The east fence is 105 feet long and I have about 30 feet from the back of the house to the back fence. Think long, narrow box.

My hope is that we can create the illusion that we are surrounded by more space than we are, and love the idea of making spaces or rooms in the garden, so that we can catch glimpses from the patio of other areas that might beckon to us. I hope to avoid the "row of shrubs along the fenceline" thing and would like to have more of a 3D effect and raised or sloping beds that slope up toward the back fence.

Is this too vague a place to start?

I have checked out books from the library and find myself circling round and round in a fit of indecision.

Hoping that I have found the place that can help me!

Beth

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Comments (6)

ideasshare
13 years ago
email me the yard photo.
karinl
13 years ago
Do NOT email ideasshare or anyone.
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FinJ, personally I prefer two things with a blank slate. 1st is the view from the street, namely the main direction you drive in and see every day. 2nd is the view from the windows of the house, or areas outdoors you would use the most. If you use your garage a lot, I would add windbreaking things like arborviate or any plant choice shrub with mid level evergreen trees behind on the driveway length, rather than have a single row, you could have yews, dwarf pines, juniper, spruce, arborviatae etc. I have never done a house that needed a windbreak from north winds "being from the south", but thats the NW facing section and should get the most winds unless you have a lake or something flat on the NN side. A very, very distant 3rd is how the areas in the outside interact with each other and the view from them. Needing shade from Sun exposure is my thing. All zones are a broad thing, is it zn 6 costal, mtn, etc? You want fast growing trees and those with a large canopy. In the south we use magnolias, live oaks, pecans, gums, and maples often. I do think with your zone decidious trees would be better on the far back of the lot allowing more sun in winter, and with the lower sun having 10-15 ft evergreens behind would allow for year round green while blocking the glaring view of the sun from parts of your home. Your house design on the back to me looks like it could easily entertain a pergola with climing rose, wisteria, grapes, etc. that would make an enteresting area to entertain, you could then make plans for a jacuzzi just off of it with a fire pit. It is an enterly blank slate, what do you like? I think you need to look at homes in the area plant wise, look at some things you like online, get an idea of a budget on what you want to spend, get it on paper, then do it again on paper after waiting a couple of weeks, then piece it together if your going the DIY route. If thats your house in the picture, I would echo the white in the landscape some. I would use real apples and white blooming cherries, honey crisp and rainier. I would also look at yoshinio cherries and white dogwood/white redbud for the front yard. That would pull the focus off your white siding and draw the inside out and the outside in.
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Here's where I was thinking for trees to cut some wind directed at the patio. Predominant wind is from the NW. This diagram is not to scale. Center could be the ash (fraxinus americana "autumn purple"), autumn blaze maple (Acer x freemanii 'Jeffersred') or maybe an amur cherry (pruunus mackii) but they're listed as "only" 30 year lifespan. Funny you say that about the poplar. I've always lived in very farm-oriented communities so it's fitting that these would be common. The Swedish aspen is listed as more disease tolerant and having a 50 year lifespan. Poplar also tend to sucker where it doesn't sound like the aspen will. After more consideration, I may look to place the cedar elsewhere as they don't seem to tolerate wind very well. Possibly in front of the house under the front window or between the two small windows in the rear.
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Congratulations on building your new home. Based on our experience here are a few things you should look into: 1) Whether your shed (accessory building) is allowed in your zoning code. 2) The maximum sq ft of the accessory building that is allowed. 3) How far does it need to be setback from your property line. This varies between municipalities. 4) Make sure your Crabapple tree (Malus spp). is going to do well in your plant hardiness zone. http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/ 5) Regarding the shrubs, in our planting designs we try to only specify plants that are native to the state and region, because of reduced irrigation and maintenance needs. In looking at your pictures, we think that the swale should be usable space for recreation and repose. The trees can be located near the deck for privacy purposes; we recommend planting mature trees (large gallon size) because of higher survivability rates. If you are using the Crabapple tree for privacy, take into account that their canopy range is between 10'-25' diameter depending on the species. Also keep in mind that Crabapple is deciduous, which means you may want to consider a mix of deciduous and coniferous (evergreen). Lastly, we think you should cluster your plantings along the edges of the sides of the property (not in front of the swale); this would make your back yard look bigger. Good luck with the improvements and please post pictures when your done! -DR, Landscape Designer
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karinl
13 years ago
Other than Ideasshare, you are posting in the right place.

Here's my first question: you're saying the property slopes down toward the east and yet you want beds to slope up toward the back fence. I think I'm not clear on which way the slope goes... away from the house? I guess it would help to know which way the back of the house faces to understand how the slope lies relative to it and the fence.

Other than this your plan sounds eminently do-able. Can you tell us a bit about what you hope to do in the yard? A photo posted here wouldn't hurt to aid discussion, but isn't necessary.

KarinL
rosiew
13 years ago
Yes to more info, especially how you'd like to enjoy your yard. Photos from several spots would be great.
karinl
13 years ago
One idea I would consider if you want to do a variety of garden areas is to move the patio somewhat away from the house, or do the patio at the house but also put seating of some kind in a few other locations in the yard, What we've done is make a lower patio that is shady in summer, and an upper patio that gets more sun all year 'round. This is because we tend to be sun-seeking in spring and fall and that's when we use the sunny patio, but sun-avoiding in summer. There is also a spot in which we can specifically enjoy the morning sun for having coffee outdoors. Not all of this was preplanned, but these are the kinds of considerations that can be used to help make decisions.

If you begin by assessing your sun directions and planting trees that will eventually shade certain parts of the yard, you can plan accordingly from there - your seating areas, and what you will look at from each of them, what privacy considerations you want for each of them. Start by just placing lawn chairs at these locations and sitting in them, and thinking it through from that position.

KarinL
whitecap
13 years ago
I know I'm slow, but it sometimes occurs to me to wonder if the current preoccupation with avoiding "rows" of plants and the dreaded "hedge" does not result in a surrender of utility to style. A "row" of plants does not necessarily represent an abject admission that one is incapable of botanical creativity. Here, for instance, there are concerns with privacy, a sense of seclusion. If plants are tall enough to function effectively as a screen, it may make sense to position them as close to the privacy fence or property line as possible. Otherwise, you are giving up real estate, and making your property appear smaller than it is. This may not leave much room for flowing, free form, layered creativity. In any event, I don't see how such displays can be enjoyed if they come at the expense of privacy and leave areas of stark, unscreened fence to contemplate.

I also sometimes wonder why planting for shade seems to have gone out of style.

Blank slate back yard needs design assist

Comments (6)

ideasshare

karinl

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