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Landscape Design

Our front yard needs a redo

10 years ago

I'd like to make some changes to our new (to us) front yard. My husband wants to plant some grass and call it good. That won't do. I need suggestions!

- I plan to add a fence panel on the right side of our house set back a few feet. It will give our pup a place to lay out of the sun. Yay? Nay?
- I can't revise the driveway other than maybe staining it to try and minimize. It was poured just before we moved in.
- I'd love to use a dwarf corkscrew tree if it fits. I think they look awesome in the winter.
- I like contemporary or modern but this house is typical for the neighborhood.
- I'd take a closer picture but really not interested in keeping wood edging, red mulch or pink rocks. And there really isn't anything to keep for plants except the tree.

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Comments (14)

COCurler
Original Author
10 years ago
Sorry. I can't figure out how to post multiple pictures at once.
COCurler
Original Author
10 years ago
Oh and the house faces east.
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About to redo front yard - thoughts/advice?
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Comments (14)
Wow, thanks for all the comments! I can't link the approved plant list, since it's on our HOA website which requires a login. I have it as a .pdf file, but can't think of any way to get it up here for you to see...it's pretty boring anyway :) Emu bush, southern live oak, chitalpa, willow acacia, chocolate flower, salvias, etc. are sadly not allowed. We really would prefer emu bush and live oak to the choices I posted above. We like desert willow, but half the houses on the street have them :( Agave parryi is one that we've considered; it actually is approved. I really like agave pelona (not on the approved list...maybe I can hide it behind something!), but I've read it's a bit picky and may be difficult to grow successfully. The closer we put the aloe ferox to the house, the more afternoon shade it will get. I've seen it kept in full sun in some nurseries around here, but Bach's has it under light shade cloth and theirs looked the best. I'm really excited about this plant...I hope it works! My wife says the texas rangers have to go. Really, they don't hide anything all that much. The houses are just too close together for that. Maybe the HOA won't pick up on the difference between live oak and emory oak; I actually had to look at the tags to tell them apart. Gambel oak (quercus gambelii) is also approved, but we were told it wouldn't hit 10 feet. Toyon (heteromeles arbutifolia) is approved and would be cool, but I can't find anywhere to buy it. Gah, why can't anything be easy? Thanks for all the help.
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I must say I love my three Crape Mytrles in my frony yard. The flowers arent too messy, as they kinda fly away when they drop. The leaves are fairly small and not too intusive when they fall. I prune mine back every Demember to the main growing branches. IMO, this leaves the best looking tree for the winter, and gives you a nice compact buchy tree come Spring/Summer. Here is a pic of i and 1./ of them :) from last year when they were just coming into bloom Brian
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Comments (5)
Jenn- I can relate. I'm in the middle of a huge re-do as well. I live in upper Rockridge in Oakland, and am having the yard re-terraced for improved access. In my case, they've been working for two months and I think they're only half done. I let them decide when they think they can safely work on the hillside. Where they have compacted the soil in places I want to plant I will have them amend it. In my case, they are building me lots of paths and steps, so I figure all they are doing is compacting the places that need compacting. I'm trying to plant the areas they've completed-at least get some of the deciduous trees in place. I went out there yesterday afternoon, right after the rain stopped, and my soil was dripping wet a foot down. BUT-since my soil has years of Clodbreaker worked in and lots of mulch faithfully applied, it didn't compact when I dug it. At one point when they dug into my hillside to widen a terrace, I was amazed to see that I had beautiful dirt 2 feet down. I've been mulching the soil for 12 years w/ American Soil's 1/4 inch fir bark, and when the back yard was originally terraced, I had them add in lots of Clodbreaker. That soil was a thing of beauty, unlike the nasty sticky stuff that was uncovered when they pulled out a hillside of ceanothus in untouched soil. So.. you can improve clay soil if you keep at it.
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Comments (1)
We're going to need close-up pics of the weeds, so that we know what you're dealing with here. We will also need to know your general vicinity - State and nearest big city, and zone, if you know it. And I recommend that this post get repeated in the Weeds forum here on Gardenweb, as it's more active than this one.
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designoline6
10 years ago
Should start from changing box shape of the house.add a porch.plant hosta,hydrangea,privet,boxwood....replace the walkway.
Olychick
10 years ago
designonline6, why when people are asking about landscaping, do you always suggest an expensive, total remodel to the front of their home? I just don't see that as helpful at all.

Cocurler, you have a great looking home and some wonderful trees as a starting point. I'm sure some of the experts here will have some helpful suggestions for how to enhance what you already have. I'll only comment that I think a fence could look good and will help hide the heat pump unit and your pooch will thank you for the shade.
littlebug5
10 years ago
I agree that your yard needs a redo, and I'd second the idea to do away with all the red bark, the rocks, and the island planting bed between the two seas of rocks. What a busy-busy layout! The driveway looks well-done except for the unfortunate extra parking pad which lands right in front of your picture window.

Nice, cozy, sturdy-looking house, by the way.

The big tree looks HUGE as compared to your house. Do the lower branches overhang the house? Maybe it should be trimmed. The other multi-trunked one looks like it functions to hide your picture window, just like a vehicle parked on that pad would. I'd take that tree out.

I think a well-maintained bright green lawn would help the looks of your property tremendously. And some small planting beds up next to the house would be nice. There are many experts here on this board that might chime in with some suggestions for those.
PRO
Yardvaark
10 years ago
Here is a general idea that you could use as a starting point. (Color, or lack of it, does not mean anything. Use colors you like.)

The red "X's" are limbs I'd remove before they become any more dominant. They won't work well over the long term.

I find the "V" shape that is created where the walk joins the drive to be not handsome. Would be better if concrete were added so that the planting space it contains read as octagonal-ish instead. (It would correlate well with the bay window.) Also, the front walks needs to be wider, especially the one connecting to the drive. Currently, they look like older government housing project walks.
designoline6
10 years ago
You could select a pergola,but I suggest you add a porch,If you have budgest.
anjp
10 years ago
@Yardvaark could you tell me what you're using to create that designed image? Or are you just doing it in Paint?

Sorry to hijack your thread.
designoline6
10 years ago
I use Maya,cad,3dsmax...software.
PRO
Yardvaark
10 years ago
(duplicate deleted)

This post was edited by Yardvaark on Mon, Apr 7, 14 at 21:22
PRO
Yardvaark
10 years ago
it's Paint. And the technique is painting. Very little photoshopping. Usually, that's for clean-up.
designoline6
10 years ago
My photoshop tech always don't work about demension,3d ......I need to take more time to study.
COCurler
Original Author
10 years ago
Paint?! That's amazing. We've removed the red mulch and have soil coming to level it out. I don't have any questions yet. Just trying to figure out how to give Yardvaark's suggestion justice.

I had been thinking the garage needed painted so it's not so stark white behind the house. It has some life in it so I could just leave it. Thoughts anyone?
emmarene9
10 years ago
You could paint it to match the house but I think you should focus on the front garden first. Are you letting the pink rocks stay? They are creating a patchwork look.

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