Front yard- help please! from a newbie gardener.

16 years ago

My husband and I are looking for help/suggestions with our new front yard. Any suggestions would be very appreciated! Thank you in advance!

We live in Minnesota- Zone 4b. The front of our home faces East.

We are looking to remove some over grown bushes, replace a retaining wall, and add plants/bushes.

Below is a picture from earlier today. We started by taking down the overgrown bushes.

{{gwi:19012}}

Below is a picutre of the home after removing the bushes today.

Here is a picture that my huband made for me. It is just quick a quick example of what the retaining wall may look like. He knows that I am not very good at visualizing. (He does have quite a bit of experience building walls.)

I do love to garden (but I am a new gardener), so the idea of using wood chips/mulch instead of rocks in a planting bed seems like a good idea for me. It seems like it will be easier to add more selections at later times. Does anyone have opinions about the difference?

On a side note, if color matters, we will be also painting our home. We will be changing the main color to a lighter green and the trim boards a off white color.

Again thank you for the help! We really appreciate any ideas, suggestions, or opinions!

(Sorry for the poor quality of the picture, my husband took it with his camera phone.)

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Comments (5)

laceyvail 6A, WV
16 years ago
A picture from a slightly greater distance that places the house in its setting would be helpful.
barefootinct
16 years ago
I like your house and I think that wall will really add to it. I would think you don't want heavy "foundation" plants as much as lighter, airy things. Small shrubs mixed in with perennials for structure would be ideal. How deep will the planting area be? Six feet plus would be ideal for putting in shrubs that can stretch out and possibly fronting them with perennials.

Absolutely, I am in favor of wood mulch over stone. I think it looks better and is better for the plants.

Your cool planting zone and the eastern exposure will limit some of your choices, consider some combination of these shrubs: dwarf ninebark, azaleas, amelanchier, juniper, heath or heather, along with maybe some of these perennials: dianthus, daylillies, peonies, lamb's ears, coral bells, russian sage, perennial salvia.

Go to nurseries, check out the neighbor's garden, and have fun.
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Wellspring, thank you so much for your response. I really appreciate you taking the time to read my post and your concern regarding drainage, which I'm afraid I made sound like more of an issue than it actually is. We too were initially concerned and had several experts (an engineer, a home inspector, a survey team, and 3 contractors) examine the entire property prior to our purchase. They all agreed the small amount of run off we see after heavy rains is not in fact getting near the foundation or the house but rather staying about 2 feet away due to the grade of the ground right up against the house. I should have used better wording in my original post and for that I apologize. Another contributing factor to the run off is the condition of the ground. The front oak trees were so overgrown for so many years there were literally branches touching the ground and consequently no grass and hardly any ground cover at all growing in the front yard. As a result, the ground itself was very compact and much of the top soil had washed away. We wanted to wait until after we finished the construction on the house to start working on the yard so we are just now beginning to address the issue. From what we have been told, proper aeration along with the addition of top soil and organic matter, as well as some actual grass, should really help with the small amount of run off. As far as gardening and yard care are concerned, I am just an enthusiastic novice so I tend to believe what I am told. If this does not sound plausible to you, by all means, please let me know! Thanks again and any landscaping ideas are still welcomed.
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isabella__MA
16 years ago
Gardner-B,
Don't just replace the old wall with a new one, but look at the possibility of using your new wall to improve the landscape design.

The proposed wall coming across the front of the whole house does have a strong unifying effect, but it also mimics the now exposed foundation wall. Extend the wall out beyond the side of the house and arc it out into the yard more or a diagonal for a more geometric look. A photo from the northeast showing that corner would be helpful.
gardener-budding
Original Author
16 years ago
Again, sorry about the quality of those picutres! I will bring home my digital camera tonight and try to snap a couple other pictures.

Thanks again!!
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
16 years ago
I agree with isabella, but I'd avoid any more straight lines You are just emphasizing the angularity of the architecture and a gently curving will soften the appearance a great deal, as well as add visual interest. I'd also agree to extend the wall beyond the right end of the house (as you are looking at it) in a deep half circular form. A wide, extended bed here would be a good place to put a smaller scale tree, like a flowering crab, weeping cherry or dwarf conifer to add some height.

The rounded or curved bedlines culd be used selectively elsewhere in the front to repeat this element and add room for other plantings.

Front yard- help please! from a newbie gardener.

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laceyvail 6A, WV

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Comments (5)

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