Front Yard Arizona Landscaping - Fresh Start With Images & Plan
luckycharmz336
12 years ago
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designoline6
12 years agoYardvaark
12 years agoRelated Discussions
Please help me landscape my small front yard?
Comments (14)I wonder if an "oval" of grass would help in this case??? I just looked up the definition of an ellipse on mathworld and my eyes are still spinning :-) I think Reyesuela makes a couple of good points. The first, regarding the grass shape, is that when you make your beds, you should pay attention to the shape of grass you are creating, not so much the shape of the bed - the bed shape will be more or less immaterial once you get it filled, while the grass shape will always show up. And actually, since you like formal, I might almost play with a rectangle of grass under the window surrounded by straight beds on three sides, obviously not going right to the road to avoid the snow plow - or putting low, tough plants like the most vigorous hostas on the road edge. The second, if I understand correctly, is to create a space within your front yard where you can be, or to enclose your house, rather than making it a sort of frame for your house to be simply looked at. I strongly agree that, especially when you have a small amount of space, what matters most is how you want to feel when you are in it or in the house looking out. Depending on the feel of your street, you may want to be visible; I don't know. What complicates this approach is what you say about the snow plow... you might be best off to make the front edge grass, along with the edges of the driveway where your car door needs to open. I would not not not do a standard foundation bed under the window. So predictable. I think a pretty patch of grass, tidy beds - not necessarily symmetrical plantings, but formal is good - there is really something about that row of Rhodies that just looks right. You could remove sod under them, joining their little patches into a long straight bed, underplant them a bit if you widen the bed. karinL...See MoreNew Landscaping For Front Yard Review
Comments (5)What a fun, great post! Thanks for sharing the picture of your home (it's gorgeous, I really love it), and the plan, plus nice pics of the plants in case anyone isn't familiar with them. I know this sort of stuff is very personal, so thanks for sharing it with us all. I was going to say the same thing as AZtree, that while it can be done, most sago "palms" struggle in sun here. They can work, but if it was my plan I'd not plan to have some in full sun. You could do some nice Hesperaloe parviflora plants in those locations ("red yucca" though not really a yucca) and they would have a nice upright almost grassy look and blooms that would compliment your 'Torch Glow' bougies. Just a thought. The design is very nice and we all have different tastes about style, formality, and plant materials. I'm a firm believer that the bulk of our gardens should be plants that LOVE it here, and your plants certainly fit the bill, so that's great. We can always backfill with experimental plants, or plants that need coddling, etc later. Two minor things stand out. It's hard to tell from the pic and design, but that seems sort of close to the house for Chilean mesquite trees. They grow big, and fast, and maybe that's exactly what you want, but a quick look seems like where you've got them planned is a bit too close to the house (for my comfort anyway). I do have one too close to my house, but it came that way and I'm always thinking about having it removed, LOL. Just something to think about or discuss with your landscape designer. You could always try something smaller, like Texas Ebony or Texas Mountain Laurel. The other thing, again, very minor but as a friend I'd mention, is that I personally am not a huge fan of the thornless hybrid Palo verdes ('Desert Museum' especially). They're very popular and fast growing, but I see SO MANY that get serious wind damage because their wood is so weak (from growing fast). I'd see if you could get one of the non-hybrid types of Palo verdes instead. They'll grow slower, but they'll be a lot stronger. I've seen some 'Desert Museum' trees looking good, but really only those that get thinned out OFTEN. A lot of them get real damage and split/broken stems from moderate winds. Again, just a thought. I do see some that look good, but if it was my plan (and it isn't, LOL) I'd see if I could swap out a native Palo verde for the hybrid ones. All in all though it's a very nice plan for a gorgeous house! If you did it exactly as planned, it would look great and you might be lucky with the sagos being able to tolerate the sun (and I could be wrong about the tight quarters for the mesquite, it's hard to tell from the pics), and you may keep the hybrid Palo verdes trimmed so they last a long time. So, basically you're on the right track for sure. Definitely keep us posted and let us know what you decide to do and how it works out. I'm sure you'll get lots of other input too. We'd love some "during" and "after" pics too! Take care and happy gardening, enjoy that beautiful home! Grant Here is a link that might be useful: Pics (so far) from my garden April 2012...See MoreNeeding help with front yard landscape
Comments (35)If you're going to own a car it requires that you know something about car maintenance: periodically, the oil and tires must be changed; it must be washed and fluids filled, etc. These are things one learns to do in order to have the pleasure and convenience of owning their own vehicle. Similarly, if you're going to own a lawn, you learn to mow it weekly, edge it periodically, and keep the weeds out, etc. Groundcover is no different. Depending on what plant you make it of, you must learn how to prepare for it, what maintenance that plant requires, and how to control it. Groundcover requires a bit different approach than grass, but it is not necessarily harder or more time consuming. It is just different. I find it to be easier so my yard is 100% groundcover. The number one difference is that weeds must be kept out. This is not harder than weekly mowing. It's just different and there are methods one can employ to make the job easier. In the long run, groundcover can be considerably less work after it's established (which depends on the plant used) than a lawn. Your example of "battling an ivy plant for years" has me thinking that no one is employing any effective methods of controlling it. It is a bit like never mowing, edging or weeding the lawn and then blaming the grass for being out of control. One thing is for sure, only weeds will be happy if you try to grow grass where there not sufficient light to do it. It boils down to the fact that you must have something growing to cover the ground, or you must cover the ground with mulch (and replenish it ongoing). The something growing can be a sad attempt at a lawn (which is what is there now); it can be groundcover; or it can be a mixed variety of plants (like in that picture above). What else is there other than solid hardscaping which is not the least practical? Of those solutions you can already see exactly what one of them looks like because you have it now. You can probably envision the mixed variety of plants covering the ground. Is there any question that it would not be the highest maintenance of any solution? If you take another look at the left side of the photo I submitted of the houses with sloping fronts, you'll notice that it is solid groundcover. It doesn't look like there's a weed in it. You can see at its left side a sharp division where it abuts its neighbor's grass lawn. Each planting is distinctly separate. The groundcover is neither running into the grass, nor is it rampaging over the edges of the walk or steps. How is this even possible? The fact is, it happens in millions of places all over the country. It's obvious that one can learn how to employ plants in such a way. Or they can refuse to do that....See MoreLandscaping front yard ideas.
Comments (46)It is a slow growing very small shrub. I love that it turns a greenish blue in winter and brighter green in summer, I also like its visual contras, it reminds me of yews. If spring was a longer season I believe these violas would extend the bed out themselves, When I plant Summer annuals I will extend the bed out some. I’m not to upset about potentially changing out the gardenias. I don’t seem to have much luck with them. I will look into other native plants. I still need to plant a tree on the side and continue to mulch....See Moreluckycharmz336
12 years agoYardvaark
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12 years agoYardvaark
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