Looks like a nice setting for the house.

Saypoint, I'd like to know something about how the whole property design class works... were you assigned starting points like the size of the property, orientation of the buildings and the house style and size? Or were these things chosen by you?

I have to look up some of those plant varieties, but others are already on my favorites list.

Thank you,
Annie

I echo Annie's question as to what the assignment was. It seems to me that you've chosen a nice house on quiet streets with no topography and no neighbours, ie with few constraints/opportunites for creative problem-solving - um, there being no evident problems! Critique seems to me to require a knowledge of the (please don't start that discussion again but I have to say this) functions of the landscaping: no context = no critique. Looks nice, that's all.

Without knowing the exact scope of the project...and with great respect for how many hours this baby took. What did you learn from doing it?

For my way of thinking, there's too much emphasis on the perimeter without much manipulation of the total space. There's not enough winter screening--the flowering and deciduous trees are great selections, but there will be little or no privacy during the winter months.

It's hard to tell from the photos what shape the lawn areas are. In the back of the property, the lawn is meandering, softening and directing flow and views, in the front, it's squared off and not very interesting. The front of the house doesn't give that palpable feeling of "HOME" that's so important. Also, why so many car turn abouts? Is the property that big or do they have teenagers?

That's all the time I have right now--back to work.

OK. The house plans were copied from a book of residential architectural plans. The assignment last semester was to design an entire property for an imaginary client using what we had learned during the whole semester. My "clients" were a couple, no considerations necessary for kids or pets, the interior layout of the house is an informal open plan, which gave me a starting point for the design. The "clients" liked to entertain informally, and enjoyed doing a bit of gardening.

The design started out front with the placement and layout of driveway, parking, and walks, followed by foundation plantings which I kept low because of the porch (the house has a pretty railing, which at 1/10 scale was too much of a pain to bother with on the model). The house faces north, so plants are chosen accordingly, with some thought given to seasonal interest. The "framing trees" were then chosen, and the side lot line shrub borders added. In retrospect, I would have used fewer trees on the left side, as it became a bit crowded once the shrub border went in, but they were already in place, so I left them. Trees were chosen so that ultimate height of the tallest would not be much more than 5-10 ft. taller than the ridge of the roof.

A patio behind the house accomodates informal entertaining, and overlooks the pergola with climbers and flower border. One Trident Maple shades the patio and the raised foundation is hidden by a low hedge of Inkberry Hollies. There are a few shrubs and flowers under the shade tree, and a lilac right on the corner of the house. An enclosed utility area behind the garage is accessible both from the backdoor and the driveway, for garbage cans, compost pile, etc.

A small garden in the right rear corner is shaded by the perimeter plantings and a Flowering Dogwood, with bench, birdbath, stepping stone path, and bulbs, perennials, and flowering shrubs.

Hopefully, the borders on the property lines and foundation plantings will have something interesting going on at different times of the year.

We didnt' know, when we did the plan, that we would be making a model of it the next semester, or I might have introduced some grade changes. Some of the students used actual properties of family or friends, but only one student actually showed any grade changes on her model, with a very nice rock outcropping behind the house. The purpose of the model making project was a) to learn how to make a model and b) to see what our plans might look like in 3D.

Miss R, we were posting at the same time. Thanks for your thoughts. You're right, there is not a lot of screening from the property line plantings, except for several hollies on the right, and a couple of Longstalk Hollies and the Korean firs in the back corners. Next time I may be able to think about size, season of interest, zone, light, soil, moisture, AND screening all at the same time. LOL Not easy to do, and the mind boggles very easily. I'm sure that it will get easier as I do more projects and plant characteristics stick in my mind from repeated study of them.

The driveway provides for backing out of the garage as well as guest parking. We were taught to provide space for extra cars which was convenient to the front walk and which would not block access to or from the garage, along with the proper width, flare at the road, etc.

I agree with you, too, about the front. I probably would have brought the plantings out a bit more, maybe on the other side of the walk, but the instructor was a real stickler on access for snow removal and someplace to put the snow, so I kept one side of the walk free. I believe the planting bed in front of the porch is 5 feet deep, so I left it at that. The front could be more interesting.

I should have touched up the paint on the garage roof, too, where a blob of hot glue fell. I burned myself so many times with that danged thing, I had bandaids on my fingertips for two weeks.

For a 'critique' to work it is necessary to state the parameters or criteria of the project, this way it is possible to assess how close you are to fulfilling your objective. No landscaping project is without constraint, site, budget and client (imagined or otherwise). If you feel that you were being limited by the expectations of your instructor this is also a constraint.
The plant list strikes me as being a tad esoteric for someone who "likes to do a bit of gardening", though a nice list of plants for sure. I hope you don't think I am coming on too strong jo (wink)

Yeah, Ink, can ya tone it down a little?

Since the site and client were imaginary, I didn't include any situations like awkward property lines, eyesores off site, grade changes, drainage issues, existing features, budget, HOA issues, etc. Maybe I would have gotten more out of a project that dealt with a real existing property and clients with opinions. Something to consider next time, and I'm in fact working on a project right now for which I've used my elderly neighbor's house. Existing lot, some plantings, ease of maintenance, etc.

Why esoteric? Most of the plants on the list are readily available, nothing really exotic, and many of them are things that I actually have on my own property, so I have some experience with them. The design is made up of mostly trees and shrubs, with a few perennials in the foundation planting, a small flower border near the pergola, and a small shade garden in the back corner. Maybe I understated the imaginary client's interest in gardening. In any case, the shrubs, once established, won't need a lot of attention, so it's just the two little garden areas. If it were actually my house, there would be more garden space and a veggie plot.

One thing I notice about my plant selection is that it seems heavy on the fall color, a personal thing because I enjoy the cooler weather when it arrives after a hot summer.

The expectations of the instructor were the biggest constraint, as his rules for design are set in stone, at least for classroom purposes. My goal, after all, was a good grade. So I guess the any critique would have to focus on whether I used design principles properly and had any success with aesthetic considerations.

Jo---

No critique on the plan (though I liked the plant list)--but some suggestions for "next time" as far as BUILDING the darn thing goes.

Were you trying to glue small pieces in place with a glue gun? No WONDER you burned your fingers. As someone who ends up building sets and props--I know your pain. And you need what I discovered too late for my last show. You need a Little Dipper Glue Pot. Melts a pool of glue--and then you dip the end of your piece and then place it. MUCH easier with little stuff--you can even hold the thing in a pair of tweezers and your fingers never have to get near the hot glue.

Actually--there are many brands out there. You should be able to find what you need at any decent craft store. Just be certain to get one that will melt the sticks--not the granules (easier to find/store the sticks) and one that will do low-temp as well as high-temp.

melanie

Here is a link that might be useful: Little Dipper Glue Pot

Looking at this design, I would never connect it with you as the person who designed it. It reminds me of 1958. Maybe I can't relate because having so much empty land with nothing but grass and trees is something that would never occur anywhere I've ever lived. It must be a regional difference. The garden area seems so limited compared to the space available, and the perimeter of trees strikes me as strange, but I can't say why. There is nothing wrong with it at all, it just feels funny.

Thanks for the tip, mel. I doubt I'll have to do another one of these, but ya never know.

catkim, yes, I also think it's not "me". The instructor has a lot of rules that we are required to use when designing. I posted about some of them last semester because I didn't always agree with him, but had to do things his way if I wanted a good grade. Every time I asked a question about doing things a different way, I got shot down. Once it was a front courtyard garden. Another time it was formal gardens.

One of the rules is that the "framing trees" must be behind an imaginary line that extends from the ends of the house to the front corners of the lot. Another is that the front yard must have a broad expanse of lawn. There are a lot of others, and one of the reasons I've posted about them, was to learn if any of the pros were taught to do things this way, at least until some of the basics are mastered.

I think you did a great job within the rules. You did a job that seems a good fit for the profile of the client. I like the way that you treated the street side of the house as a presentation to the public and those arriving, then made a variety of more private outdoor spaces that seem well placed to me. The bench is away from the entertainment area as a nice retreat. You made privacy for a property that one might guess is in a subdivision. The patio is near where one would expect a kitchen (and access to restroom). It is not fully exposed in the middle of the back yard. You have a good usable space, if the guests have brought along some kids with that lawn. The kids could play and be seen, yet not in the middle of the adults. You created a number of areas that flow together linked by the lawn, yet have their own space.

The only negative comment that I have is that you let the garage stand out by leaving it bare. The house might have a better presentation to the street if it seemed more framed by vegetation. The exposed garage makes the house hang out in the middle of the property where it plays off of the light colored garage structure which is a stark contrast. I think it would be nicer if the contrast was with subtle foliage in front of the garage rather than the garage alone.

I think I figured out why the trees and grass look odd to me. The areas around the bench and pergola seem 'right' to me; they have understory plants. The other areas have no understory plants, no layering. I'm used to seeing foreground, middle ground, high, medium, low, all layered together. With the trees and grass, there is only high, higher, and very low. With so much space to work with, I would expect some understory.

I agree with laag about the area in front of the garage. I saw that and thought, wow that would be such a nice big bed to work with. Perhaps precluded by the 'rules'.

Is there only one instructor on campus??

There are good things that I like about your plan, but the thing that struck me first, and the most, was it looks like the lawn is going to be a pain to mow because of all the little sections.

I think the lawn should be more flowing throughout the yard - it's more pleasing to the eye, and a lot easier to maintain. I think ease of maintenance should be a priority.

Andrew, thanks for your comments. I agree completely about the garage, and seeing it in 3D made it more apparent than it was to me on the plan. Something to watch out for next time. The "rule" is that the front public space is to create a setting for the house. Shrubs, trees, perennials, no annuals or focal point plants to compete with the house for attention.

Right now there are only two people teaching the design classes, but another full time professor has been hired and will start in the fall. I'm not sure who will be teaching my next design class, but it won't be the same person I have now.

dee can, also right about the lawn. There are some parts that will be difficult to mow, another thing to watch out for next time. There are so many things to consider at the same time, sometimes I feel like my head is going to explode, but making mistakes is a good way to remember it for next time.

Jo, I'm curious about what it is you are happy with and like about your design. (By the way, I agree that your plant list is not at all "esoteric"...I have many of those in my yard as well.)

Patty

Was relatively small trees a requirement? It looks open and hot to me. If the front of the house faces north, then the back of the house with the patio much face south. There will be no shade from late afternoon until the sun gets behind the evergreen behind the garage, it seems, and most of the backyard is going to be full afternoon sun also.

I'm also curious about the breaks in the side perimeter plantings.

'Real' homeowners would install a breezeway or some sort of enclosed connector between the garage and the house after the first winter. It would also help make sense of the short distance between the two buildings.

mg, yes, trees were required to be no taller than 5-10 ft. taller than the top of the roof, and get smaller as they approached the street. The Trident Maple is SW of the patio, the rest of the yard would be quite sunny.

By breaks, do you mean the fact that they don't encircle the entire property? I should confess here that I didn't want to have to choose that many plants, so I put in shrub borders more for interest than for screening or privacy.

I would never have put the garage so close, especially since the bay window is the dining area of an open plan layout, and you're looking at the garage wall. I put a trellis and climbing hydrangea on the wall, but ideally, the garage either needs to be attached and the house layout made to accomodate it, or moved away.

Well, I hope you got an 'A' on this project. The model is meticulously made with a lot of attention to detail, the scale is consistent, and you played by the rules, and your plant list is extensive, but realistic and informed. It must have been a lot of work.

I would love to see what you would do with this property if you could let your imagination loose, informed by the rules, but not restrained by them.

Shoot, if we used the rule about the trees being behind the imaginary line of the corner of the house to the corner of the property, there would be no trees in front yards here! No room, setbacks between homes are quite slender.

catkim, thanks, I did get an A, and it was a lot of work. I obsess over the plant selection, and make multiple lists of possible candidates for each area, researching each one to be sure it satisfies all of the requirements I have in mind. It's extremely time consuming, but should get easier as I get more practice.

I think the design suffers as a result, because so much energy is required that I have to stop before I'm really satisfied with the results. I'm at the top of my class, so my efforts have paid off, but I sometimes question the value of what I'm learning.

I questioned everything I was being taught as well. Looking back, I found that some of the best lessons were the ones that I did not realize were being taught. You will find that many of these excercises have other benefits than the obvious. It helps to know that in order to get through some of them. You may also have an occaisional teacher that knows more about teaching than what is being taught. Those are good lessons in dealing with people. You get something out of all of it.

The whole is worth more than the sum of its parts.

Jo: I bet if you stop and think about all the stuff you have learned in your training so far you will be amazed. I have noticed that the quality of your responses here has gotten better. This model is a great exercise because it forces you to make decisions. As this thread has shown, there are a thousand questions that have to be answered to develop a landscape and only a few of those questions have straight forward answers.

- Brent

I haven't read anything in here. But, I looked at the picture, and I have slept at a Holiday Inn Express... So, one thing worth noting is that if there going to be snow to be plowed, then some of those plantings around the driveway may be best if moved somewhere...
Tim

Yes, thank you Tim, you're absolutely right. Thank you for pointing it out. I should start spending some time at the Holiday Inn myself.

I became aware of the problem after the initial design was completed last year, but we were required to make the model exactly as designed previously, so I wasn't able to correct it.

This is good stuff that you are getting, Saypoint. They are making you live with the mistakes and the more the project goes on, the more those mistakes are obvious to you. It is aggravating now, but it is so good for you.

What is the program that you are enrolled in?

Thanks for the encouraging words, Andrew. It's a certificate in landscape design. The horticulture programs are only offered at one of the community colleges in the state system, and were started by a biology professor who was an avid horticulturist and gardener about 20 or 25 years ago, if I recall correctly. It grew over the years to include a two year horticulture degree program as well as Landscape Design and Arborist certificates. He has since retired, and the program is now headed by the professor that taught my Design I and II classes.

He claims that we will learn as much in this certificate program as we would in a four year program elsewhere. I don't know if that's true, but I sure hope it is. I've already completed the Woody Plants and Herbaceous Plants courses, as well as Drawing, LD I and II, and Landscaping Small Properties. I still have to take Landscape Maintenance, LD III, and Landscape Mechanics and Construction, where we will cover grading, drainage, construction techniques, irrigation, and maintaining power equipment, and will learn to use a transit and probably do a hands on project on campus. Students build various projects on campus, there's a summerhouse, benches, paver patios, greenhouse benches, all built and maintained by students. They have a small arboretum there, with a nice selection of woody plants, as well as a greenhouse.

The only other program in the state is UConn's LA program, which wasn't right for me, as I'm most interested in residential design. I may suck it up and try to finish in the fall, but it's a 50 mile commute each way, and I'd have to take three classes to finish, one of them split over two evenings.

Sounds good Jo. Do you think you will apply your degree towards a paying job or are you just doing it for fun and to keep the pros on the board honest?

- Brent

Brent, I'd like to do design-only. Too old to start digging in other people's yards.

Jo--if you move back ot NC--let me know! I'd hire you in a HEARTbeat--and Greensboro isn't TOO far from Chapel Thrill. (The mountains are, Perry--or you'd be dragged into the consult as well.)

People, when I am well I am DEALING with my back and side yards...

melanie