Design ideas needed for awkward space in front of house (w/pic)

garden_grl_2009

14 years ago

Our front "yard" is basically just a narrow area between the house and a gravel driveway. I'm having a hard time coming up with ideas for how to landscape it, plus my husband would like to be able to easily access the space under the porch (hidden by the lattice panels) at any time, so I was wondering if something that could be moved, like large containers, would be a good option. I also thought about making the area into sort of a gravel courtyard, but am uncertain as to how that would look with our style of house.

Thanks!

(I am having trouble posting a picture, but will try to add it shortly.)

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Comments (5)

garden_grl_2009
Original Author
14 years ago
Here is a link to the gallery where I posted a photo:

http://photos.gardenweb.com/garden/galleries/2009/05/house_and_front_yard.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Front of house/yard
holleygarden Zone 8, East Texas
14 years ago
Love your farm-style house! I was wondering a couple of things. 1) Which way does your house face and how much sun does it get daily? 2) Is the front the only access through the lattice panels to where your husband needs to get to - in other words, could he use the lattice panels on the side instead of the front to gain access?

I could actually see a gravel courtyard there with perhaps a tree and just a few plantings coming up through the gravel here and there. More of a mediterranean scheme, but I think it could work here.
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Nice house! I like both the porch and the overall proportions and design. I'm afraid I agree with the suggestions to remove the plants that are too big for where they are and shift the arbovitaes away from the foundation. I try to plant woody plants to accomodate their eventual size and then put in annuals, vines and perennials to fill the space while they grow. Consider foliage color and texture while you are thinking about your new plantings. An all green bed can be restful, but will be of more interest if the foliage texture is varied. Many of my spring blooming plants are situated so that their foliage size and texture contrasts with that of near-by plants: iris with Veronica 'Georgia Blue', Baptisia, and Hydrangea for instance. For foliage color, there are plants with cream or yellow variegated foliage such as some of the dogwood (Cornus) shrubs and small trees or wegeilas. Some wegeilas have dark red foliage as do some of the ninebarks. I also try to have at least something blooming most of the growing season. Two of my favorite summer blooming plants are the later blooming clematis and hydrangeas, either the H. paniculatas like 'Limelight' and 'PInky Winky' or H. arborescens like 'Annabelle' or the reblooming and hardier forms of H. macrophylla like 'Endless Summer', 'Penny Mac' or 'All Summer Beauty'. Both the hard prune (type 3 or type C) clematis that bloom in summer and the summer blooming hydrangeas bloom for at least several weeks for me. I grow some of my clematis on stuctures like obelisks, but others I grow through shrubs and small trees that have finished blooming earlier in the year such as Cornus alternifolia, and the clematis provides an apparent second bloom for these plants.
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leafy02
14 years ago
That is an adorable house! And how nice to have a blank slate to start with :-)

It might help get suggestions if you say where you are (state) so people can have some idea of what plants might thrive there.

I wondered about accessing the crawlspace through the side panels, too, because to me the house looks so sweet and old-fashioned I'd be itching to put some old-fashioned shrubs and flowers out front. In my climate, hydrangeas and lilacs come to mind, don't know if they'll do in yours.

The problem with having large containers that could be moved out of the way is that they would be so darn heavy to move. I have a half whiskey-barrel planter that is too heavy to move even though I have the bottom half filled with packing peanuts instead of soil. If you have a bunch of little containers, you'll have trouble keeping them from drying out; if you have big ones, they won't be too portable.
missingtheobvious
14 years ago
Those of us who have solid foundation areas are advised to keep our foundation plantings a couple of feet away from the house. That allows easy access for maintenance, and leaves plenty of room for air circulation to prevent wood rot, moss growing on brick or stone, etc. So your situation may not be so different from houses with other types of construction.

Will your husband need access to every section of lattice? Like the others, I was wondering if he would be satisfied to access the area under the porch from either side of the house, rather than removing the lattice panels on the front. (No, I didn't think he would.)

How easy will it be for him to remove the lattice? Will it be a simple matter of removing a screw at each corner, or will this be a major operation that will take an hour or longer, and involve a lot of creative language? How much room does he think he'll need? Will he need room for equipment, and if so, how much space will that involve?

If you do plant anything adjacent to the lattice, you'll want it to be a shrub with a sturdy trunk that won't mind an occasional bump from your husband's feet.

Another option besides a gravel patio is simply to plant grass right up to the porch. How wide are those brick piers? How would your husband feel about having a (heavy, difficult to move) pot immediately in front of each pier? Would that still allow him enough access to the lattice?

Will there be a railing around the porch? If yes, consider the possibility of window boxes on the porch railing, perhaps with trailing plants. If no railing, you have the option of putting low box planters around the edge of the porch.

Do you have a need to plant trees to shade the house?
garden_grl_2009
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks everyone! Let me try to answer all the questions...

holleygarden: The house faces east, and the porch is in full sun for a good part of the day. The screened porch side of the house is mostly shade (to the side and back of the house) and pretty boggy...but that situation is a whole separate post! :-) And yes, I think the space under the porch could be accessed from either side. I'm not sure if my guy would be totally satisfied with that, but I think I could talk him into it.

leafy02: We're in north/central MS, which I think is zone 7 (?). We also have really heavy clay soil in this area, unfortunately.

missingtheobvious: I'm really hoping he will be OK with accessing through the side panels. I'm not 100% sure, but I think they can be removed fairly easily, and I think they just pop in and out (no screws, or not many).

I believe 2-3 ft. of space would be an ample amount of room, but I'd have to check with him about the equipment...

We do currently have grass planted right up to edge of the house (the picture was taken toward the end of our construction phase). And yeah, I'm sure dragging heavy pots out of the way would get old pretty fast, but I don't think it would be frequent...maybe only once or twice a year?

There will eventually be a railing around the porch, but it will probably take a few years before we are able to get to that due to all the other projects we have going on. The box planters are a thought...I've just been using hanging baskets so far.

We have a lot of oak trees on our property, but there is nothing right by the house, so it would be nice to have a little shade. It's also pretty windy where we live, so we've discussed planting some trees as a windbreak, too.

Thanks again!

Design ideas needed for awkward space in front of house (w/pic)

Comments (5)

garden_grl_2009
Original Author

holleygarden Zone 8, East Texas

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Design ideas needed for awkward space in front of house (w/pic)

Comments (5)

garden_grl_2009Original Author

holleygarden Zone 8, East Texas

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leafy02

missingtheobvious

garden_grl_2009Original Author

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garden_grl_2009
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