More information is needed.

Do you view roses and hydrangeas as being equally appropriate to the front area? Just wondering, because they require very different growing conditions.

What type of soil do you have? Sandy? Clay? Other? Acidic or alkaline?

How many hours of sun do these areas get?

Don't know if this is your full-time home or a vacation home, but in either case, will you or someone be there to water and care for the plants?

Are you concerned about how the front of the deck will look during the many months of the year when roses and hydrangeas will look like leafless sticks?

Coastal Massachusetts is excellent habitat for hydrangeas and roses growing side by side. It is butter and toast on Cape Cod (an important part of a nutritious breakfast). And yes, they take all that the North Atlantic dishes out.

The two responses above just go to show the regional differences in what grows well together. Where I live, growing roses and hydrangeas side by side would result in sun burned hydrangea or poor performing roses, depending on sun exposure. Listen to Laag, dannytom. He knows your area.

Well Vicki you obviously have knowledge that transcends your district as you know that roses and hydrangeas become leafless sticks, which I doubt they do in Zone 9.

Regarding the hedge, consider the shape you want - the ultimate height, and the width. Do you have enough space for a hedge rather than a fence, and will privet grow tall enough? If the space is as narrow as your words imply, perhaps something like upright yews would be better. Also, are you there enough to keep on top of the trimming of privet, and is trimming what you want to do when you are there?

Thanks for the comments and questions.
The front of the house is facing east and is sun, sun, sun until 3pm. The soil I have not checked the Ph but it is sandy.
This is a summer cottage so the winter landscape is not a priority. I am looking for a nantucket garden look. I tend to like a lot of one bush or plant.
I have included the back of the house to show the closeness of the two cottages. I don't mind cutting a hedge.
What do you think?

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g198/dannytoms/DSC04103.jpg
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g198/dannytoms/DSC04099.jpg
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g198/dannytoms/DSC04101.jpg

Thanks

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:35856}}

I don't think there is anything wrong with your plant choices. I would have a preference toward Nikko Blue or Compact Hydrangea because the flower is stronger visually from farther away. Daylilies and lavender are fun to add to the mix. You might want to group the plants rather than run them in rows (other than the privet). Height is not a problem with privet as it easily grows 18' (Ligustrum ovalifolium is the one that is most used here).

Young Maple trees make a nice hedge if appropriate to the exposure and distance from structures. Plant fairly close, mine are 4 1/2 feet apart, and prune hard the first few years to assume the shape you prefer, I removed low growth but did not prune the canopy. I did not plant in a straight line but a zig-zag.

You can get them pretty cheaply if you start with 1 gallon pots. I chose green-leaved trees but red-leaf Maple would be lovely with your gray house.

I dislike the (often) severe look of Privits, and some folks are allergic to the flowers. Also once they develop one of those annoying 'holes' in the hedge it is difficult to convince them to fill it back in.
GH-

This is a regional coastal New England look and a maple hedge is not part of it - not that there is anything wrong with it.

Zone 6, southern coastal Maine checking in, here. Be selective in the hydrangeas you choose! I have been unable to coax flowers from Nikko Blue for the past 5 years.

I have 2 "Toyko Delight" (aka Tokyo Delight), a Nikko, and a varigated form who's name was lost before we "rescued" it from a 1/2 price section. Only the Toykos have produced flowers without protection (an only sporadically, very low on the canes). I love Hydrangeas, but the only ones that will flower reliably (without winter protection) for me are: "Annabelle", Oak Leaf, Paniculata (PeeGee, our's are in standard form).

Last fall we protected the first 4 I mentioned. The Toykos are covered with buds. The varigated one suffered much cane die back, but those that survived have buds. Nikko, again, has been a waste of time...

I urge you to try "Endless Summer" or "Annabelle". If you're willing to invest the time to protect them over the winter, be more adventurous.

Definitely scope out the Hydrangea forum. Look for posts from Hayseedman... he's a fount of information... whatever success I hope to experience this summer will be to his very great credit!!!

Annabelles and All Summer Beauty are strong performers for me.

Annabelles have some winter interest if you let some of the flowers dry on the stem.

Thanks for the advice...lagg I am definately trying to get the coastal new england, cape "nantucket" feel.
Inland, I have had great luck with lace caps but this will be my first ocean front garden.
Thanks again for the advice on the Ligustrum ovalifolium.
I am going to try and take pictures of the space between houses, I thought it would be fun to create a natural passage.

The nice thing about a house like that and its location is its simplicity. You can leave it the way it is and it looks great; you can plant the hydrangeas and it'll be great. I would lean a couple of surfboards against the railing or stow a kayak out front, maybe mix in a few tufts of non-invasive grass and call it good. Wonderful setting, a deep relaxing sigh of a house.

OK, I have to ask this:

If your home is on the NORTH SHORE of Massachusetts why are you trying to imitate Nantucket?!

I am not trying to be insulting (though the direct question sure is!), but it's a question that really BEGS an answer. The reality is, you don't have the climate or the mitigating ocean effect to pull off an imitation. Not unless you're willing to hire a landscape company to come in and molly-coddle dicey plants. If you are, that's fine. But if you aren't...

You need to trust me on this... zone 6 has many faces in New England. Just because the temperature rarely falls below zero doesn't mean you will be successful with zone 6 plants. I live on a cape. I have seen the mercury go below zero about 4 times in nearly 16 years. But the late winter/early spring winds out of the west can decimate plantings when there is minimal snow cover or marginal hardiness. Cape Cod is a "whole other animal"... don't fool yourself; it's a helluva lot harsher where you and I live. Spring comes LATE to you and me; and plants that respond to spring warmth by opening buds set last season are frequently zapped by fully predictable late season blasts. You have to protect zone 6 Hydrangeas and leave them covered until nearly Memorial Day.

I don't have leaves on maple trees until late May. I bid the last of the Lilacs goodbye about 2 wks. ago. My peonies are at full bloom, as is the Climbing Hydrangea. German Iris are just past peak and the Sibirian are now on the wane, too.

Be careful and selective in your plantings. Laag knows his onions, but his practical experience doesn't "jive" with my own. Spring comes LATE for you and me, but fall will linger long.. not as long as it will for Cape Cod or the Islands, though.

The only questionable plant is the hydrangeas. We get an exceptionally cold winter from time to time (like two years ago) that will keep Nikko Blues from blooming much. I would definitely look around your location to see what other people have that is thriving and surviving.

Another thing that you should pay attention to is whether you will be blocking neighbors views. One observation that I have made here on Cape Cod is that the closer you get to water, the more neighbors fight.

Chelone...yikes! Thank youfor your direct and honest opinion.
You are right in that the north shore is its own spot. And I am not trying to recreate Nantucket..I was using that desciption as a way to paint a picture with few words. I am looking for a simple look.

LOL about "fighting" close to the water, Laag. We avoid all that because we live on the "cheap side of the road". ;) We can hear the ocean, we can smell it, we enjoy the sea turns throughout the summer, but we don't pay waterfront taxes. And, we're actually able to grow MORE things than our waterfront neighbors can.

Back to Hydrangeas... look into Endless Summer. I don't have any, but like an Annabelle, you can cut them to the ground in the fall or early spring and they will flower for you. They will flower "blue" if you ensure the soil is acid. Many of my friends in the area swear by them when they'd previously sworn AT their finicky Nikko Blues. Visit the Hydrangea forum! so many experienced voices that love Hydrangeas.

Rosa rugosa is absolutely bullet-proof. Had I enough direct sun here I'd grow them, too. The scent is incredible and they ask virtually nothing. White or pink, they're the quintessential seaside planting.

(I was a tad too "tough" about your desired "look", I fear. But hell... nothing cheeses me off more than people attempting to recreate "home" or their fantasy in locations that have much more to offer. Bad me!)

chelone
I LOL when I read your message...
I love the elegant taste of coastal gardens that do not try too hard and have chaotic color everywhere. There is a serenity to the garden. Contrast that to the gardens that have neon red wood chips, chaotic color and many different figurines.
I am looking for advice to capture the look of a Nantucket garden ..not the place nantucket
thanks

I think you'll find roses and privet in coastal Maine without looking too hard. When someone says Nantucket cottage, an instant image appears. When someone says a Cape Ann landscape the crickets are deafening. It is a coastal New England look that has been around at least a couple of hundred years.

lagg
If I go with a rose in front of my cottage what species would you suggest?