Fighting with Symmetry

17 years ago

The front facade of my house is symmetrical. ItÂs a 1-3/4 story cape cod style, with a bumped-out (for lack of a better word) entry. On either side of that are picture windows flanked with double-hung windows that take up most of the wall space. Dormers in the roof add to the symmetry. The symmetry ends on the north side of the house where there is an attached breezway, attached to that is the garage; both are set back from the house.

To me, the house has more of a cottage feel to it, so a formal planting doesn't seem right. Plantings that are more relaxed would seem more appropriate to the style of the house, butÂ

Does symmetry always equal formal?

The urge to make the foundation plantings the same on either side of the entry has been a strong one. When I showed a photo of the house to a LD, he had the same initial urge. (I didn't see his credentials, so I can't speak to abilities, but that is beside the point.) Matching the plants wonÂt work because the house faces east, so the plant in the northeast corner would get more shade than the plant in the southeast corner, therefore, both would grow at different rates.

Twice in the last five years IÂve tried to landscape the front, neither time getting it right. I donÂt know if it was from not having enough weight at the corners, or not having height by the entry, or one of the other mistakes I made.

I think IÂve come up with a plan, but I canÂt bring myself to execute it because although the shrubs will work well when considering the ground space, I'm afraid it will look awkward against the symmetrical facade. IÂm going for a controlled cottage look (if that makes any sense), but I donÂt know if the symmetry will let me.

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Comments (11)

Saypoint zone 6 CT
17 years ago
Strict symmetry would require using identical plants. You can create a feeling of symmetry by using plants with similar shapes, sizes, colors, and textures, even though they are a different genus, to accomodate the different light conditions.

I learned that, in general, you put the shortest plants in a foundation planting near the entry, the ubiquitous Dwarf Alberta Spruces notwithstanding. If there is a good reason to do so, such as camouflaging utility equipment or something else that needs to be hidden, it makes sense to put something taller there.

There have been many threads about foundation plantings, have you read through them? Can you post a photo of the entire front yard? You can also post a scanned drawing of your new plan, or make up something with Paint to show what you plan to do.
laag
17 years ago
Instead of fighting with symetry, try flirting with symetry. One way to do that is to use symetry from the center of the house out toward the corners. As you move out away from the core of the symetry, you are moving from where symetry makes sense to two areas of the house that are most definitely not symetrical. How you want to affect those areas of the house are completely different. You may have a larger bed that sweeps way out from the house on the non-garage side that may be bermed or have an ornamental tree in it to add some visual weight to balance out the garage at the other end.

What I am saying is that you can transition the planting from symetry where it is screaming for it, to whatever else is effective as you move away from it. You cam look at "foundation planting" being a planting along the foundation of the house. Or, you can look at "foundation planting" being the plants that set the foundation of the rest of the planting - the thing you build on. Once you set that stage, you can put almost anything in front of it and get away with it.

Try setting the "foundation planting" in the background along the original Cape as a symetric balance, but don't close the book ends with the same plant (put a larger pyramidal evergreen on the open corner and something of a smaller upright on the one toward the breezeway). Now, you have your foundation to build from. You have addressed the symetry. Now you can bring more plantings in front of these without having to match symetry and it will hold together. You might plant with a big sweeping curve turning the corner on one side while keeping a narrower bed on the other. You can focus on how you want to address the big picture - how your house sits in the landscape, because symetry is no longer an issue.

I deal with this all of the time. Much of the architecture here is Cape Cod style (I wonder why) with lots more jogs and bumps, or "telescoped" additions, or breezeways and garages just like yours. It makes sense to reinforce the core of the architecture with you planting and that is what I try to do and the method above is pretty effective. You want to draw a certain amount of attention to the front door to make it a comfortable place to rest your eye when you look at the entire scene. It does not necessarily have to dominate, but it should look comfortable.

Don't worry about straight vs. curved, informal vs. formal, or any of that. Work with the plants and style that make you happy once you set that foundation.
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If you really need to control the size then just whack it off at 2 or 3 feet from the ground (after it blooms in the spring), every couple years and then let it grow out naturally again. - Tacky lawn ornaments; that would be most lawn ornaments. - Bright colored plastic children?s toys, castles, etc. cluttering a yard. - Plastic lilies, tulips, etc. - Security lights which shine at my house. I hate the glare. I wish these people would mount the lights on the ground and shine them at their own houses, it would look much better and still provide some security illumination. - Gazebos sitting forlornly in an expanse of lawn. * Posted by: Laurel7286 z 6/7 Maryland (My Page) on Wed, Sep 17, 03 at 18:30 So many already mentioned that I agree with, especially the comments on hardscape & "garden decor"--I'll try to add something new. From my own yard when I first moved in: all green landscape, everything either 30-60' tall except for the grass, shrubs/trees planted too close to the house and waaaaay overgrown. And to daylily dreamer, I also hate all those contorted varieties of plants that look like aliens. I think they are peddled as "something new" and unusual, not necessarily beautiful. Also contorted unnatural colors of things--green coneflowers, etc. And last but not least, topiary an/or bonzai. * Posted by: katz_WI z5 WI (My Page) on Sat, Apr 10, 04 at 3:19 There's this one house with those sad evergreen bushes trimmed in perfect balls spaced out every 5 feet, and the ground under the bushes are covered in those ugly white rocks. Nothing else grows there. The people who live there are absolute neat freaks, and not a single weed would dare pop up. Their yard is overly rigid and symmetrical. Heck, they probably go out at night and use nail clippers to trim their bushes! LOL! I also really hate those figurines that focuses on the rear-end of a person bending over... like an old lady in a dress with a bonnet. Oh please! (Really, any figurine is tacky.) Every time I see those lawn animals like those fake deer statues, I want to scream. What else can be bad is the opposite of a barren yard--one that is overgrown, and has tooooo much stuff. Like there's this one house that has like 200 pots of flowers in front of their house! VISUAL OVERLOAD! EYESORE! OK one more thing--my MIL's side garden is so sad--she's got those chunky white rocks (ok I really hate white rocks with a vengeance!)and she's got these wimpy, whispy plants interspersed in the lot. My gosh, the poor things look like they're in a parched desert, and if a rock were to roll over, they'd be crushed to death. And she's got these troll figurines all over. They have no place to hide! LOL! Ok... time to get off the soapbox. :-) * Posted by: ReeW z7 MD (My Page) on Sat, Apr 10, 04 at 6:38 katz_W, your reply made me laugh. Lollipop trees and ball shrubs drive me crazy too. White rocks? The previous owner must have had used them as mulch and then put top soil over them and planted grass. When I went to dig out the lawn to make a flower bed I hit little white rocks. Lots of them. I was not amused. LOL * Posted by: medusa_ 7MD (My Page) on Sat, Apr 10, 04 at 11:44 What I really hate is the fact that there are many beautiful plants out there that have become undesirable simply because of their overuse. I love crepe myrtles! I love weeping cherries! I love yews!--Thank goodness they've fallen out of fashion. What I can't help but wonder is why so many people continue to put up with hideous plantings--evergreens naked on the bottom, nandinas that have been incorrectly pruned. Why don't they toss them or learn how to fix them. They actually work on them--you see them with the hedge trimmers every Saturday. Go figure. * Posted by: lettssee z7 maryland (My Page) on Sun, Apr 11, 04 at 7:47 Christmas lights all year long. I don't understand Easter trees either. Does the bunny hang eggs on trees? Anybody know why people do that? * Posted by: mymacca z6 SEPA (My Page) on Sun, Apr 11, 04 at 19:24 Gosh, I either HAVE or WANT most of the evil stuff everyone has mentioned! I enjoy the diversity in landscaping. In my neighborhood, there are some houses with evergreens pruned into symmetrical shapes, one house with a gazebo and arches covered in pink silk flowers with cherubs all over the place, lot's with vast expanses of ivy or impatiens, and almost EVERYONE has a Norway maple or two, because they were included in the price of the house 50 years ago! I like them all for one reason or another, especially if someone laboured over them! My least favorite garden trend would be FRONT yards with clothes lines, tall grass, visible collections of trash cans and the trash that "missed" the cans, auto parts, discarded toys and bicycles, and an assortment of junk cars which are parked in the lawn and street so the kids can play in the driveway! I also really dislike the low-pressure sodium streetlights that are replacing mercury vapor lights because they are "cheaper" to operate. I live in a large post-war housing development with a street lamp every 150 feet. They are mounted very high, and light up way too much area beyond the street with an ugly thick yellow brown halo that makes the entire street look like an industrial parking area. They even glare into the windows at night!! * Posted by: kkay_MD (My Page) on Mon, Apr 12, 04 at 12:06 This thread is too amusing to ignore. My pet peeves include people going to the trouble and expense of removing trees, and not planting anything in their place. The houses are then exposed, graceless, and (I'll wager) way too hot in summer. My other pet peeve is what I call "corporate lighting"--people who remodel their houses (in our neck of the woods that seems to be the trend) and get all kinds of spotlights to highlight their walkways and driveway and porches and facade. Light pollution! Sometimes it's nice to look at the stars. * Posted by: DawnStorm 7/MD (My Page) on Tue, Apr 13, 04 at 12:08 I'm glad I live in a free neighborhood where people can decorate their yards as they see fit, but there is this house along Conn Ave (heading South) that had these box-shaped pink azaleas in the yard. Always reminded me of someone who'd just enlisted in the Marines and had already had a date with the barber. Poor 'zalies! Somebody got a little crazy with the hedge trimmer! Several blocks down and around the corner from me is this homeowner with the world's largest collection of yard figures: deer; gnomes; geese, wishing well, mushrooms, you name it. I think it's tacky and I'm glad I don't have to see it, esp. in the fall when the geese sport Redskins helmets, but I'd rather have that than the monotony of a gulag (my name for a planned/gated community). Proud hanger-out-of-clothes (but in the side yard NOT the fron!) * Posted by: bunnymom z7 MD (My Page) on Tue, Apr 13, 04 at 16:26 This is a cool thread! Dyed Mulch in Volcanoes around dying, generic "mall trees" Plastic Flamingos, Fake flowers, "Buzz cut" forsythias & azalias, White rocks over landscaping fabric (compliments of former homeowner) HUGE trees two feet away from rowhomes...this one kind of amuses me though, I have a neighbor who just took out a huge Oak that was a few feet from the house and took up all of the front yard only to replace it with, yup, What I believe to be another Oak. Please keep this post going so people can see the error of their ways. This should be required reading for anyone who buys a house, much less anyone who wants a boo - boo free garden. The one thing I can say is at least these people are putting in some effort to Beautify their area. Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. * Posted by: madsquopper 7a No. VA (My Page) on Tue, Apr 13, 04 at 21:45 And what's wrong with plastic flamingoes???? I have two pair, but make them stay in the back yard. * Posted by: bunnymom z7 MD (My Page) on Wed, Apr 14, 04 at 15:43 As long as they are in the backyard for you to enjoy and not in the front for the rest of us posters to get a good giggle out of! :) Kitch & whimsy do have their place. To each his own. Those are just my opinions. No offense meant. :) Rachel * Posted by: NEYler 7 (My Page) on Thu, Apr 15, 04 at 16:44 I can't stand it when people have an overabundance of plastic wild life if the yard. A few realistic looking animals are okay ( I have a couple of small green toads peeking through my tulips ) But come on, have you ever seen a 2 foot tall deer? I'm also going to go with everyone else on the circle bed in the front yard along with the wavy looking concrete edging. I could probably go on and on, but it seems like so can everyone else. * Posted by: GeeDavey MD 7b (My Page) on Fri, Apr 16, 04 at 16:18 Ivy front lawns. nuff said. * Posted by: mymacca z6 SEPA (My Page) on Sun, Apr 25, 04 at 16:47 I have a few flamingoes and would love to have a gazing ball and a few Gnomes also, especially if I could find some of those nice large ones like George Harrison had. I have seen a few threads like this one previously, and the one I liked the best was the lady who spray-painted dried flower heads metallic gold and SWORE to her neighbors that they grew that way!!! I STILL laugh to myself thinking about that one! * Posted by: winged_mammal (My Page) on Sun, Apr 25, 04 at 17:12 bradford pears, forsythias, pampas grass, needleleaf dwarf & unusual evergreens, zoysia grass * Posted by: ritadc z7 VA (My Page) on Mon, Apr 26, 04 at 11:17 Sheared azaleas and forsythia! Let them flow! * Posted by: Sparky13 7b (My Page) on Wed, Apr 28, 04 at 8:52 Oh, you guys reminded me of something interesting I saw the other night. I volunteer as an EMT for my local fire department in the Rockville/Kensington vicinity. I was at an elderly man's house and, while he was speaking with another EMT, I happened to notice a couple of large, black-and-white photographs on the table. They were pictures of the house that we were standing in on the day he bought the place about a half-minute after it was built 50 years ago. This was a typical post-WWII property. There was no grass, no shrubbery, no sidewalks, no trees...just a brick house in the middle of a square of barren earth. Now the owner is 90 years old and the shrubs he planted many, many years ago are growing up over the house, taking over the yard, etc. When I drive through my neighborhood and see overgrown shrubs like this, especially ones that make the houses look scary and dark, I wonder if the owners are likewise elderly people who have neither the funds nor the strength to eradicate their good-plantings-gone-bad. Of course, this is not to say that anyone should feel guilty for loathing the appearance of such houses. They DO look imposing and unkempt. Those of you who take care of your yards know how frustrating it can be to live near a "creepy house," as my daughter calls them. I mean, they ARE creepy. But maybe the owners are old and sick and don't care and can't do anything about it. Time rolls around. The houses will eventually fall into other hands and with any luck the places will look spiffy, again. PS: My actual pet peeve is azaleas. They bloom for a couple of weeks, poop all over themselves and then are boring the rest of the time. I have some. The only reason that they are still here is that the roots are too much for me to dig out. So I've pruned them back to almost nothing and am taking up all of the surrounding horrid ivy that threatens to compromise my siding and basement. * Posted by: DawnStorm 7/MD (My Page) on Wed, Apr 28, 04 at 11:25 Sparky, you must live very close to me! You make a good point about yards being over-run simply because the homeowner is sick/elderly/on a tight budget. There are two houses in my mom's neighborhood: one right next to her and one right across the street. The one next to her was owned by an elderly man and his batchelor son for the longest time and the back yard was very woodsy. After the father died, the son lived out his days there, and one morning in 1982 went out in the back yard, put a gun to his head and you can guess the rest. To make a long story short, the house's new owners had that back yard totally redone and today it looks like any other yard. You can hardly see the house across from my mom's because of all the overgrowth in both front and back. Same story--batchelor son living alone in the house. Luckily, he's not so much of a hermit that the other person was--my mom says he likes to garden but he also doesn't do anything about all the overgrowth. Guess it doesn't bother him to the point where he'd hire someone to come and take it all out. * Posted by: himsa z7a MD (My Page) on Wed, Apr 28, 04 at 12:56 English ivy and trees mulched up the trunk like an ant hill! Why oh why? * Posted by: pcj42 NC (My Page) on Fri, Apr 30, 04 at 7:19 Painted cement figurines. Plastic yard ornaments. Cookie cutter landscapes that occur in housing developments. Flags hanging from porches (Ok so the very first one I saw was kind of neat, until EVERYONE had to put one up) I also do not understand Easter egg trees or even those big plastic eggs people are "hiding" under bushes. Too much "yard art". There is a fine line between just enough and overdoing it. Rusted "antique" farm implements lining the driveway. Pompas grass (my husband says "it takes a pompous #SS to have pampas grass), I like hostas, but they are getting old and you can never get rid of them. Pansies. I really hate Pansies. I think that about covers it. * Posted by: minibite 6b (My Page) on Fri, Apr 30, 04 at 11:42 "I also really hate those figurines that focuses on the rear-end of a person bending over... like an old lady in a dress with a bonnet. Oh please! (Really, any figurine is tacky.) Every time I see those lawn animals like those fake deer statues, I want to scream." Katz-W, You really had me cracking up with that one! On my morning walk, I'd been seeing rabbits, and I swore that the neighbors fake bunny was real. I think they even move it so it faces a different direction every so often. Sorry, but I detest the pink flamingos too. And oh the yard flags that change with every rhyme, reason, or season! What's the point!? Also, my hubby hates what he calls 'poodle' evergreens that you see in almost every new development with professional landscaping. O.K. I confess, I planted a row of evergreens in my back yard, but only as a screen for my neighbors unsightly junky one. I work tirelessly adding perennials and bulbs so that the conifers serve as a backdrop. And why does every front door have to be flanked by 2 evergreens. Now I've got two on one side of my front door and the house looks unbalanced so I feel forced to plant one more on the other side! My last comment is that some people just don't like gardening and don't have the time. My neighbors think I'm a little nuts probably because I'm always out digging and planting, and many of them work full-time, so I think they just want something that grows without a hassle. * Posted by: LaurelLily 9a Houston, TX (My Page) on Mon, Jun 21, 04 at 17:11 "Ivy front lawns. nuff said." Not enough said for me--I need to vent, because this is my pet peeve. It REALLY bugs me when people who have close neighbors and don't live out in the middle of nowhere do that! Don't they know how invasive ivy is?! And it looks ridiculous to have grass lawn after lawn, then suddenly ivy in the middle. It just looks like they're too lazy to mow! I LOVE English Ivy, but it has its place (in a container, where it won't take over your neighborhood!). It really is best in doses, not overkill. "My new neighbors, (god bless their poor little souls), replaced everything that was previously in their yard, (lilacs some deciduous trees etc.) with evergreens last year." Maybe you should gift them with a new plant or two--how about a non-threatening pot of something colorful? ; ) Even if they just let it sit on their porch, it'll be refreshing. They'll probably feel obligated to keep it in the front of the house, where you can see it. Ditto on the lawn ornaments. I have a friend who's collecting garden gnomes--precisely because he KNOWS they're ugly. It amuses him. * Posted by: LaurelLily (My Page) on Mon, Jun 21, 04 at 17:19 Oh, and I can't resist expanding this--to work! Everybody at my office has a pot of pothos/Devil's Ivy on their desk, or some "lucky bamboo." I wanted to have something extremely different, so I brought a small pot of mint up to work--now I have something near me that smells wonderful. * Posted by: DawnStorm 7/MD (My Page) on Wed, Jun 23, 04 at 10:58 I have a snake plant on my work desk--it was part of a big snake plant that I got at the Fall '03 swap. It really likes its home, but then again, snake plants are tough. * Posted by: Lynn_D Z5 PA (My Page) on Wed, Jun 23, 04 at 15:18 Colored mulch! Yards have been showing up with red for the past few years but now they have yellow and black as well. One house has them all, in waves, in one bed! * Posted by: Cathy_S z6 MD (My Page) on Wed, Jun 30, 04 at 17:46 The newest trend around our area is layering up retaining walls where retaining walls aren't truly needed. They have these new "building blocks" everywhere you can possibly find room for them. Add to that the carefully spaced plants and acres of mulch and the neatness is enough to make you sick. And, then everyone in the neighborhood has to have the same look. There's one place not far from our home where they have so many walls built up, there must be a serious shortage of building materials (either that or the manufacturers of the blocks have been able to retire to Europe). * Posted by: RacerD z7 TX (FW) (My Page) on Thu, Jul 1, 04 at 0:06 We have a few "rock yards" around here....two are neighbors down the street. Completely removed the grass and dumped a bunch of rocks. Now the weeds are starting to grow through. I just don't get it. I'm also sick of all the Bradford Pear trees....seems house after house has the same round tree. At least with Crepe Myrtles there are different colors. ;-) * Posted by: Adona z7 VA (My Page) on Thu, Jul 1, 04 at 9:50 I once lived near a couple who had an interesting idea of gardening. I hated it, but it also made me chuckle. Picture all flowerbeds covered in white rock...we're talking only white rock, no shrubs, etc. Add those plastic spinning daisies about every three feet. Can you picture it so far? Okay, now for the crowning glory...wait for it....two gallon glass wine bottles filled with colored water and placed between each spinning daisy!!! What a sight! Alright, I realize it isn't a "trend"....but I had to include it. * Posted by: NCGreenThumb Zone 7 (My Page) on Wed, Jul 7, 04 at 20:24 I detest yard art of any kind; Gazing Balls, wooden ornaments, gnomes, fake animals. The comment about the "bending over woman with the bonnet" made me laugh. I've seen a few of those around here. Nature makes plenty of plants and trees that are far more beautiful than the yard art du jour from Home Depot or Lowes. Cathy from Md made a comment about the building blocks and I have to agree. Bland, rigid and certainly not natural to the location. I guess I'm a minimalist at heart. I prefer to use what is natural to the area.
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janetpetiole
Original Author
17 years ago
I just noticed "Cape Cod" after your screen name. Lucky me. Thanks for responding, Laag.

I am somewhat on the right track. I was going to put a narrow juniper on the non-garage side of the house. On the other corner of the house I was thinking about a Holmstrup Arb, because it grows slow, but all arbs are scary, so I am still thinking about that one. Another evergreen would be necessary at the far corner of the garage.

The non-garage side of the house already has a nice sweeping bed line that goes around the corner, and I already have a tree planted in this area to balance the garage, but itÂs not in the bed yet.

Here is what I had thought about doing on either side of the entry: I have a great shrub rose (Therese Bugnet for the rose people) that would fit perfectly in the narrow bed. It is currently on the other side of the entry, but sort of gets lost in the bigger corner; do you know what I mean? I currently have several lower shrubs planted in front of the rose, but it looks too busy, so I thought one big shrub would be better - I would love a Limelight Hydrangea, but it will be similar to the rose in height only.

In addition to the big corner looking too busy right now, the porch is far enough from the house that it almost has the appearance of a dock with no lake when looking at it from one angle. I thought a big shrub would not only soften the big inside corner (the total length of the entry and the porch is 9 feet), but also cover up that dock look, so when I drove past, I didnÂt have the urge to go for a swim. Maybe I could get a few wooden seagulls, and plant a few logs in the ground by the corner of the porch for tying up my non-existent dingy ;-). If I shouldnÂt use the hydrangea, then IÂll have to go back to the drawing board.

I just thought about looking up internet real-estate sites for houses similar to mine in the Cape Cod area. If you are aware other internet sights that might be helpful, I'd really appreciate being pointed in the right direction.

Saypoint- The dwarf Albert Spruce is just starting to show up at nurseries here, so I image weÂll start seeing it everywhere in the near future. The most over-used shrub in my area is pink spirea. I see thousands of these dirty looking shrubs from about mid July until they leaf out again in spring.
jake
17 years ago
My first thought was along the lines og laags planting scheme.

Lose the formal symmetry concept but keep the balanced appearance by placing a larger corner plant (tree) on the open side (non-garage side).

I would consider a smaller tree on the garage corner to balance the minds eye w/ vertical statements at the corners.

The plant material in between should hold very similar shapes and sizes but can be different in real character.

Look at these areas as mass and not individual objects. Try to hold like colors but up close the different plant selections will ne noticable.

Result should be a balanced design w/ colors matching but plant material being different when a closer look is taken.

Jake
anna_beth
17 years ago
I wholly agree with what laag has written.

I would say, in your case, some symmetry is needed close to the house to give the sense of order as well as to harmonize with the house itself. But symmetry only throughout the entire visible garden would be undesirable - boring, unnatural and stiff.

I would not restrict myself to any concepts other than harmony and balance.

I am actually doing just the opposite of your enterprise - changing the entrance planting next to my asymmetrical house to a more symmetrical one - I have gone too far with the "natural" asymmetrical look.
landman41
17 years ago
So lagg

So I get this. Are you setting the stage for a basic 3_d type symetry. Meaning fixing the foundation of the house and make the shape out towards the street a second or third stage point of definition?
laag
17 years ago
Landman,

I'm not sure what you are asking.

What I am suggesting is to treat the Cape portion of the house as if it stands alone by adding one layer of symetric foundation plants. Then adjusting it on the ends to help balance it with the reality of the rest of the house. I might do this by using a Blue Princess Holly on the corner that has no garage and maybe an upright cherry laurel or hicks yew on the other corner. The symetric part might be inkberry and compact hydrangeas in my summer resort area. Somewhere else it could be Japanese andromeda and azaleas. Whatever floats your boat and interacts with symetry of the house. Then you could add additional plants that may try to disguise that symetry (or may not). The idea is to "flirt" with the symetry enough to make the planting comfortable. Once you have that out of the way you can pretend the symetry does not exist and treat the entire house with this base planting as if it were one object and landscape it.

Your unity is largely set. Now you can enhance it with plants that might add color or depth. You no longer need to build more symetry (but you could, if you want to). The symetry will be subtle if you play your cards right. We may see this all of the time and not pick up on it. I believe that you seldom see a nice planting along the face of a house that is not built by some variation of this. Look closely at comfortable plantings that you think are funky in front of a house and see if it is not backed up by a basic foundation planting. I believe that it usually is. Funky plantings in front of a house tend to fall apart without it in my opinion.

I'd caution the OP that you need to use plants of substance as the foundation. Roses are great as secondary plants or enhancements. Their form is too weak as a structural foundation plant. I do put roses, daylilies, and lavender in foundation plantings as enhancements, but not as the structure. They are added after the structure is thought out.
janetpetiole
Original Author
17 years ago
I went to a nursery the other day and wandered around looking at all the shrubs trying to figure out what I could put where, and I realized, after three years, that for me to landscape the front of my house is impossible; it feels like a chore, itÂs not enjoyable, and it takes my mind away from the garden. So, IÂve decided to hire someone to do the landscaping in front of my house. For a fee, the designer will come out to the site, work up a plan (My part is to supply photos and measurements, and do the planting) The fee is given back in form of a voucher to buy plants at the nursery. I want to use this particular nursery because they have a large selection of plants, which have been well maintained throughout a very dry, nasty hot summer. I was impressed. In addition to that, they have very few spirea, barberry, and shrubs muffins on sticks, (even more impressed) so I trust that I will get a thoughtful design. ItÂs a family run business; they have one very experienced designer who is also the owner. IÂm 90% confident I will be happy with the design, but there is a small part of me that is concerned.

I will be asked to list things that I donÂt like, which shouldnÂt be a problem for the designer, it's my guess he doesn't like that stuff either. IÂm a little leery about listing anything that I do like, except to say that I want a comfortable and relaxed design, not one that will be wild in three years, and not one that is obviously or overly-designed. Maintenance is not an issue Â I know how to take care of plants.

I am asking you this: what is your favorite type of client, or should I ask you this way - What can the client say to you that will allow the freedom for creativity, and also enable you to give the client a design that will make them happy? How can I help make this experience pleasant for both of us?
elphaba_gw
17 years ago
I think I can understand your question/dilemma.

I would strongly suggest that you go to the book store/magazine store or perhaps the library but I bet they don't have the best garden mags. If you're like me, you have a library of garden magazines so you may not need go anywhere except to your personal library.

Anyway, browse thru the garden mags and find 2 or 3 (or more) pictures of gardens that you LOVE or REALLY REALLY like. (If there is a half-price book store nearby, that will work too.)

Pictures don't have to be similar. They don't have to apply to your front yard. They don't even have to apply to your geographical location. But they will give some ideas for style that your landscaper needs to know, i.e. whether minimalist, cottage, formal, zen, symmetric, asymmetric, lots of horizontal, lots of vertical, tropical, etc. Don't worry if it seems to you that you have given him conflicting information.

The only other thing is that if you think the pictures really DO show ideas that are too much of a contrast regarding taste, you might consider talking to the landscaper about the pictures (instead of just giving him the pictures) explaining why you think you like them.

Anyway, you will need to buy the magazines that have the pictures that you REALLY like so you can provide the pictures to him but hey, I know these mags aren't cheap but what is 20 or 25 dollars at this point especially regarding your front yard.

Last recommendation, don't make a career of this. Give yourself a time-limit or limit on how many mags/books you will look thru. Sounds like you really need to move on from this so don't use this task of finding pictures as another obstacle.

Good luck.

p.s. We have a (small) symmetrical house with door in the middle and one large window on each side of the door and our planting is very asymetrical and I like it very much. I DO have identical pots on our porch on either side of the door. I also have an Indian Hawthorne bush on either side in the garden spaced a little away from the walkway on either side. But after that, quite a difference. Lots of very tall huge Elephant ears on right side with sago palm on the end on the right. On the left, I have a very large, dramatic yucca/plant/tree (12 feet tall or so) along with a couple of Nandina bushes and some Caladiums and Verbena for color. (On the right side is a pot of asparagas fox-tail fern, almost forgot). Oh also, a sago palm on the far left as well so I guess I have symmetry on the immediate right and left and far right and far left and in the middle right and middle left, quite a diverse situation and I like it a whole lot.
janetpetiole
Original Author
17 years ago
I have a decent size library and can only resist a gardening magazine which has photos of poor quality. To solve gardening magazines from taking over the house, I cut out the photos I like and paste them into composition notebooks. I now have 3 filled, and enough photos to fill another.Most books haven't enspired me because the plantings are too loose or to rigid or are high end homes that I can't relate to. Regardless, I have a lot to work with. Your suggestion is good and will be easy to prepare.

My biggest stumbling block in all of this is that I can't look at the front as often as I like. What would be perfect is to plant myself in a lawnchair in the yard of my neighbor whose house faces mine, and just sit look while imagining every possibility.
madtripper
17 years ago
Do you really have a symetrical house???

From the description, you only have one garage and it is only on one side of the house. Only one driveway? There is also the breezeway.

The plantings will become part of the house. They can enhance the symetrical feel or not.

Use a curved entry walk way, maybe coming from the driveway. A large tree on one side, but not the other. Different style shrubs on the other side. Use different colored drapes in the Windows. Make the flower beds uneven and bring one out much more than the other. Use different colors in each bed.

Use large bold plants, and they become more noticeable than the house.

Suddenly, you don't have a symetrical house.

Fighting with Symmetry

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