Can anyone help me with redesigning my front bed

14 years ago

I am planning on removing everything from my front bed except for the Blaze Climbing Rose bush with the clematis climbing it and the dwarf Bleeding Heart at the bottom and the Clematis in the center. Everything else will be taken out.

I have some plants bought to plant. They are:

Juniper Blue Star

Euonymous Emerald Gaiety

Barberry Rose Glow

Hydrangea Endless Summer

Hydrangea Pink Invincebelle Spirit

I also have a few extra plants that I could plant there

Astrantia Ruby Cloud

Jacobs Ladder Stairway to Heaven

I was also planning on buying Royal Purple Smokebush. Don't know if it would get too big altho it would probably die back during the winter as we are zone 5a Can. so it would not probably get big.

I would really appreciate some input on where to place those plants in the bed and which ones would compliment the other plants.

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Comments (5)

Freda
Original Author
14 years ago
Forgot to add that the Endless Summer hydrangea blooms Blue in my garden
cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
14 years ago
Hi, Maet,

I love the corner with the clematis and bleeding heart! It is hard to tell how deep the bed is since photos can be deceiving, but for the shrubs, you may need to widen the bed or perhaps just expand it beyond the wooden border. I think maybe you could put some of the shrubs in the existing bed and place the smaller perennials in the new, expanded bed...? I like to place my pots around for a couple of days (or longer in many cases, but we won't get into my weak decision-making skills) to see how I like the look. I'm sure you'll get many more replies from those with more experience in design-I'm such an amateur!

Cynthia
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Here are some pics of the bed today, will finish clearing it this weekend. The ferns will probably get moved (DH loves them I hate them, there too messy). Note the small clump of Lenten rose on left. There was a beautiful Daphne there for years. It was killed by a tree that knocked the gutter off the house and the gutter sliced the Daphne down the center, so the locale is good for a Daphne.
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I live in the Chicago suburbs too, and think your own instincts are great about what should stay and what should go. I think you would like your Sea Green junipers more if they served as a background hedge for the KO roses, and if you used the roses on the other side of the bed in front of the bird's nest spruce, you would get that cohesiveness I think you're looking for. You'll have to remove some of the flat juniper; use it to fill in on the other side where it looks like there's ivy now, put some of it around the tree on the lawn, perhaps with a few hostas, similar to what's under the tree in the third picture. I don't think you need boxwoods too, and the yews can definitely go. I think a hedge of dwarf Korean lilac in the corner nook would look lovely, and smell heavenly in bloom. I notice you have a couple of nice sized mugo pines under the windows on the short side of the house, but honestly some of those shrubs are so sheared I can't ID them. I would keep the pines, and remove the rest. The large round one with white flowers is hiding the great brickwork on your house! I would love to see a mix of interesting deciduous shrubs, like a Harry Lauder's walking stick in between the pines, and a grouping of variegated red-twigged dogwoods on either side of them. I think a Royal Frost birch would be too tall in the front bed, and that river birch or amur maple would be better choices. I would use Virgina creeper to soften the western wall. Hope this helps, and doesn't confuse you more! :)
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The plan is not good. I post this all the time. Anything in bold truly needs to be rethought. The best homes are designed to suit the site and are a marriage of a well designed interior and exterior. The best houses come in at or under the design target square footage The best houses orient the public rooms towards the south for the best passive solar heating and cooling The best houses are L, U, T, H, or I shaped. The best houses are only one to two rooms deep. And covered lanai, porches, garages, etc count as rooms in this case. The best houses make sure kitchens have natural light, meaning windows so one doesn't have to have lighting 24/7 to use the kitchen. (And no, dining areas with windows 10' or more from the kitchen will not allow for natural light.) The best houses make sure all public rooms and bedrooms have windows on at least two walls. The best houses do not if possible put mechanical rooms, pantries or closets on outside walls The best houses do not have diagonal interior walls making for odd spaces. The best houses keep public and private spaces separate. The best houses do not have you walk through the work zone of the kitchen to bring laundry to the laundry room. The best houses do not have the mudroom go through any of the work zones of the kitchen. The best houses do not use the kitchen as a hallway to any other rooms. The best houses do not put toilets or toilet rooms up against bedroom walls or public areas. The best houses do not have walk in closets too small to stand inside. The best houses have separation, such as closets, between bedrooms and between bedrooms and public rooms. The best houses do not have roofs that are overly large, and dominate the exterior of the house. The best houses do not have stick on exterior materials only on the front façade. The best houses have an organizing “spine” so it’s easy to determine how to get from room to room in the house and what makes sense. Meaning they don’t have meandering circulation paths. The best houses design the inside, the outside and how the house sits on the site all at the same time. I tend to be drawn to craftsman, colonial, traditional. Well then have one of those designed by a talented architect. What you show is not any of the above. It's a bad mish-mosh.
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duluthinbloomz4
14 years ago
Since you already bought plants and are now faced with designing them in; I reiterate the idea above to move them around in their pots until you come up with an arrangement that suits the look you're trying to achieve.

How deep is the bed and will it be widened? What is the sun exposure? Looks as if you have both sun and shade plants doing nicely together. With what you've purchased and if it is all to go in the existing space, a line up that appeals to your eye as to height, color, and texture might be the only possibility along with a front of the border fill-in with spashes of color like your begonias.

The Blue Star Juniper should have an open, sunny location. It does not respond well to the encroaching floppy foliage of nearby herbaceous perennials and other shrubs. Slow grower, 3x3' in ten years or so if any of the guideline literature is reasonably accurate.

The barberry, euonymus, and hydrangeas should have at least 3' of space - I only have the barberry which is easily controlled by pruning and I imagine the others are as well, at least for the short haul.

Smoke Bush, being hardy in your zone, has the potential for some real size.
Freda
Original Author
14 years ago
The bed is 36 inches wide including the 3 1/2" of the wooden border, It gets morning sun. The bed cannot be widen because the wooden border is below the soil and also attached to the wooden wall at the side of the lawn.
The perennials can go in the back yard. I have spaces in there that needs a few extra plants. Do you think that I should maybe plant the hydrangeas halfway between the concrete wall and the wooden border? That would give them space to fill out. Good idea to place the pots there and change them around. Thanks so much, hopefully I will get some more opinions.
Freda
Original Author
14 years ago
Just noticed you recommended the euonymous, barberry and hydrangeas have at least 3 ft of space. At least then one won't be overwhelming the other if they are basically the same size, or maybe not.
I'm out of town next week for a while so wanted to get my plants in before it gets too late otherwise I will probably just plant them in the ground in their pots and transplant them permanently in the spring.

Can anyone help me with redesigning my front bed

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Freda
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Can anyone help me with redesigning my front bed

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