Landscape help for narrow front yard spaces
Sarah_Smith841
9 years ago
We have several areas in front of our house that we'd like to improve with some evergreen coverage, etc. We would love a second opinion on ideas! We are in Zone 7a with mostly full sun, facing west. We have current landscaping, but it is not mature or appealing. We have deer in the area, so we need deer-proof plants.
We would like some evergreen coverage, but the space in front of the house is narrow (5ft depth, 21ft length). We thought about laurels or maybe hollies? And perhaps use arborvitaes on each side. If we used any of these, would we be able to put anything else in the bed? See picture 1.
Next to the right of the steps there is a large bed, but it is also narrow (9ft depth). Not sure what type of evergreen coverage for there. The space is mostly shaded during the day. We would like to put a Japanese maple there, maybe with some hydrangea bushes. But, we don't know what else to use? See picture 2.
On the left of the steps, we don't have a good idea for evergreen coverage either. Maybe yews? We think a sweet bay magnolia may work on the left side. The space is also around 9ft depth. See picture 3.
Do you have any suggestions for our home?
This post was edited by Sarah_Smith841 on Sun, Sep 21, 14 at 13:41
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PROYardvaark
9 years agoHere are some general arranging ideas. You might consider dwarf yaupon holly for each side of the steps and possibly for middle of garage wall. You'll need to explore locally to see which are the winning plants for your area. Making everything evergreen might also make the overall picture boring. You could use evergreen in strategic locations and have flowering staples at other locations.
Sarah_Smith841
9 years agoRelated Discussions
Please help me landscape my small front yard?
Comments (14)I wonder if an "oval" of grass would help in this case??? I just looked up the definition of an ellipse on mathworld and my eyes are still spinning :-) I think Reyesuela makes a couple of good points. The first, regarding the grass shape, is that when you make your beds, you should pay attention to the shape of grass you are creating, not so much the shape of the bed - the bed shape will be more or less immaterial once you get it filled, while the grass shape will always show up. And actually, since you like formal, I might almost play with a rectangle of grass under the window surrounded by straight beds on three sides, obviously not going right to the road to avoid the snow plow - or putting low, tough plants like the most vigorous hostas on the road edge. The second, if I understand correctly, is to create a space within your front yard where you can be, or to enclose your house, rather than making it a sort of frame for your house to be simply looked at. I strongly agree that, especially when you have a small amount of space, what matters most is how you want to feel when you are in it or in the house looking out. Depending on the feel of your street, you may want to be visible; I don't know. What complicates this approach is what you say about the snow plow... you might be best off to make the front edge grass, along with the edges of the driveway where your car door needs to open. I would not not not do a standard foundation bed under the window. So predictable. I think a pretty patch of grass, tidy beds - not necessarily symmetrical plantings, but formal is good - there is really something about that row of Rhodies that just looks right. You could remove sod under them, joining their little patches into a long straight bed, underplant them a bit if you widen the bed. karinL...See MoreFront Yard Landscaping - need all the help I can get!
Comments (4)Congratulations on your new house! It's so much fun having a space to work with but it also can be overwhelming sometimes. Everyone is different when trying to design spaces. Some people can "see" the space they're creating as they learn about different plants, and some people have to see it for real. I'm definitely in the second group. So what I found to be the most helpful is to look at different spaces that I liked, take pictures, and then work backwards to ID the plants, where they work best, what type of soil, and water requirements they'd need. Where you live in makes a BIG difference. Acid or alkaline soil. Temp ranges, rainfall- lots of things that play into plant selection. There's a nice, basic book that I liked when I started out "Texas Home Landscaping" by Greg Grant and Roger Holmes. I see it in box stores a lot but your library might have a copy. And I don't know if you're near San Antonio, but the botanical gardens has a section called "Watersaver Walk" that has I think ? 8 houses mocked up with different landscape designs. Same space, totally different looks. Have fun. Take your time. Don't worry if you kill some of the plants- it's part of the process. Keep reading these boards- some of the nicest plant lovers you'll ever meet hang out here. Hope this helps- Lisa This post was edited by southofsa on Sat, May 24, 14 at 4:32...See MoreNeed help landscaping front yard
Comments (11)Trying to make progress even though I'm using a temporary (for me) drawing program. My sketch is incomplete. We don't have a good idea of what the left or right front of the house looks due to being absent in the pictures or covered in shrubbery. Nevertheless this can cover some of the basic points. Sorry if I'm repeating myself or something someone else has already said but I don't want to re-read all. I would not bring planting bed alongside the walk toward the driveway. doing so will make the walk seem much smaller when in fact it would be better if it was wider. Too, it will add to maintenance and it will not look as good as if you had nicely edged turf there. A truth about turf is that it will not grow in too much shade. It's time to divide out those areas from the lawn where it won't grow and turn them into groundcover. I disagree with your idea of planting so many things -- 3 stripes of plants -- in front of the foundation. There simply isn't room and this busy scheme will not look near as good as a single plant in front of a given part of the foundation. Color fits flanking the entrance. A low evergreen shrub or groundcover could surround the bay windows and shrubs or low plantings could be farther away (this is the area we don't yet know.) We don't know what the condition of the lawn at the left side of front yard is either. If a tree is far enough away from the others and limbed up high enough that sufficient light gets below it, it's possible to grow grass. If otherwise, then it's not and that area should be sectioned for groundcover. A small (12'-15') multi-trunk tree (made of a large shrub) could be off the right corner of house....See MoreHydrangea and Rose Slope Front Yard Landscaping Help
Comments (11)Inspired by @kitasei2 's comment, maybe I'll plant something short and purple in color in front of the stone foundation. I'm also thinking extending the flowerbed south of the sidewalk. That will give me another 16-18 feet and should be able to put in three or four more Bobos. In the next picture, I put down the white hose to line out the idea and added a few images. Behind the bobos, I'm thinking of putting a few earth angels or two earth angels and one or two Olivia Austin. It still seems to need a punctuation somewhere. Maybe a Tiffany blue tall planter by the corner of front porch and front steps. The all-wood siding panel and railing seems a little dark and need to brighten up somehow. Any suggestions? This is the view when we walk up to the front door. As you can see, we are in a woodland setting and there is lots of green in the summer but not much color. In the far background, I plan to plant a row of blue Endless summer by an old lilac bush. We rebuilt a water feature and I've got ideas about the plants I want for a Japanese-inspired water feature garden there. It's the front yard that I'm stressing out a little. I can't decide whether I should move the bottom two Bobos closer to the path or just plant something there (iris, or lilic tree, or snapdragon). Can't decide what to do with the slope on the right either... I'm still trying to figure out my garden style and the landscaping that fits the house architecture. It is helpful just to allow me to think aloud with you guys here. Any ideas about general landscaping or plant choices are welcome! Sorry these two pictures seem to be small still. But when we put the mouse cursor on the image, there's a plus sign and hit that would enlarge the image. Sorry for my technical clumsiness. If you can't see these two images, please simply look at the three large ones in the original post and share what you'd do! Thanks!...See MoreUser
9 years agoSarah_Smith841
9 years agoThanks for the ideas, butterfly4u! Yes, that is a holly tree on the left side of the house. I like the idea of the emerald green, but I'm concerned about what the deer will do to it. I was also considering arbos for the garage side (pic 3). I haven't thought about gardenias. They may work well with the Jap Maple. I'm not sure about placement at this point. Here is what I came up with today.
Sarah_Smith841
9 years agoUser
9 years agoSarah_Smith841
9 years ago
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