Landscaping front yard -- small & sloping toward house

14 years ago

Hello fellow gardeners! I was wondering if I could get some ideas for my front yard landscaping from you ...

It is a difficult area to landscape. First of all, the front yard is not very deep -- about 25 feet from front porch out to street. Secondly, it slopes downward towards our house -- about 3-3.5 foot drop from street level. Thirdly, we have full SW sun exposure with very little tree shading (secondary to neighborhood being clear-cut for new construction).

I have attached some photos to show the yard to you ...

There are 2 areas that I want to plant up further.

1) Next to sidewalk: There is already a Natchez crape myrtle in place. I would like to plant another tree adjacent to sidewalk so as to further screen our front porch and yard from sidewalk.

2) Behind mailbox (next to driveway): This strip of our property is somewhat narrow (10 feet max), most severely sloping and with the greatest exposure to winds cutting through, esp in wintertime. I would like to consider an evergreen as we would like to create privacy -- cars drive downhill and the road angles diagonally toward our house such that there is little privacy during the daytime and the headlights show up inside our house at nighttime.

My husband and I have been thinking about these areas for several months, but not sure about the best solutions to create privacy for us, yet not have the plantings overwhelming our house (mostly due to the downward slope).

Thanks so much for any ideas!!

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Comments (5)

gardening_in_nc
Original Author
14 years ago
I am so sorry. I thought that I could attach photos right before posting, but I guess not. Will continue to try to figure this out ASAP, or please advise if you have done this before (I am a newbie!). Thanks :)
karinl
14 years ago
Sounds like a perfect setting for two things - retaining walls, and conifers.

Special conifer cultivars might be very useful, restricted size and profile, offering a variety of shape and colour, so something nice for you to look at while blocking views in and wind. They love sun, as long as there is adequate water, so they are perfect for protecting you from it. A deciduous canopy tree might also be good to block sun from overhead in summer. But it sounds like you need something evergreen to the ground to block those headlights year-round.

To post photos, upload them to a free photohosting site like Photobucket, and then copy the html code from the photo to the body of the message here in GW. The photos should show up when you preview the message. Alternatively, look into putting a photo on the gallery side of this forum, but that doesn't get much traffic and will require an extra click from this thread.

KarinL
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The head-on picture is not really necessary since you are landscaping for your own enjoyment from inside the space rather than for curb appeal and tree decisions. I have a very similar porch and the thing that jumps out at me first from your photo is that the view from your porch is likely just grass unless you are actually leaning over the railing or sitting ON the steps. I actually do both, so very much enjoy the plantings near the house, but overall for there to be a nice view from the porch or front door, the "garden" should be at the public sidewalk part of the yard, not at the house. Moving the garden to the sidewalk side would alleviate the need to put groundcover on the slope, which is fraught with problems if you've ever tried to establish and maintain groundcover in this sort of setting. Grass has evolved into the most popular groundcover for a reason. I would tend to retain the slope... but there are a couple of ways to do it. You can do rocks on the slope integrated into the plantings, you can do a wall right at the public walk and along your walk to your stairs and fill it - this will constrain your walkway a bit - or you can do it more even with your stairs - cutting into the slope and creating a flat apron (of grass) outside of it. You can have plantings all the way back to the house - it really all depends on how much of a gardener you are. If the row of boxwoods and matching azaleas (?) is your look - less is more could work well. Landscaping is done to reflect the people in the house, not just the house. Whatever the plant look, significant use of hardscape in the way of a wall or stones will enhance it by framing it and providing structure. Karin L
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To expand, our house is not very pretty, others on the block are. Landscape is the lowest hanging fruit at the moment as far as improvements. Starting from the left, on the left of the slope going down the slope along the blurred image which is the property line... I thinking of a low hedge, maybe a spirea with flowers that would compliment the Japanese Maple at the top of the hill on the left. Back at the top left in front of the Japanese Maple we would like an evergreen, hinoki. In that same area I have an enkianthus. So, perhaps pulling those two together??? Maybe we will need another Hinoki up there and other plants to bring it together. Then, as mentioned in the first message, across the top of the slope a row of Highbush. On the top corner, maybe another hinoki dwarf (3-4 ft tall). Down the right slope bordering the driveway... I have no ideas. Just behind the retaining wall there is a row of small boxwoods, but I dont love it. Maybe a creeping evergreen? Not Sure. On the street level next to the truck there is a small patch with some type of Ilex Crenata shrub. I am thinking of keeping and having a mized perennial garden there of tame showy perennials. Behind that is another retaining wall and two large Yews. I want to remove them and possibly insert an herb or small veg. garden in between some hydrangeas. All the way at the top, at the right corner of the house, not sure what would go there but I think we need something with height in that corner. Now that I write it out, it seems like too much for such a small area...:-/
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A Carolina cherry laurel would be fairly fast growing and make good visual insulation between the two houses. Add all those other plants at your pleasure, allowing enough space for the screening tree's spread.
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ronbre
14 years ago
you said the property slopes toward the house..if so..the most important thing for you to do before anything else is to make sure there is drainage to take water away from your homes foundation.

you can put in a french drain that will route water around your house.

after that then think about the landscaping..
firsttimer_gardener
14 years ago
Hello there! 25Â feet sounds like a lot of space to take care of your slope with some rocks or a decorative retaining wall. Check out this site I just saw. They use large boulders. http://www.rockstructures.com/index.php?o=walls

IÂd also illuminate that much yard if itÂs sloping towards your home with some solar accent lights (being on SW side) to bring some life at night. Check out these guys: http://www.yoursolarlink.com/solar-accent-lights

Good luck with your design! Sounds like a fun project. :-)
wellspring
14 years ago
Sort of repeating what others are saying here, but wonder how you feel about retaining walls? Also, how aware are you of the drainage issues? It sounds like this might be a new home? What has the builder done to insure that water flowing down that slope won't be a problem for your home?

Also, I disagree with Ronbre. Not about the drainage concern, but about just handling that before you think about landscaping. Heavens, that is a part of the whole landscaping process. If you throw in a French drain and then decide you need the retaining wallÂ Well, itÂs a classic example of why one needs to make a careful comprehensive plan for your property before you put in an fd or go out looking for plants.

The spacing seems problematic to me, but I can imagine a higher and lower tier to your property, divided by a retaining wall. Such a wall can be extremely lovely, but if it were designed in your space, it would be more important for its function of protecting your home. Each "tier" of your yard that the retaining wall would create would be more or less level. The lower level -- though virtually flat -- would be properly graded with a slope away from the foundation. If possible, this wall would follow the contours of your property or would be designed to look as though it does. Steps would need to be designed to allow for access to the sidewalk / mailbox.

The frentch drain Â which, by the way, is a sort of artificial underground stream bed, often not visible at the surface -- would be at the base of the retaining wall some 10 to 12 feet ? from your foundation.

Cost? Not cheap. I have no clue if thatÂs what your situation needs, but addressing the significant negative slope toward your home is at least as high a priority as screening for privacy and planting for shade.

ThatÂs where doing tons of background research on the landscape design process is needed to help make sure you arenÂt missing something. The cool thing is that once you are clear about what has to be achieved in your front yard design in order for you to be happy, certain solutions will start working together. If, after youÂve considered the worse gully washer that could happen, you decide that some sort of drainage work needs to be done, then whatever choice you make about it could also work with other objectives. I can imagine, for instance, a retaining wall enhancing the sense of shelter.

Paying for it? Ah, thereÂs the rub. But if you know what your dream front yard needs to be, then you might be able to work toward achieving it.

Hope so.

Wellspring

Landscaping front yard -- small & sloping toward house

Comments (5)

gardening_in_nc
Original Author

karinl

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wellspring

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Landscaping front yard -- small & sloping toward house

Comments (5)

gardening_in_ncOriginal Author

karinl

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ronbre

firsttimer_gardener

wellspring

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gardening_in_nc
Original Author