Ground cover is, I agree, appropriate to many situations. Prolly not to this one, though, given the OP's concern about his lawn. (He'll likely have to give up having any gorgeous grass in that sideyard.) Whether water is precious depends on where you are. Dallas? Yes. BUT...you don't need St. Augustine in Dallas. All hail Bermuda grass there! Houston? Rarely is there a drought severe enough to cause a temporary water concern. As for there, St. Augustine or "stickers" are your choices. Mobile, AL, is another place that needs St. Augustine. And rain? Try the rainiest city in the lower 48! Different regions have different concerns--some have water concerns, while fertilizer runoff is a lot more troublesome in others. (Apparently, the strawberries that annoy me so in my grass? A noxious invasive exotic. Great. Suggestions for getting rid of them or even controlling them? Pretty darned feeble, as far as I can tell.) Trying to nurse a lawn that won't ever do very well into a state of verdant, glowing health is going to do a lot more damage than watering a lawn up to two times a week in August in many places. 1" per week *includes* natural rainfall and only applies to the growing season, BTW. Areas that need St. Augustine that I've lived in have ranged from 36 to more than 40 inches of rain per year, on average. That's not much water. It's less than I had to put on my "xeric" plants in NM while they were getting established. (You should have seen me panicking when I first planted them and they started to wither even though I was watering them, in my mind, "all the time"--meaning once a week. *snort* Yes, in a high-wind, high-elevation, semi-desert environment!) I am ALL for choosing a low-maintenance ground cover--*where it works*. I haven't found a single satisfactory replacement for a lawn for kids to play on. I've looked. "Light to medium foot traffic" groundcovers won't do it, though goodness knows I wish they would. And many people live in areas in which replacing a "merely decorative" front yard is either culturally unacceptable--take that as you will--or is actually explicitly restricted by covenants or zoning laws. And that's assuming that the OWNERS like them. In those cases, the best you can do is make large beds which you can try to make as low-maintenance as possible. (Honestly, for 9/10ths or more of people, high maintenance is a bad idea from any standpoint, anyway. Vacations, boredom, illness, business--all of these things would intervene in a strict routine of trimming, spraying, fertilizing, etc., etc., to such an extent that the landscape would soon look pretty pathetic. And so often does! I am WAY too lazy to do that and bitterly, bitterly disappointed that I'll have to water the slope in back next year at least four times to keep back that $%# crab grass.) As for Lyme disease--I'd rather not have my kids--or the neighbors' kids--get it by playing in my yard. I can check myself after going out. I can trust other adults to do it, too. Stripping down elementary schoolers every time they go outside--and in summer, they're banging in and out all the time--is practically insane, but it was the only alternative to treating the 1/8th of an acre that's the major play area last year. We had started averaging, literally, a tick a week. I looked up the incidence of tick-borne diseases in our area, and the statistics were NOT good. Now, I hate using pesticides. This was the first time that I'd personally applied them. I'm killing all sorts of critters I'd LOVE to have in my back yard, but if it's that or a sick kid, I'm grabbing my bag of pesticide. Of course, I COULD just keep the deer out somehow. If you can suggest an effective and economical way of keeping deer out of a 2-acre spread, part of which is wetland, please do! *g* I mean really, I'd love to know, 'cuz I have an azalea that's looking bedraggled nearly 2 years after some young buck decided that it was an all-you-can-eat salad bar for several week running. I have another question, though, purely hypothetical at this point. In one area I lived in, we wouldn't get a hard freeze once every four years or so. And in those years, no matter how we treated the dogs (pills, sprays, collars, what-have-you), they would bring in hundreds of fleas--dozens with every trip outside--that would set up home and eat people and pets constantly. The dogs went piebald with scratching, and we were covered in bites. How can you get rid of fleas at that level of infestation without using a pesticide? We did every de-flea-your-house trick known to man, BTW, from vacuuming more than once a day to the dust that dessicates them. After going through every other option the first year, my dad (who, BTW, has a master's degree in a wildlife field!) broke down and went the poison-the-yard route--which worked beautifully, knocking back the numbers hard enough that bites were rare rather than constant. I do want to makes a BIG point about using "organics." Raw sewage is organic. It is also devastating to the environment. Soooo many gardeners like to make a big point about how they only use ORGANIC compost/worm castings/whatever on their plants. The streams really. don't. care. whether the nitrogen that gets dumped in them from your/my garden is from 100% certified premium organic sources or from cheapo-granulated nitrogen pellets. It doesn't make a difference! I like compost for all sorts of reasons, including reduced runoff and reduced chances of burning a plant because of slower release. But I don't pretend that there's "good organic nitrogen" and "bad inorganic nitrogen"--once it runs off, it's just plain ol' nitrogen. Sorry for sounding condescending--it was meant to be a drawl. ;-)

Lots of good responses, thanks! aka_peggy: I will be doing most of the work myself, with other friends adding a bit of labor. Thanks for the plant ideas and the link to natives. I am big on natives, so will definitely use this! annabert: I'll send her to Thanksgiving Farms--do they have nice designs going all year 'round? Could she go in January? GardenGranma: Wow, so many shows and tours! If I could only choose 3 or 4 to attend (I have to fly up there and all, LOL), which would you recommend? creatrix: The CM will be any variety that gets about 10" high or so. Down here, we have a variety called Natchez that I love, but I'm not sure it is available in your area. The bed at the house is about 6' deep and, yes, I plan to put in a hedge row and then a smaller variety in front of that. I need to take a closer look at this though, once I have the measurements. The curves are supposed to be gentle and flowing, not scalloped. I guess my picture appears a bit busy, LOL, but that isn't my intention. Brent_in_NoVa: Thanks for reminding me about foot traffic. I think I will add a stone 'landing' so that people walking up the drive won't be crammed between a parked car and the bed. My parents have the same type of walk/drive and it is a pain for this very reason. For the retaining wall, I think this is probably as high as it will go. She really doesn't want it at all, but I think it is necessary for erosion control. Other homes have the same slope and very few have walls. One the right side of the property, I would like to pull the neighbor's yard into hers, hence the river birch. There is more room than it appears, and I wanted something that would get pretty dense. She has probably 15' of that part of the land, but I will need to measure again. I will be posting a 'real' landscape design once I have the measurements. I think this will help me (us!) to gain some perspective. Thanks again, keep your thoughts coming! Chris

Hi Justin. The pics are better, but have some shortcomings, which I'll take a moment to explain in hopes that others may see and forego the errors when they submit pictures in the future... A. is the example of the photos reassembled into a single scene. You can see that the walk doesn't come close to realistically matching up. (If there were other objects in the foreground or background, their locations would seem misleading as well.) B. You can see that there is about a 12' difference (left to right) from the camera position for each shot. C. In general, one is looking to see not just the house, but it's setting. A fair amount of space at the left and right ends of the house should be captured as well. The yellow boxes show how much space I'd like to see and they show the overlap that's necessary so that the viewer can see how the photos relate to one another. To take photos that will be reassembled into a single scene. For all pictures, the camera position must not change. The camera will merely pivot. I almost forgot to mention ... another thing is that the pictures are very small ... about 20 - 25% of optimum size for posting on the forum. If I was to use and enlarge them, the finished product would be quite fuzzy. If there was any way to adjust the camera for a larger picture, it would be helpful.

What a great house! I've been think about this . . . I think your boxwoods just have some winter damage, so I would for this summer just cut out the tan parts which are dead, and leave the rest. You may be quite surprised at how they start to fill in over the next couple of years, and they provide a consistent evergreen backbone, but if they don't you can remove them when you are ready to plant. Leave everything as is for now, except get a scuffle hoe (AKA stirrup hoe) and stir up the mulch or dirt with the weeds several times over about a week so the vast majority of the weeds die. Then put down cardboard (go around the plants) and add mulch over the cardboard. Put in a tidy edging to keep the grass out, either a deep cut V or a buried plastic or metal edging with a line of bricks along the inside edge to give the mower wheels a surface so you don't have to edge it. This will give you at least a tidy look for this season while you plan. If you want to, put a couple of large pots with flowers at the stair base. All the beds should come out at least as far as the landing at the bottom of the steps so you have room to layer in the plants rather than just have a single row. You can make it as deep as you want, but leave some room at the back to do maintenance. My foundation beds range from 6'-12' deep. Then you should start planning. Watch carefully how much light each side of the house gets. For instance, the side with the big maples will be both shadier due to the overhanging trees and drier due to the maples' roots. You can get a soil test done to see if your soil is acid or if it is alkaline or neutral as far as pH, and also see what the texture is (clay or sandy or loamy or most probably a mis of all 3.) See if water stays in a a hole for a really long time or if it drains relatively quickly. Think about whether you want the plants to come above the level of the porch or if you like the open view of lower plants from the house and looking at the house. Starting now, begin looking at and thinking about plants: - Notice that the garden linked above used shrubs and perennials to give longer season interest (though please don't plant them closer than recommended since that will create much future maintenance.) - Consider foliage (as mentioned in the article) - color, size, shape, and texture. If you only have fine-texture in green, it will be less of the varied look you are going for, so you want a range of leaves that are skinny, broad, ferny, gold, green and variegated to carry the garden when plants aren't blooming. Many shade plants bloom early, so count on foliage and annuals for summer color. - think about all 4 seasons: evergreens or bright bark or interesting branching for winter, spring and summer bloom and the foliage I already mentioned, and fall bloom and changing foliage color. - Many of the specific plants mentioned in the article won't work for you, either due to lack of hardiness in zone 4 (oak leaf hydrangea) or wrong light levels (catmint/Nepeta) so you will need to research zone 4 plants that like bright shade, darker shade, and perhaps part sun. - Visit gardens if there are open garden days in your area, notice ones in your neighborhood and as you travel around. When you see plants you like, post them on the Name that Plant forum or here to get IDs. Look at websites with garden eye candy and get books with photos from the library. That way you will start to find plants that appeal to you. Here's an article on planning a long border. The repeating part is important for it to look cohesive. Again, many of the specific plants won't work, but it may give you ideas. Some plants to check out that are hardy for you: Shrubs and shrub-sized perennials: Hydrangea paniculata/panicled hydrangea comes in various sizes from 3'-12', is long blooming, but likes at least a half day of sun or all day bright shade. Hydrangea arborescens/smooth hydrangea such as Annabelle - bright shade to morning sun. various long-blooming cultivars are pink, lime, or white, but all are about 4' Red-twigged dogwood (Cornus alba or C. sericia) come in various heights and will give you winter interest as well as some have variegation or nice fall color. Will want part sun. Kalmia latifolia/mountain laurel - evergreen and likes full shade to part shade Aralia 'Sun King' - large with gold foliage, but a perennial - part or bright shade makes the gold brighter Kerria japonica - part shade Any of the 'Lights' series of deciduous rhododendrons/azaleas - bright shade or part sun; spring flowers and fall color; needs acid soil Blueberries will grow in part sun and have flowers, berries, and fall color; needs acid soil bulbs: Daffodils - pests don't bother them and they are long-lived. Plant behind perennials so the dying foliage is hidden. Need half to all day sun. Allium Purple Sensation - part sun to full sun, but another bulb that critters won't eat Perennials: Astilbe - full shade to morning sun is fine as long as it doesn't dry out. Hosta - huge range of foliage size and color but deer like them. Part to full shade. Jacob's Ladder/Polemonium Primrose - not all like shade or will be hardy, but most will be Siberian iris - Wants 3-4 hours sun or more to bloom well. Polygonatum/Solomon's seal has variegated types Crested iris - spring bloomer, full shade is fine. spreads slowly. Digitalis - some are perennial and some biennial; toxic; half sun to full shade Ferns - shade is fine, though there are an enormous number of kinds and not all will be hardy for you Aquilegea/columbine - mostly sun to mostly shade Dicentra (AKA Lamprocapnus)/bleeding heart - mostly shade to mostly sun Hellbore - mostly shade to mostly sun Epimedium - part to full shade Closed gentian - part shade, moist Brunnera is available with green or silver-patterned leaves full to part shade Aconitum - shade is fine, but may look better in brighter shade to part sun; toxic Pulmonaria/lungwort - silvery patterns on leaves and pink/blue flowers Ligularia Mertensia/Virginia bluebells Phlox divericata Actaea Aka Cimicifuga AKA bugbane - dark red varieties shade is fine Anemone canadensis (spring) or A. Honorine Jobert (fall) - will spread vigorously, so plant to pull bunches of it out annually There may be sedges that work, but I am not familiar enough with their zone ratings to be sure Thalicturm/meadow rue Tiarella/foamy bells have flowers and many have colorful foliage