New landscaping near sidewalk

12 years ago

We built our house last year and put in sidewalk this year. We have a bed in front of the sidewalk that needs planted. We would like to to some type of small shrubs, I like varigated boxwood and Midnight Wine weigela but not sure what to plant. The area is about 11 feet long and 2 1/2 feet wide, faces west, gets lots of afternoon sun. Also we are in NE Ohio. Can I mix the types of plants or should I keep them uniform. On the opposite side of the walk is another empty bed which I will eventually plant, maybe a bloomerang lilac or larger weigela along with some perenials or annuals. Any suggestions would be helpful. TIA, Patty

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Comments (10)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
12 years ago
hey patty ...

july and august is not the best time to be planting ....

lets start with bed developement.. and get that all set.. and then work toward a good fall planting time ...

do you have that wonderful OH clay ... if so.. lets start with soil amending ...

give us some facts about that..

and then define where you are in NE OH.. if near saybrook or cleveland/avon .... i just happen to know some sellers out that way ...

since i live in literal-ville.. a pic of the area helps me ... to define such things as height as well as width .. and house style.. etc ...

soooo ... whats your soil???

ken
pastaff
Original Author
12 years ago
Here is the area I am referring to:
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g78/tstaff/landscape/100_2852.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g78/tstaff/landscape/100_2852.jpg

The landscaper put screened topsoil down in those areas, not sure if acidic/alkaline. Thanks, Patty
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Yes, St Aug would take slightly different care to do it right. And, eventually the St Aug would spread to cover the bermuda essentially choking it out. There are a few varieties of zoysia which do okay in the shade. Be certain you can get what you want in North Texas. You might have to special order, but it can be had. And a special order should not cost (much) extra. The only thing that makes it special is that the local nurseries don't normally handle it. Whatever you do, do NOT try to overseed the thin bermuda with seeded varieties. They are different enough that it will look weedy together. And the seeded ones don't do well in the shade anyway. I'm going to post a pic of my old house in San Antonio. It has Asiatic jasmine, ginger, cast iron, St Augustine, and some mondo grass. The picture above shows a patch of discoloration in the St Aug. I should mention that this area receives about 3 hours of direct sunlight ever since a wind downburst took out the neighbor's tree and part of one of ours. The oak trees provide a full canopy above, but the sun sneaks in in the late afternoon. The discoloration in the turf is mondo grass. That is what it looked like after 20 years of spreading out. The original patch was about 1 square foot. The point is that if you want mondo grass, buy all you want up front and don't expect it to spread for you. The base of the trees is cast iron. You can see some sunburn spots. Considering how little sunlight filters through the oaks, that plant is highly sensitive to sunlight. Here on the left side, of the left side of the front, the grass receives a few hours of sunlight following removal of an oak. The long leafed plant to the right of the double windows (on the left) is ginger. The pile in the walkway is St Aug dug out by my wife to delineate the bed of cast iron. Our lawn was struggling in a drought, and this was our watering day. That is not all our yard, but it is all jasmine. Ours had a metal landscape border to keep it out of the grass and to keep grass out of it.
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botann
12 years ago
The bed is too narrow, steep, and not enough topsoil.
If planted, how are you going to get to your lawn?

You need a real landscaper. Sorry.
Mike
pastaff
Original Author
12 years ago
Hi MIke,
Thanks for the not so encouraging remarks. As far as the width of the bed, it is 39 inches, I'm not looking to plant a huge row of privacy shrubs, just something small. There is a slight slope to the bed but nothing drastic and as for topsoil, we can add more if needed. As far as getting to the lawn after planted, there is a sidewalk to use to get to the drive then to the lawn. Also we are not going to plant around the entire sidewalk, I am also planning on using stepping stones in one area as a "path" the lawn for those that can't use the sidewalk.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
12 years ago
in photobucket.. copy the HTML CODE ... and paste it here ... and on preview.. if you see the pic.. we will ...

mike is right.. no real space for any kind of shrub... nor tree ... nor crab .. flowering cherry.. etc ...

you ought to be looking for perennials ... you might look for ideas in that forum ...

if the sun is right.. a nice clematis on the garage wall ... would add some nice vertical .. something in the 3 foot range back towards the corner... reducing in size as you come near the walkway ....

drive thru a more established area .. with similar little areas.. and look at all the cute little trees that are swallowing up the house and the walkway.. its a very common mistake ...

you are reading much too much into botan's answer ... he was not being snarky ...

and finally ... if snowload is an issue.. consider where you will be putting any shoveled snow.. somethings do not like being buried all winter long ....

ken
mustard_seeds
12 years ago
What a lovely area you have to place some great plants!

For the sidewalk bed, take a look at the more compact shrubs such as buxus 'green velvet' or buxus 'green gem'. The golden forms of euonymus are nice but those do best in full sun so that is not a great choice for this exposure. I have a midnight wine weigela in a similar site and it stays small about 20" wide, and 12" high, is a bit later to leaf out than other shrubs but gets a couple of flushes of blooms each year.

Agree with taking a look around the neighborhoods for ideas of smaller plants that are doing well on the west side of homes- snap a picture if you don't know what something is and a nursery may be able to ID it or you can post here with "ID needed."

Not sure about the corner area - will think about that.

I will suggest that you install some type edging to block the lawn from growing into the sidewalk bed. Would not be to hard to widen the bed 6-12 inches - you may appreciate the extra space later on as your plants grow.

If you like someone's landscaping, don't be afraid to ask them who helped them design or install it. If a nursery tells you it is okay to plant in the summer, I would think twice about that - would be best to wait until late September. But if you find a plan that you are happy with, you'd have time to get an order placed for fall planting to ensure you get what you want. A soaker hose will be great in this location, too, to get the plants established the first 2 years they will need good watering.

Enjoy your beautiful home and stay cool! Rachel
botann
12 years ago
I apologize for being brief and to the point. I was sitting in my car in a hot McDonald's parking lot on vacation in Pagosa Springs, Colorado and having some serious issues with my condo Wi-Fi. Just pretend I was being more diplomatic. ;-)

My comment about getting to the lawn from your front door and having to go all the way out to the driveway is a concern of mine. Everybody takes a shortcut, especially the dog, and the landscape, if not designed with this in mind, suffers.
I'm an advocate of having the lawn come right up to the sidewalk or driveway. You already have a built in edge. If you make a 'sidewalk bed' you have to maintain another edge where it meets the lawn. Sidewalk beds are notorious for having plants damaged by errant pedestrians....and if roses, the pedestrians get damaged.
Mike...relaxing at my brother's house in northern Idaho. Be home tomorrow.
Mike
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
12 years ago
you are going to have a problem.. between the slope of the outward bed soil .. and the grass ... you ought to consider a retaining wall of about 3 bricks ....

that accomplishes a number of things.. but the prime two will be.. leveling the soil level for watering ... but also.. keeping the lawnmower and weedwhip away from the garden ....

now.. if you are willing to do that.. then i suggest you at least double the width ... even tripling it .... first.. so you can have at least a foot or two of bare mulch.. to widen the walkway.. for snow.. and drunken guests.. lol ...

then also have a patch of mulch on the retaining wall side ...

then you plant things towards the middle of the bed ... its all very neat .. first pic below to give you an idea of what i am talking about ...

this will also lend structure to the front of the house .... second pic below.. you can see that the land sloped severely away from my house .... by adding the wall ... it lends solidity to the landscape ... it will also insure.. in the ensuing years.. that your sidewalks soil is not undercut and washed away.. which is why i had to do it for the cement patio pad ... a month after it was poured.. a torrential downpour nearly washed it away ... undercutting about 2 feet of the north side ... i was near apoplectic ... [my head was ready to explode]

is putting the wall in.. w/in your ability???

now.. after all the hardscaping .. you will be ready to plant something.. lol ...

your thoughts??? other than you dont have a budget to live your outdoor dreams ... i would rather you think of a 2 or 3 year plan ... of how to do it right.. rather than slapping some plants in.. and then 3 years down the line ... wondering why it all failed..

in the alternative.. go buy some mums in late august .. and slap them in there for a fall bloom show.. and be done with it ... and then try to figure out how to water them on a slope ...

good luck.. must be exciting to have a new house. .. and sidewalk ....

ken

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pastaff
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks for all the input and advice, I really appreciate it. You have all given us some things to think about. I was going to plant this fall but I think I'm going to take my time and do it right, a retaining wall in front of walkway makes sense due to the slope, since pics were taken the dirt has settled and we have to add more so the slope will increase.Again thank you for the advice. Patty
whaas_5a
12 years ago
Can you take a pic that is further out to give us a the big picture? I don't know if I would roll with some of the suggestions until we get that big picture.

I was a shrubaholic so I can give you some good suggestions.

New landscaping near sidewalk

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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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New landscaping near sidewalk

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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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