Pics of front yard, some help and restraint?

16 years ago

Here are some pics of the front of my house. I have been here for a little over a year, and tore out many ugly, overgrown junipers and arborvitaes to create a clean pallette. I need some help and some boundaries, lol!

I already have many natives and perennials planted along the front of the house, but it is all sort of temporary. I am learning as I go, a little.

I would love to compliment my rose plantings with natives interspersed, and do NOT want to turn my front yard into Rose Land, HA!

Please note the large maple to the left (west of the house, and the dirt patch under it which is being turned into a shade bed in a couple weeks.

The front of the house is the south side. I love the old stonework of the entryway, and want to enhance rather than hide or detract from it. I would love to have a couple short sections of iron fence framing the walkway, with my first non-climbing rose plantings going there.

The space between the walkway and driveway is about 8 feet wide and about 28 feet long. I do not want to completely fill that in, want some grass to edge the driveway.

I could get really carried away, but I don;t want to go completely nuts. It is possible we would only be here four moe years, or so. But this lovely house sat empty for three whole years, and she could use a bit of a facelift.

I have a 'Jude the Obscure' coming in may, and might order another one to go in those front corners. I am also probably ordering a couple 'Ebb Tide' and would love to have a lighter colored rose between the two types as a transition.

To the right (east) of the entryway is where I want to plant my perfect, pink, romantic climber to train around the dining room window.

So. Whaddya think? This could go in design, but I would like to build the front around roses.

Pics:

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Comments (8)

lesdvs9
16 years ago
This will look very beautiful with roses, that's a very lovely home. I don't know, it's awfully hard to stop once you discover how colorful roses accent and complement everything. Rather everything else complements them, LOL*

I hope you post 'after' pics when you're done:)
Leslie
katefisher
16 years ago
Leslie said it perfectly. I love the conversation you have with yourself that starts with 'I am not going to lose my mind and buy a lot of roses'. Cherish that moment as the last time you had clarity before you went nuts buying rose bushes!

Your house is really cute. How fortunate that the front has a southern exposure. I'm sure you will make it even nicer out there.

I'm not sure if 'Molineux' would be too light to contrast with 'Jude the Obscure' but if you like Molineux it is a smallish rose that might look nice out there without hiding your house.

Will be fun to see what you do.

Kate
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The photo with the wooded hills is pretty, but in your intended application it might take on a wispy patch look without help from plants with some substance - perennials - being incorporated into your plan. There are many dwarf and small varieties of conifers - some of those can ultimately get large but take a very long time to get there. Juniperus Squamata "Blue Star" is nice with its steely blue color, manageable size, and easy maintenance. Picea abies "Nidiformis" or Bird's Nest Spruce is another common but attractive conifer. There are many that are less common and come in all kinds of shapes, sizes, textures and colors, but I'm just getting into conifers myself and do some lurking over on the Conifers Forum for pictures and ideas. I don't have the right conditions, patience, or results to deal with seeds. And the growing season here in zone 4 is just too late getting started and to early to end compared with other zones. My annuals come in flats from a variety of local venues. Limonium Sinuatum "Statice" has been good for cluster plantings. Dahlias have substantial foliage. The lowly petunia is a good bloomer and mounder. I have direct sown nasturtiums - "Empress of India" being more drawn to the dark foliage and red blooms. On the perennial side, peonies do exceptionally well here and is a good foliage plant when not in bloom. Nepetas, Veronicas, and salvias are good performers - nepetas and salvias generally repeat if deadheaded Any of the "Northern Lights" series of azaleas might be worth looking into - someone will always add that your soil will need to be on the acidic side. The ninebarks Physocarpus might interest you for a deciduous shrub - "Dart's Gold" has a lime color; "Diablo", "Summer Wine", and "Center Glow" maroon to red. The common Spirea "Anthony Waterer" has dusty rose bloom as does Spirea Japonica "Alpina" - a dwarf that can repeat bloom in the fall. Potentilla - "Pink Beauty" was covered in bloom all season and stays pink at temps 80 degrees and under (which was our entire 2008 summer). A rose on a trellis under the hexagonal window would break up the empty spot there - as would a clematis. The purple "Jackmanii" is a perennial favorite, but there are different types and colors to choose from. Just some thoughts from another zone 4 gardener - no help with arrangements and coordinating things in your spaces since I'm a planner isofar as beginning with a child-like sketch, deciding what I'd like from readily available and space appropriate stock, then moving plants around in their pots until I settle on "the look".
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On the right side, looks like a nice hedge. But blocking the house is some kind of low tree? That's a bad spot for that. Your big trees are beautiful and will provide shade in summer. Just give them a haircut. I would aerate and reseed that lawn to make it all nice and green. But, it's a very nice lawn! I love your planter! The left side is too overgrown and needs some trimming. We had something at that at this house we bought. It took days to rip it all out, and we still encounter roots, but we get the thumbs up from happy neighbors all the time! Suzi
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Thank you all... Melissa, the orange is Livin' easy, and mandarin sunblaze in the front Kate, yes the hedge is knockout I have posted these pics multiple times but I am just amazed that they look so good this time of the year and just wanted to share the pics. I thought the late frost this spring would do everything in and everything looked withered and DEAD, most of them including living easy and carefree wonder died down to the mulch line. It's amazing how quickly the came back up. All the shrub roses made it. I lost my hybrid teas, except ofcourse Love and Peace which is a hardy beast lurking under the HT tag. I am a little dissapointed with the climbers, Rosarium utersen, Eden, Viking rose, no rebloom so far. Ramblin red always has a spray or one..Now all the roses have established themselves, I have stopped being a perfectionist needing spotless leaves and gardening seems easy again!
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I know it can seem as overwhelming that people are almost chanting, "No rubber mulch, no rubber mulch", but please try to understand that there are reasons for this. People who aren't 'in the know' think that aesthetically-speaking rubber mulch is the way to go, but mulch is supposed to do a number of things. For one, it helps trap moisture around the roots of plants and prevents evaporation. It also normalizes the soil temperature, which puts less stress on the plants. The mulch brings a sense of cohesion to the entire bed. And the mulch also feeds the soil, breaking down over time, which, again, helps with moisture control. Finally, mulch helps to suppress weeds. Rubber mulch does some of these things, but I do not believe it is as effective at temperature control as the rubber can get quite warm itself (could be wrong) and it absolutely doesn't feed the soil. It will have to be replaced just like the organic mulches. Whereas the organic mulches pretty much just need a new layer each spring, the rubber mulch needs to be raked back, disposed of and then completely replaced. So really you are just replacing one inconvenience for another and unlike the organic mulches, the rubber mulch doesn't go on to do anything beneficial. While both rubber and organic mulches suppress weeds, the organic mulches have a slight edge here as there are many weeds that thrive in poor soil. An organic mulch will improve the structure and nutrient content of the soil, making some weeds less likely to thrive and all weeds are easier to pull. As others have mentioned, rubber also has a tendency to float or move during our summer storms. I find that large pine bark, like the type the builder used here, also tends to move about and escape the beds. I personally have had better luck with smaller pine nuggets or, even better, shredded wood. My hands-down favorite purchasable mulch is Florimulch. Florimulch is made from Melaleuca trees (a weedy invasive tree from Australia that Florida has been trying to remove from the Everglades), has a very nice golden color that doesn't fade all that quickly, lasts for a good long time (even on my paths that I walk on frequently) and is, so far, the cheapest of the bagged mulches.
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16 years ago
That's a nice house. I would have the tree trimmed (if it needs it) before you put in a lot of plants underneath it.
dmg2242
16 years ago
What a beautiful home and GREAT blank slate!! I would go crazy with that much room to work with. Have fun!

By the way, "restraint" and "roses" are two words that should never be used in the same sentence. Once you've been bitten by the rose bug, all restraint goes out the door.

Resistance is futile... ;)

Denise
alina_1
16 years ago
I can see one restraint. If your maple is Norway or Sugar, it would be almost impossible to make your shade bed within the drip line. Maple will kill everything. Don't ask me how do I know....
Very nice home. How about adding some evergeen shrubs for structure and winter interest?
greenhaven
Original Author
16 years ago
Uh-oh...the tree is, I believe, a Norway Maple. We are having it limbed up in the next couple weeks before we install a bed under it.

BUT. I had not heard not to plant under a Norway Maple. There will be a few yards of soil and compost brought in to raise the bed somewhat, so the plants will be away from the roots. But thanks for the warning, alina, I will do some more research before I commit to the expense of dirt and plants.

And you know, I hated the shrubbery and wa thrilled ot get rid of it. It was overgrown and out of control and just ugly. But now I can really see the benefit of a couple evergreens, provided they stay well-maintained. (Which may or may not happen here! :/ ) At the very least I think we need some height at the corners of the house.
alina_1
16 years ago
There are some very nice conifers and wide leaf evergreens that stay compact and neat. They would also serve as a nice newtral background for Roses IMHO. Folks from Shrubs forum helped me with selection for my zone...
As for a Norway Maple... It is a cruel killer. It will gladly fill your new soil with its roots, much faster than your newly planted babies. Again, you might want to ask people from the Tree forum how to handle it to avoid unnecessary expenses and dissapointments.
Your front beds are going to look beautiful with Roses!
Good luck!
CapeHeart
16 years ago
I really LOVE your house - this is going to be a Beautiful garden - show us the progress pics! :-)

Pics of front yard, some help and restraint?

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lesdvs9

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Pics of front yard, some help and restraint?

Comments (8)

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