Congratulations on your very adorable house! That will definitely lend itself to a wonderful cottage garden. A cottage garden is a LOT of work though - not low maintenance. They may look carefree - but need constant tending to keep from looking out of control.(IMHO)
I'm not a designer so I won't even try to offer any advice but I think you are certainly going about it in the correct way - to ask questions and do some research first. I just plant things that I like and have had to move them all about the garden to get the "look" that I'm after, but that has taken YEARS. Better to have a plan first - saves a lot of time and frustration.
You might also post on the Landscape Design Forum to see if you get any help there.
Good luck.
Janen

Here is a link that might be useful: Landscape Design Forum

Welcome to the Cottage forum.

Some time ago, in another forum, I remember giving you suggestions and whole lot of other people did as well. You didn't like anyone's ideas.

I guess my question would be, what are you looking for?

May I suggest you invest in some gardening books for your zone. From what I gathered from your other post, you are a graphic artist. Take some pictures and fool around with them in photoshop.

Edna

Thanks for the replies!

Actually - I did like the ideas that people gave me previously in another forum and thanked them for their help. I specifically liked the idea of adding a pergola in front to balance everything out and to move one of the posts over so the doorway is more open. However, those are both large expensive projects that we can't do right now.

I don't mind some maintenance but I don't want to be a slave to a garden, so I don't necc. need low maintenance just not HIGH maintenance. I do enjoy spending time with plants and tending to their needs when I understand what I need to be doing to help them grow! *laugh*

My prior experience with a garden is totally container gardens. I had no problem with those and designing a garden with them as it was easy to move things around and tier plants by putting them on a plant stand or something. Also the space was already defined because i had to work within our porch and deck area.

I guess what I am looking for is inspiration and guidance. I don't love the look of our home from the outside and am having a hard time visualizing anything I can do to it to help it right now without major construction or money.

I need help trying to figure out planting beds and where I could put them. I have been searching garden books and websites for visuals of this, but all I ever see are gorgeous expensive homes with huge yards and great driveways and porches. I'm having a hard time seeing past those things that we don't have and how a garden or planting bed will look in front of our home.

I have taken a picture and played with it in photoshop, but I think I'm blocked. It's always easier to have vision for someone elses project than your own it seems. Everything I do seems to look stupid or too out of reach.

Anyways, I didn't mean to ask for things that seem too grande or out of reach when it comes to help. Hubby and I are headed once again to the book store to look for inspiration so that we can formulate some kind of plan. Hopefully something will click this time.

Hi,
I'm going to try and give you a list of the most important pieces I think you need to know.
1. Build your flower bed around your house. Even if you have nothing to put in it, build it. Don't make it to narrow. If from the look of it, the tall grass was the size of the bed, it is too narrow. It may look too big, but don't go less than 4-6 feet out at the narrowest spots. I deal with a very long border that can only be 2 1/2 feet wide, and it is very difficult to deal with. So a bit bigger than you think you need is better.
2. Raise the bed slightly. Add a lot of compost. Mix it into the soil that is there. Plants in a well amended bed will grow better.
3. Put down a good layer of mulch to keep weeds at bay. You'll still get them, but a good layer of mulch helps so much! Also plants in a well mulched bed will be less stressed by drought and heat.
4. Pick out a few shrubs/roses/vines that appeal to you that do well in your area. Pay attention through the year to plants in yard that catch your attention. If you don't know what something is, stop and ask. If that's not not possible, take a pic and post it and ask on the Name that Plant forum. Or stop by a good local nursery. Chances are they'll know what is is. Plant those shrubs where you like for anchors in the border. The landscape forum might help in where they think shrub shapes should be in front of your home. You don't need to buy them all at once! Buy them as you find them for the spots you plan. Last year I built a new bed. I put a stick in the ground marking where I plan on putting a tree. When you do plant the shrubs, remember the eventual size they will get and plan accordingly. Plant annuals near them to cover the space until they get bigger.
5. Once you have your anchor shrubs or decide where they will be, you can plant perennials that do well in your area. Again, pay attention to other yards, and visit the good nurseries. Also remember they will take time to get bigger and plant annuals to fill the voids.
6. You can always move things around. Though the shrubs are harder to move so that is why I said to plan them first.
I hope this helps,
Remy

Do a scale drawing of your yard and make curving beds which can be quite large with stepping stones throughout for tending and enjoying the garden. You could do lasagna beds to more easily eliminate some of that lawn grass. Stepping stones can be easily and inexpensively made with concrete.

Don't plan to get it done in one year but you might think in terms of 5 years to more-or-less complete. It's my experience that gardens are ever evolving and are never "done". Your initial plan may change many times over the years and your garden doesn't have to be perfect initially.

Start several different easy to grow perennial plants from seed as soon as possible. This is fairly easy and will provide lots of plants for very little money. If you join a garden club you might in another year have plants to trade as well as lots for your beds.

I highly recommend using mulch as it will keep your garden work to a manageable level. I make my own as want to know what goes in my garden and be as organic as possible and you can often get free mulches so it doesn't have to be expensive. Same goes for composting, it provides great nutrition for your plants for nothing more than a little work.

There are other forums on this site which you might visit such as the Soil and Frugal gardening ones for lots of useful info.

There are many lovely gardens featured in this Forum. Right now, ignore all of them except those in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and maybe south Alabama and Georgia and just possibly the Carolinas.

It took years and years for me to figure out that the lovely garden in Missouri, zone 6, that has plants that I grow -- hers bloomed all at the same time and mine bloom in sequence, so we do not get the same effect.

Use the plants that thrive in your area. You'll need to find a rose that defies blackspot, and a substitute for the peony and delphinium in the picture you like. Use gingers instead of Hostas, crape myrtles and vitex instead of lilacs. You can grow crinums, camellias, evergreen magnolias, gardenias and banana shrub, which 'they' can't. You can't grow tulips without tears, but you can grow amaryllis in the front yard instead of in a pot.

Look for posts by natvtxn, now plantmaven. She's growing in San Antonio pretty much what you can grow, and she got Yard of the Month this past summer, with a garden she put in just the year before. Be inspired. Oh, I hope you don't have a HOA.

Nell

Here is a link that might be useful: Louisiana Link

rhapsdy,

First let me say "Welcome to the Cottage Garden Forum!"

I lived in Shreveport for ten years and it will always be home to me in many ways. My first house (which was in Shreveport) looked almost exactly like yours! I was taken aback! :)

I know exactly what it is like to try to landscape with little or no money, so I will try to help you if I can.

2. Now, much depends upon the amount of sunshine you get in your yard and which direction you house faces. Looks like it sits in an east to west with the street going north to south. Anyway, that will determine WHAT you can grow - how much sunlight you get there.

Tell me where you are situated (like north, middle, south or deep south coastal).

Tell me these two tings and we will go from there. I will offer you some CHEAP and easy-to-do-ideas to help you get started in creating a Cottage style front yard - things I have done when I was just getting started (and still do).
Okay?

~ Annie

Congrats on your house. I lived in zone 9b Louisiana for 48 years. When selecting plants you won't have to worry about winter interest as much, becoz you have a very short winter time. You have gotten some good suggestions. Here are some I'll second: make large curvy beds to offset the angular look of the house. Put in a few stepping stones so you don't have to walk on and compact the soil when tending the larger beds. Investigate some easy to grow shrubs and perennials. For example, the knock out roses, spirea, lantana, cleyera, sweet olive, there are many. Flowering shrubs are awesome, and require little effort. You could also put some containers here and there, since you are experienced with that. They can be filled with annuals. You have to be able to water them often though.
It looks like you have alot of shade, not sure what time of day that is. In the Deep South, that can be an advantage, esp in the afternoon. There are a couple good books like Passalong Plants, Tough as Nails Plants, and the like, which are great for the low maintenance garden in the south. Enjoy!

Take a tour of the gallery side of the forum. There are beautiful pictures that will inspire you. Look at FlowerLady's pictures, she lives in Florida.

Edna

First of all, congratulations on your first home! It is just wonderful (my first didn't look quite that charming, way back in 1961!).

As always I am going to suggest your Louisiana Extension for suggestions for your particular area. That is usually a safe bet...starting with plants that do well in your area.

Here is a link that might be useful: Louisiana Gardens

I love your house! ....especially all of the big windows.

I know all about living on a budget being single and living on one income. since you got a lot of great gardening/landscaping advice above, I'll tackle it from another angle. I bought a house two years ago and the people before me did no landscaping. Thankfully, they did cut back a lot of overgrown bushes so except for a few areas (like your bush growing in front), I had a clean slate. One overgrown bush (or so they thought) turned out to be a mountain laurel! It's growing back and I'm thrilled!

I found a few irises growing on the side of the house that was no longer a garden bed but apparently there was at some point. So I would say watch for things growing that you might be able to salvage and move someplace else.

Don't get overwhelmed. instead pick one spot to work on this growing season. (Like the area to the right of your house). You can see blooms from the inside the house and enjoy them. check out bhg.com and look at the garden plans for some ideas on garden bed shapes, types of plants, etc.)

I made the mistake the first year of making the beds near the house too narrow and too square-like. So the following year I widened it and put a curve on the bed at the corner of the house.

You seem to have solid walls in between the windows to the right. How about growing some sort of evergreen tree or bush that grows very tall. I'm not familiar with your area, but up here it would be something like arborvitae. I like to mix evergreens with deciduous shrubs so in the winter I still have something there of interest.

I grow a lot from seed. Check out the seed exchange here on the gardenweb. Since your garden is new, you won't have a lot of seeds to exchange, but there are people there who are more than willing to send their extras for a SASE.

If you have end of season sales at any box stores or nurseries (or sometimes even places like Wal-Mart)in your area, take advantage of those too. Go frequently to these places during the growing season to get stuff that just came in and is still fresh. Especially places like Wal-Mart - where when plants first come in they look fabulous, but in a very short period of time due to lack of care - they're almost dead. But I got some plants there like bareroot roses for $6.

I trade seeds with friends and get cuttings from plants in their yard.

Check out the gallery here as someone said above, there are some absolutely amazing gardens here that are great inspiration....there are so many knowledgeable and creative people, I've always found this forum so helpful and inspiring.

And have fun! (Most importantly!)

Estelle

Thank you guys for so much advice and ideas! Thanks also for loving the look of it! LOL I know it's not the most beautiful home, but I do love that it's ours. And we have been working so hard on the inside that the interior i DO love. So that's why we have decided that our next project needs to be some curb appeal. :)

So from my reading I think the #1 thing ya'll are saying is make sure not to make the beds too small. :) I can do that! The wet newspaper method to kill the grass and make the beds is def an option for us.

As to growing plants from seeds I'm all for it. When we were in our apartment I did extensive winter sewing and always grew lots of plants from seeds! Of course those were mostly annuals. I will have to invest some money in perennials here because I def want some foundation plants and shrubs.

So how does one design the layout and placement of their beds? Are there any rules to remember besides making sure to make them big enough? We are essentially working with a clean slate. There were some here at some time but they are so overgrown with weeds and grass at this point they have become part of the yard, not to mention that yes they were way too thin.

I'm going to take a better picture of the house this weekend and see if I can play around with bed placement. I would love some advice on the ideas I come up with if you guys don't mind. :)

Annie - you asked about where I am located and what direction the house faces. :) Here is a picture of our home on a google map:

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So the front of our house faces north west I guess? The back yard is mostly shade but the front seems to get a decent amount of sun all day. I was thinking that I could possibly find a nice trellis to put in the front in the space between the windows and have a climbing rose on that? I would LOVE your ideas on the cheap. :)

I'm off to check out the Louisiana forum as well.

Thank you all again. :)

The rose trellis in between your windows sounds great!

Here is a list of plants that I know from experience grow in your zone of Louisiana, which is semi-tropical:

Evergreens: Gardenias, Camellias, Gold Dust shrub, Azaleas, Rhododendrons, Hostas, Holly (several varieties), Daphne, Nandinas, Boxwood, Eunomous, Pyracantha, Oregon Grape, Photenia, Pieris, Rosemary, Myrtles, Yew, Pittosprum, yuccas, Weigelias (evergreen in your area), Sweet Betsy Carolina Spice Bush, Spireas, Bananas, Bird of Paradise, Forsythias, Crepe Myrtles (also listed in trees), Flowering Quince, & etc.

Bulbs: Dahlias, Gladiolas, Iris, Cannas, Daffodils, Snow Drops, Lily of the Valley, Violets, Crocosmia, Dutch Iris, Louisiana Iris, Ginger, Elephant Ears, Tulips, Freesia, Renunculas, Peonies, and etc.

Trees: Dogwoods, Redbuds, Star Magnolias and others, Crepe Myrtles, Rose or Sharon, Fruit trees of all kinds, Figs, all flowering ornamental trees or tall shrubs.

Annuals: ALL. 0- Cottage types that would be pretty with your pink climbing roses: Cosmos, Zinnias, Periwinkles, Petunias, Shirley Poppies, Sweet Allysum, tall spiky Larkspurs, Calendula, Nasturtiums, Bachelor Buttons, Geraniums (trailing types too), to name a few.

Perennials All (Cottage types: Hollyhocks, Daisies, Lantana, Camanula, Black-eyed Susans, Gloriosa Daisies, Painted Daisies, English Daisies, Mums, Bleeding Hearts, Campion, Chamomile, Candytuft, Columbine, Delphiniums (planted in the fall), Coral Bells, Foxgloves (Planted in the fall), Hibiscus, Meadowsweet, Blanket Flower (Gaillardias), Dianthus, Cheddar Pinks, Everlastings, Lady's Mantle, Goats Beard, Coneflowers, Salvias, Sages, Primrose, Red Hot Pokers, Poppies, Yarrow, Verbena, Maidengrass, Pampass Grass, Lamb's Ears, Spanish Lavender, Asters, Bugloss, Begonias, Brugmansia, Baby's Breath (planted in the fall), Bee Balm (Monarda), Balloon Flowers, Geraniums (both kinds), Germander, Jacob's Ladder, (check other Lavenders for your area), Flowering potato bush (beautiful deep violet blue flowers), and many more.

Vines:
Creeping vinca, Bougainvillea, Purple Hyacinth Bean (perennial in Louisiana), Moonvine, Morning glory, Wisteria, Dutchman's Pipe, Passionflowers, Carolina Jasmine, Clematis, Gourds, Mandeville (gorgeous), Ivy (all kinds), Akebia, Honeysuckles, to name a few.

Roses: Zephrin Drouhin (repeat blooming), Natchidotches Noisette (repeat), New Dawn (repeat), Constance Spry (spring flowering), Gardenia (it may repeat in your area), Cecile Brunner (repeat type). I also grew Queen Elizabeth with great success (bush type). In fact, I grew all kinds of roses! I had the Natchidotches rose planted at the base of a big tree in back and it climbed way up into the tree. It was gorgeous.

Arborvitae (Thuja) - all varieties
Deodar Cedars (yummy smell)
Creeping junipers and columnar junipers.
Ferns of nearly every kind;
Strawberries (look great in the cottage garden along the walk or path and edible.
Flowering Kale in the fall.
Castor bean Plants

Decide what your main color will be. If you like the climbing pink rose, then choose perennials and annuals that will follow that scheme and then add some that are accent colors, like blues, yellows, oranges, purples, white, etc. and even a splash of red.

A tall Yew at the corner of your porch and carport would soften that empty space and not impose into either area. Yews do really well there. Gold Dust shrub is lovely as a border shrub, with azaleas in front of that.

Design your flower beds out front. Start your flower bed maybe about midway down your driveway and then curve it in wide swoops in and out up (undulating) up towards the house, across in front, and around to the side yard. Make it come out wider at the corner of your house, not narrower. This is a big mistake of many people and it make the whole thing look unbalanced. Plant something tall and evergreen at the corner and something at the front porch corner to soften. You want the focal point to be your climbing pink rose. Plant permanent shrubs at the base of your house (set out at least 3 feet), but not in straight lines like soldiers and not bushes that will all grow to be the same size. Then add roses and other shrubs in your flower bed, with perennials and annuals poked in the spaces between. Don't forget bulbs for spring bloom. Make sure the shorter plants are toward the front or they will be lost when the perennials get big. You can add big rocks and ornamental grasses in there for accents (An ornamental grass along the driveway side would soften the straightness of the driveway and add height there). A bird bath is nice, but next to a shrub looks best and it gives birds some escape & shelter from cats). Whatever you like.

It's your garden. That's what a cottage garden is all about. Plant what you like. MULCH deeply using pine straw.

Cover the whole bed with pine straw even if it isn't completely planted with flowers yet and that will keep the soil in good shape and keep out weed seeds until you are ready to put things in there.

So start with your main plant - a trellis with a climbing pink rose in the front. Add a few evergreen shrubs that soften the edges of your house, and then go from there.
Do it in stages like that and then it isn't so overwhelming.

Go to nurseries and garden centers to look at all the plants. You can grow many from seed yourself, but you can get good ideas of color, size and etc, by looking at larger, blooming flowers and shrubs.

~ Annie

wow!!! Thank you SO much for all of that information!!! I am going to print it out and digest it! I already feel like this is much more doable thank I did yesterday. Thank you so much!!! :) I'll keep you updated on my planning progress! :D

Osmanthus fragrans is another evergreen shrub. Little flowers in the spring and sometimes til frost smell sweet like a citrus tea. Also called Fragrant Tea Olive.

I've evolved from a plant-killing clueless person, to a gardener (who still kills plants :-) over the past 20 years by doing three things: planting, planting, planting...moving, moving, moving the plants...and reading, reading, reading.

I cannot tell you how important the reading was, to the development of both my confidence as a gardener, and my gardening "style." Find a good library and check out EVERY book on gardening they have; you'll learn something from nearly all of them.

Then buy the ones that truly inspire you, and re-read them. Walk around your yard in all seasons, in all kinds of weather, using your IMAGINATION to "see" the layout, the angle of the sun, the direction of the wind, and how it will affect that garden in your mind.

My neighbors long have thought me nuts, because I "pace" my yard, wherever I live, and just stand and stare blankly "into space" when--in reality--I'm seeing new things, new plants, new beds, fully-grown trees, etc.

I understand how frustrating it can be to see only Rich and Finished gardens, in the books. I'm still chafing over my financial restrictions (I don't have a sidewalk to my house, some of the paint is peeling, I need fences to hide my neighbor's junk and chicken wire) and somethings those gorgeously perfect, plenty of money, gardens make me cranky. ;-)

Anyway, here are a few books that show *ordinary* but lovely gardens, or deal with modest budgets, that might be helpful:

The Garden Design Primer, by Barbara Ashmun (a design handbook written for REAL people, in a very friendly style, that doesn't expect scientific perfection)

Front Yard Gardens: Growing More Than Grass, by Liz Primeau.(Help for starting small)

America's Cottage Gardens, by Thorpe and Sonneman. (When I first got this book I was dismayed at the scruffy yards, small ranch houses, etc. Now I appreciate it for being honest and real!)

Welcome to this great forum. It is full of friendly, helpful gardeners. You've gotten a LOT of great advice.

I think one of the first things is *Don't Be Afraid* to start.

One of our own gardeners had a blank slate in 2007 and I'll give the link below so you can see the difference.

She did a fantastic job and even got an award from her housing community, after being harassed by them first. :-)

There are lots of wonderful gardens that have been posted here I wish I had a list of them all. Chock full of flowers, veggies, herbs and garden art. Gardens are a work in progress, always something to do, see and learn.

Check the gallery side for pages of posts and pictures.

Have fun.

FlowerLady

Here is a link that might be useful: 8 months later - from grass to gorgeous garden

Flower, my goodness, I remember when cousin Kathy went through all that. What a big difference and it's even more beautiful now.

This was my before garden
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This was a few springs ago.
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This was last spring
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Your garden will evolve over time. I started out with what I could afford and slowely added. I spread wild flower mix the first year and after that I started buying plants a bit at a time.

Edna

wow everyone! Thanks so much for all of the visuals and ideas! What a difference in both of those yards! Gorgeous! :)

Last night at the bookstore we actually found one book that had a lot of homes in it that seemed more approachable. It's the curb appeal book from HGTV. I watch that show but honestly having the book in front of me gives me something to LOOK at over and over to see how I could incorporate things I love. I'm scanning some pages in of different front of house designs that I like so that I can get a better idea of where I should head in our overall plan.

We are def going to start with planning the beds and finding a trellis and climbing rose that will work well with our house.

Thank you all again for all of the advice. I was scared before, and so that was holding me back. I'm a bit of a perfectionist and I think I was so scared of making a mistake with plantings or the design that I couldn't get past that first step. Now I know it's an evolving project and there is no "Right or wrong" just what we love. :) I'm feeling calmer about the project. :)

THANK YOU! :D

Ok - Here are some inspiration images I found in the book we bought last night (for $5.00 - I love bargain books:) )

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I see some ideas in these images that we could take inspiration from for our yard. I'm thinking about adding a large walkway from the driveway to the front of the "porch" slap of concrete that you now use to get to the front door, to maybe open it up and make it more welcoming. What do you think? I love the idea of using some concrete pieces that someone might be throwing away on freecycle to make a pathway or something.

I LOVE the top picture!!!
Azaleas, boxwood, hostas and plants from the other pics added in would be gorgeous.

Very much a Louisiana garden. Love the Hostas and how the path leads around the house to an arbor with the tall evergreen at the back to balance.
Oh, the Umbrella plant is great. I forgot to list that one. I grow those here now, too.

I was also thinking that maybe it would be more "Cottagey" to plant your climbing rose to grow up the left side of your front porch and onto the porch roof. If you train it up the porch post it would save you from buying a trellis, at least for now. If you do that, get a thornless or at least a less thorny rose.

I also forgot to list Impatiens, Ajuga, Heather, and Liriope (variegated would be very pretty) for border plants. Also, can't recall the proper name of the plant, but everyone there in LA. called them "Cast Iron plants". Long dark green leaves on cane-like stems. They usually planted them at the base of trees or in the shade against foundation of the house. I loved them, so I brought some with me here to Okie. I grow them in pots here because they would freeze outside in winter. Oh! Now I remember their name! They are Aspidistra elatior. They like shade. They burn and get ugly in direct sun. Beautiful plants for added texture and fullness in with other plants. Check those out.

And yes, hanging baskets are a must - ferns, spider or airplane plants, impatiens, geraniums and ivy, petunias, verbena, and Asparagus plants, to name a few.

I use discarded concrete for stepping stones. It's cheap and looks very good in the cottage garden. And old bricks - sometimes you can find piles of discarded used bricks too. Be on the look out for those.

Those are all very do-able ideas for your home.
I am proud of you - both. Now, go for it!

~ Annie

I read thru these reponses and most of them are good advice. Don't go out and buy plants until you have a plan. When we bought our house it had nothing at all so I had a clean slate. Since our house was sqaure and angled, I wanted large sweeping beds. I drew them out and we used a hose to picture the shape of the beds. Then my hubby did the edging. In the 24 years since then, I have many many times been so thankful that I had a plan in the beginning.
It has served as a picture of what we wanted even tho we couldn't afford to do it all at once. Having a plan of where you want beds ie..shape and size really helps. The other piece of advice I would like to give is to build your beds way up..perennials need good soil loam and compost decays fast. When I have helped friends start a garden, I always tell them to raise the beds high. They always tell me later that they wish they had raised them higher. It gives the yard dimension. You can do this without spending a lot of money. If you don't have money for edging, just cut the grass away with a shovel in the shape you want.
Perennials last for many many years and they are worth buying. They can be divided and some self seed so they are a good investment. Like the previous post said..research shrubs and start there. Good bones are a necessity.
Great house with lots of potenial for a beautiful garden! Good luck

I like the Before and After pics, as encouragement! Here are a couple more, to show you just how fast things grow (sometimes too much, in fact. The back yard looks messy to me and needs an overhaul,to me...and I want to do something less chaotic out front, now, too) in just four years:

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to this:

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And this:
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And in the back:

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to this:

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The great thing about gardening is that nothing IS static (well, trees can get pretty obstinate, I suppose) and you can always move things around. I'm still trying to save up enough money for high quality hardscaping (a real walk up to the house, better stone edges, a cedar fence, improving the porches...) and know that most of my plants can just be rearranged when the time comes.

You can't make too many mistakes that can't be undone.

wow! how gorgeous! I adore your front garden! It's gorgeous! Thanks so much for the before and after! :)

Wow! Prairiegal! You've done amazing work. I just love it!
I hope I'm not high-jacking this thread - but since you have before and afters, and in the spirit of offering more encouragement to rhapsdy - here are my before and afters. I had the porch rebuilt this spring, tore down the bushes in front. I'm hoping to replace the windows in front someday and add a privacy hedge or fence on the side. (It's on my list!)

Here is the house when I moved in -

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And here it is last spring - the porch has seen been painted white -

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beautiful! And please - hijack away! :) I'm loving all the before and afters! Hopefully they will inspire others, not just me! (which they have!)

Today I go and take a better updated picture of the outside of the house (without the bush/weed attached to it) and see what I can mock up for us longterm! :D

That first picture I posted above is by far my favorite of the ones I listed. And funny enough I think it's actually the most doable for us as well! I am sure with some patience someone will have some concrete that they want to get rid of.

So you think the climbing rose over the entry would be better? Looking for some pictures to see how that would look. I know I've seen one somewhere that i loved - of course now I can't find it! LOL Thornless - yes that would be VERY important at an entryway! :)

I found a great link that explains the recycle concrete path!

http://www.leknott.com/photos/path/index.html

:)

Do any of you know anything about this rose?

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it's called an ABRAHAM DARBY™.

http://www.heirloomroses.com/cgi-bin/browse.cgi?page=item&cat=13&item=100

I'm having a hard time finding where I can search for a rose with the parameters that I want, which are:

Climbing
Near Thornless
Lt Pink or White

I've made contact with our local Rose Society hoping that they might be able to help me and have searched the Louisiana garden forum on here. I will be doing more research but thought I would ask here just in case someone knew enough about climbing roses to help me. :)

Abraham Darby is one of my very favorite roses. I have 3 of these. They get to be really big shrubs, have beautiful blooms, and wonderful fragrance. I'm not sure if it will do what you want it to on an arbor though. Maybe someone else has it growing on an arbor. Janen

Zephirine Drouhin, Cecile Brunner and Climbing Pinkie meet your criteria of nearly or thornless pink climbers, but they have their downside: Zephirine is not a repeat bloomer, so you only get one show, and is prone to disease. Cecile has little bitty sweetheart blossoms and has been a slow grower for me but repeats. I don't know Pinkie but I'd bet she's small too. Sombreuil is a white climber that I love but you might not, not overly showy.

You might think about a climber with showier upright shrubs at its feet to hide the inevitible bare legs.

Nell

Abraham Darby is among my favorites. The Rose Society is a great resource, Hun.

They are devoted rose growers who know your area and what varieties will do best, be the least amount of trouble and suit your gardening site. There may be a few "stuffy" members, but you encounter folks like that everywhere, so blow it off. Find someone you can click with in the group, but be open-minded, because often the stuffy ones are very knowledgeable and may end up being your best rose gardening friend! :)

Cottage Garden Roses - LINKS:

French Cottage with roses over the front door:
http://www.frenchconnections.co.uk/_db/_images/104925-23.jpg

Roses growing on the Corner of a cottage - beautiful!
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1045/632539152_3b518039fb.jpg?v=0

White Cottage Roses - large shrub. This would also look good in between your front windows and you wouldn't have to trellis it:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://i.pbase.com/u36/marrion/large/23781943.WhiteCottageRose.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.pbase.com/marrion/image/23781943&usg=__7IRa1n0gq0bIeIwzz2iI8FDFfHg=&h=600&w=800&sz=135&hl=en&start=65&um=1&tbnid=CjWsyJfDQZNxvM:&tbnh=107&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcottage%2Bwith%2Broses%26start%3D54%26ndsp%3D18%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

Look at this Deep Pink Climbing Cottage Rose growing on trellis:
http://i.pbase.com/o6/02/21102/1/83629046.RJ4PxQGS.CottageRoses8Aug07_004.JPG

Typical English Cottage with Roses growing over the door:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/2324703/2/istockphoto_2324703_typical_english_country_cottage_with_roses_round_door.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup/united_kingdom/england/oxfordshire/2324703_typical_english_country_cottage_with_roses_round_door.php%3Fid%3D2324703&usg=__KJfXlbt20O3ss8ZutooICfiVf3E=&h=380&w=285&sz=73&hl=en&start=107&um=1&tbnid=zKBp-Var5cYXJM:&tbnh=123&tbnw=92&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcottage%2Bwith%2Broses%26start%3D90%26ndsp%3D18%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

A great image of Chambermist Cottage and Farm (in Scotland, I believe), showing white Cottage Roses with Lamb's Ears at their feet:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.chambermistcottage.com/Roses_Cottage2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.chambermistcottage.com/&usg=__KowXzFpoHYMR-c7oxyx10SBuh0w=&h=417&w=273&sz=63&hl=en&start=101&um=1&tbnid=0-Pmze6XSaKTGM:&tbnh=125&tbnw=82&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcottage%2Bwith%2Broses%26start%3D90%26ndsp%3D18%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

A pink Cottage Rose growing on the corner of this cottage:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1078/816459671_ffad4c0257.jpg?v=0

Here is one of my New Dawn Roses growing with Clematis up onto two old white metal porch pillars that I set out in the garden for a make-shift arbor:
{{gwi:635921}}
This rose blooms continuously, but has mean thorns and gets huge. If a rose is listed as "Vigorous" you can bet it will grow to be a monster-sized rose and probably have thorns that could be used for a medieval weapon! Still, I love them. New Dawn is a very disease/fungus resistant rose. This is mostly just for you to look at for ideas of mixing other things with roses.

My Climbing Red Blaze Rose growing at the back corner of my house and up onto an arbor over a garden path that leads down to my Koi pond:
{{gwi:635923}}

~ Annie

Check out the link below! There are TONS of images of the gardens around this Bed and Breakfast, plus inside, too. AWESOME! INSPIRING!!! I nearly filled up my files with all the images I saved. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: I LOVE THIS!!!! What an Inspiration!!!

Thanks so much for those suggestions! :)

Ok...so I played in photoshop. What do you guys think of this and where it's heading?

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ok so the pictures of your roses didn't load the first time I looked at your newest post Annie - wow gorgeous! I love the clematis growing with your rose! :)

Love it! the trellis and the climbing roses over the front entrance - and especially the tree with the bed around it.

It looks beautiful!

Just some ideas for you:

you might want to beef up the columns on your porch by just covering them with some lumber to make them thicker. Then add some decorative trim along the edge of the roofline over the carport as well as some corners where the posts meet the roof. These are cottage architectural details that could be very inexpensive to do. Paint the window trim and shutters the same color as the posts and trim over the carport. Check out the very simple detail over the carport in the first picture posted by dances with wolves. Very simple, clean and elegant, very cottage.

Then you could consider instead of a trellis between the windows, building a simple arbor that echoes the carport detail, and place a bench under it, then plant the arbor and the bed around the bench. This would tie the two sides together. Your curved beds look great and the path is excellent. Just be careful that the path is not so big or prominent that it takes over the yard. You might also want to do some detail or paint the front door a great accent color as it does kind of get lost. Just keep it in balance with the carport trim and the arbor trim. At a later date a simple picket fence with another simple arbor would be really cool.

Also, I would balance the effect of the tree on the right by putting a similar or same tree on the left and add some flagstone or concrete on that side to park the car on.

Anyway, just some simple ideas to add some cottage architecture to your simple but charming little house.

We def. will beefing up the columns sometime in the near future when we have the extra cash. They aren't in the best shape and need to be replaced. I'm not a fan of the round columns and will be doing something different for sure.

The driveway at the moment only fits one car width wise (as you can see) and we plan on extending the concrete out to the edge of our proprty line to give us more space to park there, as it's the only option we can see for adding additional parking. At the moment (As seen in the picture) hubby kinda pulls up to the side so I can get back around him but it sucks when it rains and the ground gets wet. So, there isn't really an option to add a tree to that side of the yard as there won't BE yard over there at some point. LOL If you have other ideas on parking or the driveway please do share! The only other thought we had was to add a circular driveway in the front and take over most of the yard. But then, I don't even know how one gets approval from the city to do that or if we even have enough space, and do I really want mostly concrete in our yard? We could put plants everywhere else so hmm maybe it would work?

I like the idea of changing the front door. At the moment it's dark and solid. I would love to get one with windows in the top of it to let in more light in that front room but still keep the privacy we like. We might have to check out the Habitat Restore to see what we can find.

The arbor with a bench under it I've thought of...but the more I think of it the more I don't love the idea of a bench out front that we wouldn't use. LOL I know it could make a cute spot in the yard, but I honestly don't ever see us just sitting out front.

Thank you very much for the ideas! I will investigate the door idea first. :D I think that I love cottage style in a bit more formal way. Honestly I really just love classic south Louisiana gardens, which seem to have a bit of cottage style in them.

oops I meant a semi-circular driveway. obviously I know a full circle wouldn't even BEGIN to fit in our small yard. I am doubting that a half circle would either. LOL

Love your photoshop work. That looks great!

The Crepe myrtle at the corner is very Southern and lovely, and the flowerbed adds balance. Terrific!

You might try "Photoshopping" in a medium-sized pink flowering azalea there at the corner of your porch in front of the climbing pink rose. That would tie it in with your Crepe myrtle tree at the corner, color-wise. Then something shorter of green or variegated green that arches out a little ways toward the center and towards the sidewalk.

Experiment by adding a taller plant, perhaps a flowering bush (like a gardenia or something that likes sun if it is too sunny there) in front of the pillar on the left of the porch where it joins to the carport, again for balance. The rose over your porch causes the eye to look to the left in the direction it is growing if you get what I mean. Plants should guide your vision (the eye) from one side of your garden back to the other, like the crepe myrtle tree & the flowerbed around it and the curve in your pavers do in leading the eye towards your front door. (apply the same techniques in your garden as you would in a painting)
Hope that is as clear as mud.

Then try adding some annual flowers in pinks, blues and white of varying sizes and textures on the lower side of the pavers from the azalea down to the driveway and sidewalk.

I do agree with the idea of repainting the shutters and the front door. Paint it a light color to illuminate your house (that will make it more friendly, happy and is classic style), perhaps white to go with your rose trellis in the center.

Your off to a good start there kiddo!

~ Annie

still playing with the idea of new colors for the shutters and door, but in the meantime here's beefed up posts, and new plants, and a bird bath. :) hahaha And it just gets more and more complicated and expensive! This is how I work...I keep going and going and then don't know where to stop. LOL

{{gwi:635927}}

Yes Ma'am!
That's beautiful.

Keep your original bare-bones landscape you previously posted for your starting point reference or it will soon become overwhelming.

Looking good, Hun.

~ Annie

Rhapsdy, that's looking great. You're doing awesome with photoshop.

Hang in there and patience. We bought a similar style house (hip roofed rambler) 2.5 years
ago. It was the first chance I had at doing any landscaping and I was eager to establish a
garden. But like you, our front yard was a blank slate of lawn. Drove me nuts.

Anyways, I started a few landscaping projects in the front at once simply because they made
sense to do congruently:

1- Lawn Removal Process
Started digging up the front yard in front of our bay window and had brought in some top
soil. Gradually started adding some ground cover (vinca minor) as I dug up more lawn and
tight funds became available each month (long-ish process).

2- Transplant Trees
While waiting for funds to free up each month I'd made plans and transplanted several vine
maples from my aunt's 11 acre property. Basically, just stuck them in the ground where I
wanted them (based on plan/sketch I drew up).

3- Rubble Wall (bones)
Then I started construction of a free standing rubble wall built out of left over concrete.
Again, like the ground cover, this was built is bits ad pieces as I located concrete and had
spare time. It took months and months to finish. The point of this was to partition the yard
into public and semi-private precincts. Eventually I transported and hand-stacked about
15,000 lb. of broken concrete to make the wall. Lots of labor but the material was free. Only
cost was gas to pick it up . . . maybe $100?

4- Planting Beds and In-Fill
While the wall was built up a partial course at a time I'd continue adding to the garden area
around the wall. Planting beds would be carved out and gradually filled in with new plants.
This really started by the beginning of the second year.

I should note that the only reason I did this multi-prong approach was because I was waiting on fundage for more nursery plants. It let me build the wall, collect "free" stuff from may aunt's property, and dig out the beds.

See below for a link to my garden page for more photos.

Some progress photos:

Our house and front yard as we moved in. Sorry for no picture of the rest of the yard, just
imagine boring lawn.

{{gwi:635929}}
Mid-March '07 - Starting construction of the wall

{{gwi:635931}}
Early-May '07 - Doing manythings at once, building the wall, planting ground
cover, moving big pile 'o dirt around.

{{gwi:635933}}
November '07 - The vinca field outside the wall has been expanded. The wall has gotten taller. Starting to dig out a new planting bed for some ferns and
more vinca.

{{gwi:635935}}
May '08 - Compared to two pictures above. . . almost 1 year exactly. Vinca bed
is filling in nicely and with in about a month of this picture the garden had
exploded in even more vigorous growth.

{{gwi:285802}}
October '08 - Garden is maturing nicely. Hard to see but the beds within the
wall have been planted out. Added a cherry tree (left side of photo).

{{gwi:635937}}
October '08 - And to think, this was nothing but lawn 1.5-2 years ago.

{{gwi:635940}}
October '08 - Starting to experimenting with adding landscape lightin.

.

Here is a link that might be useful: More photos of the garden development.

"lupinsea"

Wow! The transformation is really something!
I really love all the bright colors - fabulous!
Congratulations.
The rock wall is beautiful. Lucky you to live in WA state.
Love the vinca.

So....uh, where are the lupins? :)

Annie

wow! what an amazing difference Lupinsea! I love what you have done to the place. Tell me more about your "eco grass" I believe you called it? Or was it "Ecolawn"? So how did you come up with the idea of the wall? It worked out so well and something like that would never have come to my mind! But I LOVE it in your situation! Gorgeous. :)

Thanks guys.

The Wall Background
Not quite sure where I got the idea of the wall. It sort of popped into my head as a way to breakdown the scale of the front yard. I've always liked landscapes that offered bit of mystery to them. Things that were concealed and hinted at that would pique my curiosity. This is more common in the city where people have garden screens or trellises set back from the front edge of the yard. There's some landscaping on display for the public but the front of the house is somewhat concealed from direct view and/or there's a front court / patio area that's somewhat hidden. Perhaps not as friendly or neighborly but interesting.

The general concept for the front yard was to have this public / semi-private progression up to the front door of our house. The wall seemed like a good way to go. It'd have a mass and presence and delineate a clear boundary between the public area of the front yard and the more semi-public/private area near the front door. But it wouldn't completely block the views and close off the front yard. The public area of the yard (outside the wall) would have low-growing vinca (so I wouldn't have to mow that area) and have a more spartan, zen-like quality.

The wall was purposely placed so that it broke on either side of the path and the path then went through an opening in the wall. This creates a threshold to mark progression into the semi-private precinct of the inner garden. Inside the wall I wanted an overgrowth of plants and an explosion of color. A visual treat for anyone walking through the wall toward the front door. I also liked the idea of having some over head cover and trees to provide a sense of being in the woods. It's not quite there yet but to this end I transplanted a number of vine maples from my aunt's woods. They are planted along the wall and give some verticle height tot he front yard. There are also about 10-12 rhododenderons (of various projected sizes and heights) planted throughout the yard with most within the wall. I also used some sword ferns as green in-fill plants. My aunt has thousands of them in the 11 acres of forest hill side she has. So those were free filler plants.

As for the material cost, the wall was almost free: it's built of broken concrete that I found around the area. Most of the time stacked concrete rubble is used in retaining walls. But I wanted to have this wall free standing since the yard was flat. The construction is based on millennia-old rubble wall construction techniques dating back to Roman times and beyond. The outer courses are of course the big chunks of concrete. But the interior core (space between the outer pieces) is packed tight with smaller chunks of concrete and 5/8"- crushed rock. The angular facets of the crushed rock lock in and compact in a very stable manner. As you can see, the top of each course is pretty smooth and flat and ready for the next layer.

When I finished, the wall was strong enough that I can run and jump on the top. I can pound and stomp my feet and jump up and down as much as I want but it's doesn't move.

Eco-Lawn
As for the "eco-lawn". Growing up as a young boy it was my task to mow our lawns at home. I got paid for it but it was still a chore. As I got older I still had to mow our lawns but then I started doing the grounds upkeep at my dad's warehouse which also included mowing.

Suffice to say, I got pretty tired of mowing. Its mind numbing. I'm much more interested in lushly planted gardens and such. Not to mention the water resources that lawns drinkup. Wow. Oh, and around the Seattle area they do brown out a lot in the summer if not watered. When I stumbled across the idea of an eco-lawn it caught my eye (I think a news paper article).

The idea is this: An eco-lawn is a mix of slow growing grasses and broadleaf plants like clover, yarrow, english daisies and some other stuff.

There are a number of environmental benefits such as 1/3 to 1/4 the watering requirements. And with the clover which produces nitrogen the "lawn" is self-fertilizing. But the BIG winner for me was the 1/3 to 1/4 mowing requirements. Since the eco-lawn grows so slowly you don't need to mow as much. And in spring time all those other plants produce flowers so the lawn looks like a big meadow. Very pretty.

But it's a lot of effort to install one. You need to first kill your existing lawn. Then roto-till it up, rake up and remove the sod clumps, then you can spread the eco-lawn seed mix. Then make sure it stays moist until established. The seed is a bit pricey at about $30 / 1000 sf of lawn. Then there is the rototiller rental and old sod disposal fees.

I bit off a bit more than I was expecting.

I though I'd be able to just till the old sod into the ground. Nope, too lumpy. With the ideal sowing time fast approaching I ended up just piling up the sod in my driveway for later disposal. In the end that 7000 sf of lawn area yielded about 20 cubic yards of piled up sod (about two dump trucks worth). It took me a few months and about 15+ trips with my little utility trailer to drop it off in my aunt's pastures. It cut the disposal costs to just gas money instead of dump or landfill/recycling fees, or about 1/3 the cost of normal disposal.

Sorry to high-jack this thread but here are some photos of the ecolawn. The flowers have stopped coming up the end of summer but the lawn has filled out more. I expect this spring will be amazing.

For what it's worth, I haven't mowed my yard since October as the eco-lawn has gone a bit dormant.

I'd do it again but would be more prepared for a lot of effort.

Click the link below for more eco-lawn photos as it progressed over the last year+.

{{gwi:635941}}
This is in April of '08. The lawn was planted in mid-to-late September of '07.
So this is about 7 months after planting. The lawn is still somewhat sparse
but all the ground is mostly covered and the flowers are coming up.
. .
. .
. {{gwi:635942}}
Same time of year, April '08. Zoe is playing with her toy in the eco-lawn.
. .
. .
. .
{{gwi:635943}}
This is almost exactly a year after planting, October '08. This photo shows
a more mature eco-lawn with a mowed area and an un-mowed area.
The un-mowed area represents about 4 weeks without mowing.

Note the lush green and chartruse colors. I like the mottled look.
Surprisingly, this lawn hasn't been watered since August at the height of
summer.
. .
. .
.

{{gwi:635945}}
Front yard with some eco-lawn. About 4 weeks since last mowing.
. .
. .
. .
. {{gwi:635947}}
And some of the work it took to get the new eco-lawn in. This yard project
really kicked my behind. And it all started with wrestling with a 9hp rototiller,
then the raking (seen above), then the stock piling to the driveway, then
hand loading / unloading 20 cy of sod to my aunts house.
. .
. .
. .
For what it's worth I went with the Fleur-de-lawn seed mix. It was designed for the NW. One of the guys who came up with this concept was a research professor at the Oregon State University I believe. There's also some info on the Washington State University website.

WSU Eco-lawn info

Here is a link that might be useful: My Eco-lawn page showing a DIY progress shots

wow I somehow missed your last post. What a lot of work on that yard, but what a massive finished product! How awesome! Thank you for sharing your progress and photos!

So I've been dreaming a bit more about our house. For valentines day my husband and I bought each other a Japenese Magnolia to put in our front yard. So this is the design idea for our home at the moment. We will buy plants and such as we have money and eventually one day it will look like this :)

This is now (can we say desperate landscape? ahaha)

{{gwi:11418}}

This is the dream:

{{gwi:11419}}

You're doing it right. You're starting with the anchors and adding in the rest.

I never knew I had an ecolawn. :)

A wonderful rose for you is 'Peggy Martin'.

This is the rose that returned after Hurricane Katrina, after being covered by 20 feet of salt water for weeks.

It is thornless, blooms almost all year, (it has been blooming for the past month), clusters of roses in shades of pink. It is a vigorous climber that can easily reach 15 feet and higher.

This particular rose was one of only two plants surviving the 20 feet of salt water over the garden of a Plaquemines Parish resident, Peggy Martin, back in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast.

Great rose!

Good luck!

Janie

wow it survived through all that? Impressive! I'll have to check that rose out! Thanks for the information!