Need landscaping help for new house

11 years ago

Our house is nearly done. We just need columns, shutters, trim paint, flashing paint, landscaping, and sod. It looks like we will be moving in next weekend. :)

Our builder is putting in basic builder landscaping between the sidewalk and the house. It is a 3' bed. He will mulch it and plant boxwoods and begonias. Usually he also does a couple of photinias. However, he (and the landscaper) both thought that we might need more height, so suggested replacing the photinias with crape myrtles. Would those be too large so close to the house and with such a small bed? And, if we do go with crape myrtles, where should we put them?

Here is a pic of my house in progress.

{{gwi:1109374}}

and, if anyone wants to see more, the whole process from demo-now is here: http://daveandjosnewhouse.weebly.com/

Thanks for any help!

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Comments (18)

adellabedella_usa
11 years ago
Crepe Myrtles come in different sizes. You just need to make sure you aren't getting one that will be tree size next to the house.

The Parade of Homes is finishing up this weekend. The tours are free and open to everyone. If you need some some ideas for landscaping and decorating the inside, you might check out a few houses. I'm attaching a link. Inside that there is a clickable link for a Parade Guide to tell you where the homes are.

Here is a link that might be useful: Parade of Homes
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Lisa_H OK
11 years ago
Jo, do you know anyone who has photoshop? On some of the other forums I've seen them play with photoshop to show you how the landscaping would/could/should MIGHT look.

Which way does your house face?

I would be pretty careful about anything very close to the house. I think one of the biggest mistakes people make is planting things too close to the house. I am the number one offender of that!
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Mole, your new home looks lovely. Since your backyard is basically fence and grass, you are starting with a " clean slate". I personally enjoy the naturalistic look of layers - trees, then big shrubs, then smaller shrubs, then perennials. Also, since your neighbors are nearby, you also want to consider privacy issues. Also, it's important to look to the overall development of your landscape and not get in a hurry. My husband and I were in a similar situation with a blank slate. Plus, we were totally psyched up about finally having a garden. But we got in a huge hurry and started out with a 150 foot tree, shrub, and perennial bed. Looking back on it, we "bit off" far more than we could "chew". It's beautiful now, but it was a LOT of maintenance to get a border that big all started at the same time. Plus, we didn't foresee how the garden would change as the trees matured, and we had to redo many shrub choices. My suggestions are to plant some large, fast growing hardwoods like sycamore, and intersperse some pyramid-shaped smaller trees for better privacy. In front of, and around the trees, add large shrubs like viburnum. One other suggestion from hard experience - always keep the ongoing maintenance in the forefront of your mind. It's very very easy to get excited reading all the plant and see catalogs, get a bunch of flowering plants, and end up with a maintenance nightmare. My philosophy is that a well-maintained yard is the most attractive. The exact placement would depend on your views and your comfort. I recommend reading current and past issues of Fine Gardening magazine and reading books by Julie Moir Messery to get more information about framing views and shaping your garden to bring pleasure to you and your family. You also asked about timing. You live in a very hot area like me, so we either have to plant in the early spring as soon as the last frost is over or in the late fall. That way, the plants get their roots established before the heat and humidity start wearing on the plant. If you can wait, the fall is far superior since the plants will have the fall and spring to develop healthy roots before the plant's first summer heat wave. Good luck! I hope the advice helped.
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I'm not obsessed with matching, per se, but strive instead for compatibility, thinking it generally offers some more interesting possibilities. So I wouldn't necessarily hunt for the same brick as the house. A stronger color might add more zip to the overall picture. But I don't want to give the impression that matching is "evil." Sometimes it works great. Get samples--a few of each color that appeals--and see what they look like in real life. I can state with certainty that a crape myrtle that close to the house ... directly in front of a window--at least partially blocking it--is not how you would best display one of the important architectural features of your house. In my book it's verboten. But it's one of the most popular things people shouldn't do. Can't imagine why someone would have their heart so set on a mistake...? And the "dwarfer" it is, the worse. Avoid foliage in front of the window as if you're trying to hide it. Are you wanting this thinking it will increase its appeal from the inside view? It won't ... anymore than having a 4-year-old show you a picture of something that's 3" from your eyes. You'd get a better view of a small tree if it were some distance from the window. The fussy aspect of the English formal garden that you're trying to re-create does not appeal to me personally, If you did it very well, I guess it would be nice, though, wouldn't it? Doing well mean all the right plants. Short Monkey grass ... what plant is that? Liriope or Ophiopogon? I've never seen Liriope that stays as short over the long haul as what you're implying. While Boxwood can be clipped to keep small, I've always found it to be a troublesome (disease prone) plant and because I'm oriented toward low maintenance, it seems too big to clip that small. But go after your vision (except for the crape in that spot!) and research what plants might work best for you.
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Nice home and lot. Like the retaining walls -- would not remove them. Since you're aware of a large deer population, you should do some research before landscaping -- what will deer quickly ruin ... don't plant that. You'd probably be better off not doing any major landscaping until you live in the home about a year if for no other reason than you want to know how much time, effort, energy and money you'll be putting into what you have before you decide to make a change. One exception: After you close in November, consider topping (leaving <1') all those bushes that show a lot of stem below and green only on top. You might find they come back next spring.
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Frankly your home is gorgeous and fits into the landscape nicely already, so no need to "guild the lily" and right now what you have is relatively low maintenance. The low fence is a little primitive, but could be replaced by something similar only nicer. I imagine that is to guide cars into the driveway? Otherwise not really needed. And I will add my voice to "no" on the white stones. Why call attention to gravel with such a high contrast color? If you want white, a gorgeous white flowering dogwood that you put a deer fence around until it is grown up enough to take it, or spray religiously with "Deer Off" as Marymd suggested.
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biradarcm
11 years ago
Jo,

You have build gorgeous home!!! Congrats.

You may want to create a virtual garden and landscape around n your home with your real home pictures. There are lot of app in iPhone. try iScape (its free app) and many other paid apps to get an outlook. Dave is programmer, I am sure he might aware many other stuff as well. I use Adobe CS and also MS PPT to create such designs. But apps are much easy and better.

Cheers -Chandra
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joellenh
Original Author
11 years ago
Really right now I am going with the builder basics. We don't have the time or money to do anything extra. Landscaping is going in TOMORROW. My only concern/question is would crape myrtles work that close to the house, or should I stick with photinias? Sorry if my question wasn't clear in my first post.

Thanks!

Jo
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Lisa_H OK
11 years ago
Don't do photinas!!!!! They are a pain in the hiney because they really want to be a million feet tall and wide. One day I am going to take a picture of the ones at our church that we let grow into trees.

Lisa
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soonergrandmom
11 years ago
Beautiful home Jo.
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joellenh
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks Lisa H. Crape Myrtles it is!

Jo
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Okiedawn OK Zone 7
11 years ago
Beautiful home and I agree with what Lisa said about Photinias. If not pruned, they'll get 20' wide and 20' tall and become gigantic monsters. They're great for a giant screen, for example, alongside a roadway far from the house, but they are often misused and put into spots too small for them. You can keep them somewhat smallish with pruning for a couple of years, but ultimately that fails to contain them and you have to prune them up tree form to keep them manageable.

Congrats on the new house, and congrats on almost being ready to move in. I know y'all are ready!

Dawn
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Okiedawn OK Zone 7
11 years ago
Beautiful home and I agree with what Lisa said about Photinias. If not pruned, they'll get 20' wide and 20' tall and become gigantic monsters. They're great for a giant screen, for example, alongside a roadway far from the house, but they are often misused and put into spots too small for them. You can keep them somewhat smallish with pruning for a couple of years, but ultimately that fails to contain them and you have to prune them up tree form to keep them manageable.

Congrats on the new house, and congrats on almost being ready to move in. I know y'all are ready!

Dawn
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miraje
11 years ago
Yes, do NOT let them plant photinias near the house! I actually have to go out today and prune mine back for the second time this year because they're growing up past the gutters again. I have some choice words for whoever put them there, for sure. I was actually just thinking yesterday about how a few dwarf crepe myrtles would have worked so much better. Not only would they stay shorter, but the flowers in the summer would have added some much needed interest. The builders planted boxwoods and dwarf buford hollies as well, so in the summertime the front of our house is just a wall of boring greenness. :(
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telow
11 years ago
Just a word about the CM's. I've had all 3 sizes and the dwarf one are more prone to dieback in the winter. Generally they will come back from the roots but not always. On a secondary note, I highly recommend October Glory, Autuum Blaze, or Red Sunset maple trees when you get around to planting trees. They are gorgeous in the fall and not as prone to limb breakage as silver maple.
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Lisa_H OK
11 years ago
There is a list somewhere of Oklahoma proven trees. I know Chinese pistaches are supposed to be good too.
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chickencoupe
11 years ago
I really love the angles on this house! Well done! That is a monster roof but well worth the trouble as it speaks wonderfully. I adore complicated roofs and complicated angles. Spent many years in architecture. Great job matching those colors, too.

Do we have a fireplace in this beauty, too?

bon
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sammy zone 7 Tulsa
11 years ago
I have 17 or 18 crape myrtles, and just bought 3 more. I think they look pretty with my roses.

I have one outside of our window. It is white, and very pretty. It is just like another white one we have in the yard.

I cut my crape myrtles back each year, and only allow 4 or 4 canes to grow. Once it is cut back to 3 or 4, others begin to grow and I do not cut them, but the whole plant does not get too tall. I think the ones in the front will grow a little taller than the gutters.

In the spring I cut them all back. This takes time, but is what I like. If you don't care to cut it back in the spring, you will need to watch the size.

Your house is lovely. You will really enjoy it.

Good luck.
Sammy
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joellenh
Original Author
11 years ago
Bon, yeah we fell in love with the angles of the house too. It looks MUCH bigger than it is, because of the high roof lines etc. It is just fractionally larger in square feet than the little ranch house we lived in for five years and then knocked down. We do have a corner ventless gas fireplace in the family room.

I will post a final pic here when the landscaping is done. I know this is the garden forum and not the home forum, but since you people are like my big extended family, and I've talked about it so much, I figured y'all might want to see. :)

Jo
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MiaOKC
11 years ago
Jo, gorgeous new house! It sounds like you need to start your wish list for the fling next year so we can all begin accumulating cuttings, divisions, etc., for you! There was someone who wanted purple CMs and I wasn't sure which colors I had in my new house's landscaping. Now they are all in full bloom and we have three large purple ones and I think "who was that who wanted these? Maybe I should root some cuttings in the fall for them!"
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soonergrandmom
11 years ago
Mia, could it have been seedmama? She needed a lot of shrubs after her fire.

Jo, That house will have a garden, and it's in Oklahoma, and all of us would have been really mad if you hadn't shown us the new home. LOL I really do love it.
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joellenh
Original Author
11 years ago
It was me who asked for the purple crape myrtles. I just love them. :)

Jo
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Need landscaping help for new house

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