I'm stumped? I found a pit in my back yard
faylon
15 years ago
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laxsupermom
15 years agoworthy
15 years agoRelated Discussions
Garden design...... I'm stumped. Can you help?
Comments (21)Hmmm, OK. I understand your points Laag. I'll go into this a little further then. We, as a family, spend most of our time either in the sun room at the rear of the house or on the wooden deck that is just off the sun room. Indicated on the plan by a rectangle with diagonal lines on it. That is the 'HUB' of the garden for us. The deck gets sun from 10am to about 4pm through the day. North of the deck between the cherry blossom and swing set, gets full sun all day long. To the North of the deck in the area of the cherry blossom is our family lawn area. We play there, enjoy the sun there (when it does peek out throught the clouds) and generally congregate there. So really from the north side of the house up to the north fence (including the kids play area) is where we spend most of our time when we are outside. The Swing set is clearly visible from the house and our kids spend a lot of time in there. When we have friends over, of course all the kids flock to the play house. Grown ups always nearby on the deck. So with that respects, the location for the playhouse was chosen in a prominent area, not hidden as you interpreted. The original plan for the house was that we would park the cars to the rear of the house, in front of the car garage on the gravel area, but it was not ergonomic and simply didn't work out. That area in front of the garage doors is always kept clear, almost as an open courtyard. Yes, the easy up paddle pool is always put up there, as is the kids blow-up bouncy castle/slide when the weather is fine. The 3ft wide concrete pavement that surrounds the house was on the insistence of my wife. Kids needing a cycle path to round the house. Note - the driveway into the property and at the back 'courtyard' area, is 3/4inch pea gravel. Great for drainage, crap for cycling on. Before I built the retaining wall and gravel area, the whole lot was simply a lawn. here are some old photo's... My wife and I hated it that way. It felt like we were living in the middle of a soccer pitch. Of course, for practical reasons we had to put a hard surface around to the garage doors which was part of the original design plan anyway. The retaining wall was an idea that we both liked having seen it while on vacation, so that had to be incorporated. And we wanted the closed in 'courtyard' feeling from tall trees with a passageway to the upper lawn almost as a passage to a "secret garden", drawing you from the deck, across the yard and in through the entrance, through the "small forest" and up to the..... And this is where the story ends so far... The tall birch trees are history, I'll change them for 10-15ft variety with lots of shrubs. That should give visual interest and varied structure to the border. BUT my concept works. I had a bbq a couple of weeks ago and just about everyone admired the entrance to the upper lawn and equally everyone suggested I needed more than just a lawn up there to REWARD whoever follows the path. EXACTLY what I wanted to hear!! So the story will continue, I just need some help. Quote - "These people either have a very different set of functions or are extremely incapable of designing. I have no idea which." You could be right Laag. Maybe I am incapable of designing.... i wouldnt be here looking for advice if I was able to whip up the right design off the bat!...See MoreI'm kinda lost, here and in my yard.....
Comments (9)Not nasty at all! Under the best of circumstances, it's tough to translate the soft-focus picture in your mind to the real world of which plant, which specific variety, how far apart, what to put next to it.... But when you have a lot of other people encroaching on your space, especially people who don't share your vision or your landscape "values" -- that's got to be really frustrating! And it sounds like you have a lot of space to deal with. In the time it takes to get shrubs and trees established, could you put in some hardscape features that would "guide" people where to walk and not walk? (And not park or drive!) Things like some fences, gravel paths, stepping stones. Maybe you could put in some raised berms, mounding up the soil into large curving beds to shelter your area. (The berms have an added benefit of bending the wind a bit and giving you some protected areas.) With a space that large, and with so much to choose from, perhaps you could get a landscaper to come out and work with you to develop a plan. I don't know how much that costs, but I know both my cousin and my sister made the investment and have never regretted it. It's like a multi-year plan; they buy the plants and put them in as they go, but the landscaper has drawn up the blueprint for them to follow. I don't know how your husband is, and I hate to make generalizations, but most of the men I know who aren't gardeners themselves seem to respond well to written plans and diagrams. It's one thing to tell them "I need 6' for these trees to grow up in" -- and another for them to see on the blueprint that the ultimate spread of this shrub goes right to the step, or to the fence line or whatever. (My mother insists that women are much better at visualizing than men, that's why they need the diagrams.) You may be able to co-opt him to put in some of the hardscape features. Maybe building trellises or arbors or pergolas, or excavating and laying gravel paths. That gives him a vested interest in protecting the gardens and keeping his family literally on the paths! Good luck. Building gardens takes a long time and it sounds like you're being pressed on all sides. Carve yourself a little space and dream big....See MoreI'm stumped...
Comments (12)dzejna, you might also like umbrella grass, it is tropical looking and is just like the Mexican petunia. You will never get rid of it. I really like the looks of it. I think it is beautiful, I like to show children how it roots, in water upside down. Neat! This would be another good choice for this flowerbed, except after a few years, it would break thru the brick, when it gets rootbound. It needs room to spread, like bamboo. Another choice for invasive plants would be the king of invasive plants, the purple passion vine. Even Roselee took one home, when I was pulling it up, to throw away. She said one mans junk is another mans treasure. She never mentioned it again. Barbra...See MoreMaster BR help!! Sort of there but now I'm stumped!
Comments (34)As I staged earlier, I have recently learned that I love LARGE prints. I think I would go with one really large print on the wall at the end of the dresser. It is the wall that you see when you enter the room. I think this will draw the eye to that end of the room. Your bed area is very nice but I think at the moment, people entering the room see the dresser first and that blank wall. Something large would draw the eye there and on to the bed. I love black and white photo or art and also love sepia toned ones. (even though my home does not reflect this) My classroom and office have always been done in black and white art.) I think that a sepia print of some kind would go great with your colors. Although it sounds like the brownish tone might not look good with your grayish walls, I think they would. You could frame in black and work with mat colors if you wanted some contrast. Seeing the photo that organic poster of her similar colored room helps visualize using a pop of color. Her pitcher with the dried arrangement gives the idea of what the sepia would look like. (hers is a brighter hue) You mentioned living in NO and having prints already framed. How many? Could you use them above the chest and/or the vanity? I also love the vanity where you moved it and the t.v. on the chest. (guess the pictures would fit above the t.v. that high. LOL) You might even find a sepia print of NO. The black and white photos might even work around this. I am including some links to some prints from allposters.com to let you see ideas. Since I don't know what you like, I just grabbed several. I really think the pop of sepia tone would look great with your pillow on the bed and still not move you into "colors". The rooom is great. I can show you a pic of a large art on one of my walls if you want. But the style is very, very different. I am all Southwest, Native American and very casual....See Moreworthy
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