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Blank Slate Landscaping Help Needed

9 years ago

I now have a blank slate for our front yard as we just had a large tree removed. I live in Atlanta area and have a slate blue and beige house. I'd like to do a landscape that shows off our house colors but is also low maintenance. I have a large porch railing all the way across our front house with an open crawl space under the porch that needs to be covered. Help!

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Comments (4)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
9 years ago
If you now truly have a blank slate, you will need to be thinking beyond just perennials. Shrubs and even small trees form the bones of a garden and will offer that screening you desire in front of the open crawl space, as well as a year round presence. And as far as low maintenance is concerned, shrubs and trees, especially evergreen ones, tend to be on the low end of the maintenance scale while perennials are working their way up the scale. Most will need to be cut back or cleaned up at least annually as well as often needing staking or periodic dividing. Much fewer of those concerns with shrubs and trees.

I'd suggest you try reposting this in either the Landscape Design forum or the Georgia Gardening forum ( for very local input) or both. And try to include a photo of the area in question as well as its aspect (facing north or on west side, etc.) and how much sun the area receives. Your request is just a little vague - the more specific or detailed your request, the more likely you are to generate some appropriate suggestions.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
9 years ago
you are really going to need to post some pix ...

are you hiring this out.. or doing it yourself????

first.. define the lawn ... which will then define the beds ... now is the time to make your soil better ...

then attack the backbones ... which would be long lived trees.. and conifers .. aiming for the proper planting season ... which is never summer ...

then think about shrubs.. but be leery.. as many of those.. over the years.. will need pruning or shearing ...

then think about annuals and perennials.. and leave spots for spring bulbs ...

without pix.. i can go no further ...

if this is a owner project ... i would suggest being prepared for fall planting ....

ken
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Tibs has the most poignant advice : Green Giant Thuga will get taller than 8 - 10'. Check with your community's zoning, you might be limited on how close you can plant to the road and how high for driver's visability. Even if it is within code to plant that high on a busy street corner I would advice not to. It is very dangerous for your community. Drivers need to be able to see around the corner. I don't understand the rational for removing the short stone retaining wall. It provides you with a low barrier set off the street which is great in regards to winter plowing / snow removal , provides an off street walking or car pull off area and allows the upper grade some flatness. I think that a walk around the Arnold Arboretum will give you some ideas about how to pull together a vignette/ composition of shrubs as well as inform you ( most all the plants are labeled ) of the various plant names. - - If the Arnold Arboretum is not within close distance then try one of the local well maintained museum properties like DeCordova in Lincoln or the old Case Estates in Weston. Another option is Allen Haskells old nursery or Weston nursery - - Otherwise a consultation with a landscape designer would greatly benefit you and would most likely save you $$$ in the long run and you will receive a good base plan to work off of .
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I'm using your plan view drawing to make some suggestion. I don't there is as much space in the back yard as it shows so I'm reducing it some. For starters, it looks to me like you are making the patio too small to be genuinely useful. By the time you place a table and chairs, a grill, spillover seating and what not, it would be extremely crowded. Consider expanding it to what average users might desire, even if you don't think you need that much space. I've never heard anyone complain about having too much space on the patio, but plenty complaining of too little. Some small (15' height) trees surrounding the back yard would help give a sense of privacy without becoming overwhelming. To my thinking, multi-trunk trees would be better than single trunks ... more substance, more screening and more options of what could be used. At the front yard, a small multi-trunk tree between you and neighbor's would help your house from theirs and help screen the view between the houses. A medium flowering tree could give the house a sense of being somewhat sheltered, protected and give the street some personality. Like others, I agree that not having shrubs between drive and walk is better. Low (less than 12") groundcover would work better. Carrying it around the sloped portion of the yard and L. side of house would lessen maintenance and give a fuller look. Some seasonal color near the steps would be a cheerful greeting when entering the house.
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You are in "conversations." Will get much more feedback if you post in Home Decorating.
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Congratulations on building your new home. Based on our experience here are a few things you should look into: 1) Whether your shed (accessory building) is allowed in your zoning code. 2) The maximum sq ft of the accessory building that is allowed. 3) How far does it need to be setback from your property line. This varies between municipalities. 4) Make sure your Crabapple tree (Malus spp). is going to do well in your plant hardiness zone. http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/ 5) Regarding the shrubs, in our planting designs we try to only specify plants that are native to the state and region, because of reduced irrigation and maintenance needs. In looking at your pictures, we think that the swale should be usable space for recreation and repose. The trees can be located near the deck for privacy purposes; we recommend planting mature trees (large gallon size) because of higher survivability rates. If you are using the Crabapple tree for privacy, take into account that their canopy range is between 10'-25' diameter depending on the species. Also keep in mind that Crabapple is deciduous, which means you may want to consider a mix of deciduous and coniferous (evergreen). Lastly, we think you should cluster your plantings along the edges of the sides of the property (not in front of the swale); this would make your back yard look bigger. Good luck with the improvements and please post pictures when your done! -DR, Landscape Designer
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NHBabs z4b-5a NH
9 years ago
"with an open crawl space under the porch" . . . I would start by using wire mesh or latticework to cover this to keep critters out. Around here, it's common for skunks to want to move into dark areas like this, and I can't imagine that you'd like them as close neighbors.

You might want to do two or three photos of your home from across the road. Take one that looks at the whole front yard straight on, and one standing in the same place but rotated to the left of center a third from the same spot, but rotated right of center. That way anyone giving you advice has a feel for the entire yard you want to landscape.
Marie Tulin
9 years ago
we are imaginative but not that good! Get out there with yhour cell phone at take some shots.

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