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Landscape Design

Opinions on balancing height - Front of House w/ pictures

8 years ago

Hi, my wife and I are working on transforming late 70's landscaping on the front of our home and would really appreciate your expert advice. We have about a 3' x 15' strip of ground along the house, elevated concrete entrance and dropping back to another 3' x 15' strip.

The sidewalk then separates that ground from the "lawn" (in progress). We would like to till and expand landscaped area on the other side of the sidewalk.

We're concerned about poor height planning and the best plants to choose for central Iowa, full sun.

My wife is leaning towards a majority of white for anything flowering because of the house color. That's up for change as well based on opinions.

I should add that we are also open to transplanting any of the existing plants. I'm definitely not a fan of the existing situation on the right. The plants on the left are just on the ground in case its not clear in the picture.

We greatly appreciate any help!

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Comments (5)

stolenidentity
8 years ago
Well, I am no "expert" but I would start by getting rid of those round ball shrubs. The corner shrub on the right is a keeper. Would you like to keep the lower windows clear of growth? Are you into maintaining a garden bed - pulling weeds, watering, pruning, etc? I would probably put some artsy funk in the spaces....like a birdbath and some garden structures and colorful pots on a little table next to a little bench. The plants would be perennials and native to the area and I would put some roses, even consider some climbing ones. Also I would add bulbs for spring color, ground cover like vinca, and
jhawker23 thanked stolenidentity
jhawker23
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you for the response and ideas. We agree with the artsy funk. Our interior is mid-century mod. My wife would go to the more extreme end of the spectrum but I want to balance out to keep a general appeal as we will likely be selling this house in the near future and we are in a very conservative buyer market.
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jhawker23
Original Author
8 years ago
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PRO
Yardvaark
8 years ago
By the sketch, I'm actually NOT making any color suggestions. But I don't know why you all think that "white" must be the color. Love it in the shade, but it doesn't seems like what would give you pizazz. I would accept whatever color a good perennial groundcover provided and experiment with whatever appeals in annuals. (If it wasn't the greatest this season, there's always the next.)

Would consider raising the stoop to just below threshold level ... with one wide step to it.

Begin limbing up your trees (can go to 50% ht.) so as not to obscure view of house. Wait too long and they develop bad behavior (limbs that turn into trunks so when removed, leave a gaping hole.)

Above all, I would NOT plant on the other side (lawn side) of walk. If you want to do something beneficial, widen the walk.
jhawker23 thanked Yardvaark
Kim in PL (SoCal zone 10/Sunset 24)
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
As I see it, all the plants have about the same texture right now -- small leaves and more or less round blobs. Go to your nursery and investigate plants that have bigger leaves, or more vertical, sword-shaped leaves, or delicate weeping shapes, or strong horizontal shapes. More variety in texture could make your beds a lot more interesting. Look for color in the foliage, too, not just in flowers.

I do agree white is not your only option with flowers, but with the mid-century look inside, foliage should be the focus outside.

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