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Landscape Design Design Dilemma

Front Landscaping Help Please!

Christina Sansonetti

6 years ago

In need of advice as to what to do with this area here. I'll provide some background. When we bought this house, there was severe flooding issues to which we have since installed several french drains and more sod to help remedy and has since been fixed.

In front of the home (as you'll see in the pictures), used to be a bunch of mulch and some plants. We have had to rip it all out as this was contributing greatly to the flooding and water going towards the house (and doing some water damage - but that's another story). Now that everything is ripped out and positioned so that it is away from the house, I'm at a loss of what to do decorative wise as doing mulch again would not be a good idea. We thought of pavers but that is going to be quite expensive and we are already in the red. Ideas please?

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Comments (4)

che11e
6 years ago
If the landscape was re-done properly and sloped away from home, I don't see why you could not do mulch, grass, ground cover or whatever? There is groundcover and there are plants that are better for areas that get really wet. Something has to be put there or the sod will just wash/erode away. I am hoping someone more knowledgeable will come along & comment.
PRO
Yardvaark
6 years ago
That is a misdiagnosis to think that plants and mulch are responsible for flooding and water problems. The problem is grade and it must be fixed properly before plants (surely a groundcover) and mulch are installed. The second picture demonstrates that, next to the walk, the grade is too high as the mulch was added without accounting for its thickness. Otherwise, there would be no need for the raised brick edging, an unsightly Band-Aid really.

Are you giving any consideration to what is happening at the left side of the walk? Normally, one coordinates all areas of the front yard at the same time.
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It would be better if the bed were a bit deeper since right now the small distance front to back really limits what you can plant there to a single line of very narrow and probably small plants. With the relatively high porch and tall house, plants that reach as least as high as the porch floor will look best, and shrubs will be lowest maintenance. So having a larger planting space front to back will be the easiest to maintain. Are you willing/able to do that? I am thinking a minimum of 6' front to back, and perhaps swinging out on the right side to accommodate a small flowering tree such as one of the smaller crabapples or a variegated pagoda dogwood. At least one kind of evergreen shrub such as one of the smallest Thujas/arborvitaes and then either one flowering shrub such as a panicled hydrangea or a different evergreen would be nice, especially if you planted an evergreen groundcover under it. Just be sure that at its largest there will still be space behind the shrub(s) so there isn't rot on the porch from constant moisture; don't put in plants that fill the space initially since they will be too large in just a couple of years. 6 hours of afternoon sunlight, especially with the bright morning shade (no near buildings or overhanging trees) means that you most likely want to use sun plants. I like the generous width of the walkway and steps.
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Overlapping photos from left to right
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Give room for hydrangeas to grow or you will be doing a lot of pruning when they grow to mature sizes. Don't plant too close to the house or sidewalk or driveway. I let a volunteer crepe myrtle grow near the driveway and my wife was not happy when it was over the driveway where she backed her car into the garage. I had to prune this at least twice a year, dug it up once and none of them made it but no fear as CM are hard to kill. In another couple of years it was back at six feet tall with an equal spread. This time I dug it up into five plants - 3 made it while 2 did not. After they made it I cut and sprayed every sucker of that CM. This was my scourge for years.
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OP, I'm glad to see you asked the landscape forum for help here on Houzz. There are quite a few posters in that sub-forum that are very knowledgeable and helpful. As to the house itself: my suggestions would include removal of the shutters on the large triple window on your right as you face the house. That window isn't designed for shutters at all. See this brief article for info: https://www.lifeofanarchitect.com/residential-architecture-101-shutters/ The other two items I see immediately is the style of your front door. It doesn't enhance your home at all. There are many front doors that would work, but the half moon door doesn't. If you get an appropriate door, paint it an accent color and get a storm door that is all glass with a small trim around that you can paint the same color as the door - or leave white. Consider beefing up your two front posts so they are more substantial looking. Widen your walkway to at least 4 ft wide and have the entry at the steps as wide as the steps. For the style of your front door, see below (door only) or a solid door. For color - consider a navy blue front door or something in the blue family. To me, the colors yellow and blue and green (landscape) are so welcoming.
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Christina Sansonetti
Original Author
6 years ago
Thank you kindly! Yes, we need to redo both sides of the walk. What would you suggest?
PRO
Yardvaark
6 years ago
Making suggestions from afar depends on you showing, as best you can, what you have. Since landscaping addresses all areas at once, it's more or less the way we need to see it ... as if we were standing there. The best technique for capturing a single scene -- from not too far away -- is by taking slightly overlapping pictures that pan from left to right. The first picture above is part of the scene we need to see. Return to the spot where it was taken and add the slightly overlapping pictures that would show the other (left) side of the walk. (The camera will pivot for each picture, not change locations. The doorway itself will show in the interconnecting picture, linking the two garden plots into a single scene.) If we're only addressing the two plots immediate in front of the house, that's all we need. If you want more of the front yard addressed, you'll need to back up with the camera and show that complete scene. Always you want to show more than you think we need to see by pivoting the camera far left and far right.

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