Help With Landscaping & Trees - Blank Slate- Come Help
6 years ago
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Need serious landscaping advice...blank slate...
Comments (20)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 ....See MoreBlank Slate - Need Design Help!
Comments (5)FinJ, personally I prefer two things with a blank slate. 1st is the view from the street, namely the main direction you drive in and see every day. 2nd is the view from the windows of the house, or areas outdoors you would use the most. If you use your garage a lot, I would add windbreaking things like arborviate or any plant choice shrub with mid level evergreen trees behind on the driveway length, rather than have a single row, you could have yews, dwarf pines, juniper, spruce, arborviatae etc. I have never done a house that needed a windbreak from north winds "being from the south", but thats the NW facing section and should get the most winds unless you have a lake or something flat on the NN side. A very, very distant 3rd is how the areas in the outside interact with each other and the view from them. Needing shade from Sun exposure is my thing. All zones are a broad thing, is it zn 6 costal, mtn, etc? You want fast growing trees and those with a large canopy. In the south we use magnolias, live oaks, pecans, gums, and maples often. I do think with your zone decidious trees would be better on the far back of the lot allowing more sun in winter, and with the lower sun having 10-15 ft evergreens behind would allow for year round green while blocking the glaring view of the sun from parts of your home. Your house design on the back to me looks like it could easily entertain a pergola with climing rose, wisteria, grapes, etc. that would make an enteresting area to entertain, you could then make plans for a jacuzzi just off of it with a fire pit. It is an enterly blank slate, what do you like? I think you need to look at homes in the area plant wise, look at some things you like online, get an idea of a budget on what you want to spend, get it on paper, then do it again on paper after waiting a couple of weeks, then piece it together if your going the DIY route. If thats your house in the picture, I would echo the white in the landscape some. I would use real apples and white blooming cherries, honey crisp and rainier. I would also look at yoshinio cherries and white dogwood/white redbud for the front yard. That would pull the focus off your white siding and draw the inside out and the outside in....See MoreNeed help with landscaping a new home - blank slate yard
Comments (10)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...See MoreBlank slate - I would LOVE any help and ideas! Overwhelmed!
Comments (6)Why 4' of river rock around the house? IME most folks in areas with a decent amount of rainfall regret using rock mulch and it's a PIA to remove. It will have dust, leaves, twigs, seeds, etc. blow in and weeds will sprout just like in shredded bark mulch, but it is more difficult to remove weeds from rocks, especially since most rock has landscape cloth under it to prevent it from sinking into the soil. So either you hand weed with difficulty or you have to use an herbicide sprayed on the rocks regularly to prevent weeds becoming established. I would recommend bark mulch without landscape fabric since I find maintenance far easier. Like Yardvaark, I would not plan to use a large evergreen in the front, and instead place it in the back yard where it is visible from windows that in winter you can see it from such as one over the kitchen sink or an office window. In the front I would make the groundcover evergreen and perhaps add another short shrub with winter interest such as one of the shorter red-twigged dogwoods or some evergreen shrubs behind the multi-trunked tree to provide interest in winter since it's about half the year for you. Clumps of early flowering bulbs in the groundcover would be nice also. Look for small trees/large tree-form shrubs for the front trees that have multiple seasons of interest, such as spring flowers and fall foliage color or nice winter appearance....See MoreRelated Professionals
Windham Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Citrus Heights Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Belmont Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Prairie Ridge Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Wixom Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Parker Landscape Contractors · River Ridge Landscape Contractors · Wentzville Landscape Contractors · Arbutus Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures · Fort Myers Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures · Westminster Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures · Londonderry Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Aurora Landscape Contractors · Columbine Landscape Contractors · Lees Summit Landscape Contractors- 6 years ago
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