Duplicate post: https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5535825/please-help-with-front-landscaping-z7-long-island#n=2

Yes it’s a duplicate post bc I couldn’t get the photos to appear in previous post for some reason. So I reposted with the photos and clicked “delete” on the previous post.

i don’t know how long it takes for the system to delete posts. But I’d appreciate any help offered. Thanks!

Dig Doug: love that! Thank you! Would you mind telling me what plants you used? It looks great.

Variegated Aucuba, Otto Luyken Laurel, Sasanqua Camellia, All Gold Japanese Forest Grass, Purity Pieris, Lenten Rose & Coral Bells.

Personally, I don’t think that a bed around your tree(s) will be an improvement. I like the open, park like look you currently have, but the rest of your instincts seem right on.

You obviously paid careful attention to other requests fior useful photos; this is one of the best initial sets of photos I have seen.

Consider broadleafed evergreens such as mountain laurel/Kalmia for some of your evergreens. Yew seem to be one of the few evergreen conifers that are shade tolerant, but Microbiota decussata is another, and consider a flowering evergreen groundcover to help tie the bed together. I will let others suggest other plants since you can grow a far wider range of plants than I can.

Since it's a yard with a lot of shade, it's likely that there will be some groundcover as part of the solution. Typically, landscape planting occurs at the foundation, and sometimes along the perimeter, too. I don't understand how large the yard is as I don't see a street, walk or curb for reference as a limit. Somehow, you need to make the sun/shade levels apparent. Maybe an overhead view from Google Earth would help. If there are a lot of trees somewhere, you may want to consolidate them into an island/groundcover area. It's not likely that it would be near the middle of the yard as that's the most likely place for grass to grow. You'd want grass only if it will grow well, which will require sun.

You mention keeping a yew at the left side of house. You might point out which one it is since all the plants look like the same dark foliage to us. If it's the tall plant reaching to the eaves, I'd recommend dispensing with it because that plant is not doing, and will not do anything positive for the house.

If you're selling the house soon, it would be good to do the least amount of planting possible ... maybe just what few foundation plants are necessary. Whatever islands there are to be could be mulch only for the time being.

A very handsome groundcover for shade, even dense, dry shade, is Geranium macrorrhizum--Big Root Geranium. It's semi-evergreen in my zone, highly deer resistant, blooms in spring, needs no attention or watering whatsoever, and is never aggressive.

Yardvaark’s comment on doing the minimum of replanting if you will be placing it on the market in the near future is on the mark. A garden like Doug’s sketch above won’t look like that for several years realistically, so if you will be selling soon, judicious pruning and adding some flowering annuals in beds that are deeper will help. Removal of really badly placed shrubs and adding a few larger shrubs to replace those that have to be removed such as the one skinny under the eaves should be all the replanting and removal you do for the best near-future appearance.

Thank you all for your valuable feedback!

NHBabs: thanks for your suggestions about specific plant types that would be suitable for shade conditions. I’ll surely look into them. Regarding the bed around trees, I was thinking of that mostly because foundation planting done at the base of the house won’t be substantially impactful from the street, due to the size of the front yard. So I was thinking that the bed closer to the street would bring some color and curb appeal down to that area where buyers would pull up.

yes, I really tried to pay attention to instructions for taking overlapping photos. Thanks for noticing.

Yardvaark: thanks for the info about ground covers! You’re correct, ground covers would work well. Even before the septic was put in (and in process, destroyed a big area of “grass”), it was not so much nice grass and more so buts of grass mixed with mowed weeds and moss. We bought the property a few years ago and that’s how it was at the time, and how it has remained. It’s really impossible to grow a nice lawn due to the degree of tree cover.

i will take a photo and post it later that shows the curb boundary, good point. In the 1st photo I posted, the yard goes just a bit further. The trees are spread pretty evenly throughout the yard, not really consolidated anywhere. I’ll try to get an overhead from google earth to show, as you suggested.

The yew i was referring to is not the tall plant up to the eaves, it’s the one to the left of that. The yew is quite large and in good shape and blocks some of a kind of awkward driveway area from view from the front of house, so that’s why I was thinking of keeping. The tall plants that goes up to the eaves, we‘re definitely getting rid of. Was there when we moved in, such a poor placement and really, as you said, does nothing to complement the house. Glad you reinforced my opinion about that plant!

Laceyvail: thanks for your suggestion of big root geranium. I’ll definitely look into that! It looks pretty. I know you said it does well in shade, but do you know if it produces blooms in shade or not really?

NHBabs and Yardvaark: good info about if we’re selling soon and doing minimal amount of work. I agree wholeheartedly with getting rid of that tall skinny plant. It’s very hard to picture what the house will look like with smaller, immature plants in the near future, since obviously the plants there currently are very overgrown.

Since the yews currently there (2 on right side under bay window, 1 to left of stoop) are very large and overgrown, and kind of thin on inside, do you think if they’re pruned a bit they’ll look okay? If they’re pruned to make them a reasonable size, I fear they’ll basically be all branches and no greenery. They could really only be pruned a little all around, and they would still be monstrous blobs. That’s why I was thinking of removing them, but I don’t want to spend money needlessly. Your advice is well appreciated! Thank you much!

Yews, in general, are one of the most easily savable plants because they spring back from hard cutting. A determining factor would be if they're planted in an appropriate spot, as that couldn't be changed. If it's close enough, it could be worked with. Somewhat closer pictures with better lighting and sharper focus would allow us to help make the determination if you are in doubt. Then one gets a second chance to shape them into a better form.

With a possible sale in the near future, I'd limit work to defining beds, installing or re-establishing the minimum foundation shrubs, mulching, and adding some seasonal color by the entrance ... it could be in planters or in the ground.

If you could have some grass in a large, central oval, somewhere near the house, I think it would help to create a welcoming setting. You should show a picture square on to the house, with the camera lined up with the center, taken from the street so that we can see how tree placement lies across the lot.

Idea without island. How long this takes to mature depends on your budget & the size plants used to start.

If the yew is too large for its spot, you could transplant it to the white fence.

Big Root Geranium will definitely bloom in shade; it's a plant for shade and won't be happy in full sun.

Geranium macrorhizzum certainly will bloom in shade - a lovely mauve pink, simultaneously IME with PJM rhododendron if you want a great companion shrub...

Hi everyone,

Sorry I’ve been MIA for a few days. My little guy and I came down with a nasty cold so have been laying low and resting.

Yardvaark: thanks for the info about yews, pruning and how resilient they are. That’s good to know. In next post I’ll attach some photos from the street that should clarify exactly where the trees are located, per your instructions.

Dig Doug: thanks for the additional design without the island!

Laceyvail and Kitasei: thanks for the additional info about big root geranium. Glad to hear it does flower in shade. Looks like a lovely option for our type of wooded setting.

Photo of entire property with tree tree placement coming in a min. Just need to upload it to Houzz. Thanks all for your continued plant and layout suggestions and renderings!!

Here are the photos from street straight on to front of house. See tree placement spread throughout yard, not necessarily grouped in one particular area.

Note that these are old images from google maps, before we updated roof, front door, mailbox, installed fence etc, and before a lot of middle part of yard (including the rhododendron you see to left of walkway) was dug up when installing new septic, unfortunately.

Front yard · More Info

Front yard · More Info

The current state of the yard and colors of the house are indicated in the first group of photos in original post.

Thanks again everyone! I truly appreciate your help. My apologies if it takes me a bit to respond, the little guy and I are still on the mend.

It looks like you'll be ending the right edge of the lawn at an island-like natural area. The line doesn't need to be perfectly straight, but it should be relatively smooth and fluid from front to back. It should not appear to be wavy or wiggly, though it can have a projecting portion if it makes sense to have it. It would make sense if a tree is close to the "island" ... then it should be incorporated into it instead of being just off its edge.

Trees alone in the lawn are fine, but where and island is placed at the base of the tree, it should be more or less circular and large enough to be proportionate with the tree. It would likely be in the 6' or 8' diameter range. Then plant that island solid, not as a ring or bare.

The island at the mailbox should be generally circular, too ... but 1/4 circle, given that it is sandwiched between a walk and a curb. It should be planted solid, too.

The outside window sets are far enough away to warrant their own shrubs. I'd consolidate the center two sets in order to avoid having too many separate shrubs. Fill in with perennials, annuals near the door and some groundcover. Proper shaping of shrubs is going to make a big difference in the overall appearance over the long haul so someone should learn what are acceptable shapes (the bottom will always be wider than the top.)

Hi all,

My “cold” turned out to be more than a simple cold. Lingual tonsillitis, apparently the bane of my existence, sent me to the hospital for 3 days last winter as a result of slowly closing my airway. This time, it was in early enough stages for strong antibiotics at home thankfully. Hope this works.

No matter, thank you all for your suggestions about our front yard and curb appeal.

Yardvaark: love your recommendations and drawings. We’ve started forming beds and are using many of your suggestions, and the bed lines look terrific! Made a huge huge difference already, even without plants yet.

just having very clean cut beds adds so much curb appeal. Can’t wait to see it come together. Will post photos once there’s something to show.

All: any other suggestions about layout or specific plants? Thanks again!

Pam, sorry about your illness. Glad its on the mend.

We see you already have Hosta below some trees. It makes a nice GC. If the circles were filled solid with it, it would look quite good. Other lasting perennials can be used, too.

Explore other forums that have to do with your geographical location and with the plant types (shrubs,perennials, groundcovers, etc.) and you'll probably be able to get some specific plant recommendations. Where you need a large round shrub, you might look into Carlesii or Judd Viburnum, Hydrangea macrophylla. Other shrubs could be spreading yews (trimmed to a "dome" shape.) If you have enough sun, Russian sage could be somewhere. Siberian Iris 'Caesar's Brother' is good old standby. Hybrid Daylilies. Ferns. Euonymus 'Coloratus' or Vinca minor as groundcover possibilities.