Backyard from nothing to Amazing - Comment to Plans
Frederic
5 years ago
So we live on a wooded lot and don’t have any yard, our deck is reaching it’s end of life, and rather then just rebuilding the deck we got a designer to create a whole make it usable space. I am very pleased with the designers renderings are we are just starting to get quotes but I would show the design and see if anyone has comments. Just for reference the present deck is a bit smaller then plan shows and nothing else exists.
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Comments (23)
PRODig Doug's Designs
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoThe hardscape looks nice.
It reminds me a little of a project I designed some years ago:
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Need budget friendly plan for back yard.
Comments (34)I live quite near you and have considerable shade. Viburnums are a good choice; there is a big variety to choose from too. Other understory trees/shrubs for our zone include dogwood, pieris, rhododendron, azaleas, euonymus (not burning bush, invasive here!),and hydrangeas. I have a caryopteris that does well in medium shade with late afternoon sun, and a weigela that is also happy in shade. Also grape holly and boxwood. There are others, like daphne, that I haven't tried but are supposed to be shade shrubs. You have to be careful about which of the colored hydrangeas; some are "cold hardy" meaning the roots don't die, but the rest of the shrub will die down to the ground and you never get blooms. The labels will not tell you that! Others like "Endless Summer" do fine since they bloom on both old and new growth; and there are some that are native here that don't bloom pink or blue, only white, yet are reliable. Of the colored varieties, to get blue flowers you have to put peat moss or ammonium sulfate in the planting hole to get them the acid they need; otherwise they bloom pink. Rhododendrons and azaleas will also require acid amended soil to do well, but they can do very well For almost all plants we need to lighten up our soil to improve drainage. Easily done by digging in some vegetative material, sand, pebbles etc. The county soil and water district is offering plants at great prices right now: Here is a link that might be useful: budget friendly plant sale from Franklin County...See MoreStarting to plan for a post-ash backyard... (Long ,wordy post...)
Comments (16)Woody, I've had to face the same sort of issues with removal of a large anchor tree in both my own garden, and also design clients' gardens, and prefer to think of it as an opportunity rather than a loss. For what it is worth, I think there is usually more design impact if you replace with a group of the same variety to give more continuity, rather than one of this, one of that. It is also easier to get the garden looking good if you don't try to force the shade requiring perennials to fit into the sunnier garden, I'd move the Hostas, etc if you have room elsewhere, and treat the new sunny beds as an opportunity for sun perennials/annuals until you have shade there again. Laws regarding permits to take down large trees vary from town to town here in the San Francisco Bay Area, in almost all towns here locally, our native Coast Live Oak is the most protected, here in my town of Berkeley, other species do not require permits to remove, whereas in nearby Oakland, anything of size to be removed requires a permit, even if a weed species such as Eucalyptus globulus, or old dying giants such as Monterey Cypress or Monterey Pines. I do work in a lot of gardens with 80 to 100 year old Monterey Pines and Cypress trees, that are reaching the end of their life spans and are in declining health and more risk of dropping limbs or falling completely. I love the appearance and skyline aspects, but tend to be pragmatic in generally recommending removal before they do damage. We have an advantage in our California climate that new trees, depending on the species selected, can get height and size rather quickly. In one Alameda town garden right on the bay, I replaced a 100 foot tall by 50 foot diameter Pinus radiata with a grouping of 5-15 gallon saplings of the Lemon Gum Eucalyptus. Just 5 years later, these Euc's are already nearly 40 foot tall and looking beautiful as a replacement for the pine, and I have also removed the two smallest to retain the best 3 trees....See MoreHelp! Trying to Develop a Complete Backyard Plan (many pics)
Comments (24)I really, really like hrigsby's idea with the deck. Under the deck storage can be for kid stuff--they can keep their outside playthings there, from bikes and scooters to enormous waterguns. Enclose it and make it a closet. >I was thinking of doing climbing roses and clematis on the shed, but I want to develop a clear plan before I start buying plants. You are totally overthinking this. If you want the look of a clematis and rose-draped shed, get a clematis and a big climbing rose. Go to the species forum and ask for advice, and then go and buy your New Dawn rose and whatever clematis everyone's enthralled by now. Plant them. Mulch their roots so they don't get weedy. Done. You are not going to throw off the entire garden plan by choosing the wrong rose and the wrong clematis. The rock work on the shed foundation is awesome, but as far as plants go...could you possibly do worse? >The park-like look really appeals to me with mulched burmed beds, if that makes sense. Manicured, simple, orderly. You mean commercial and/or parks-and-rec sorts of plantings? This seems to be what you're saying--shaped hedges floating in seas of mulch... This takes a lot of weed killer and a BIG budget for mulch. It also will look, at best, like a rather nice office building. I think you might need more exposure to various kinds of gardens. What you're imagining is mass-maintenance, not low-maintenance. And it's unsuited to a home, though many builders of cookie-cutter homes throw in the cookie-cutter shrubs like this. >Photos of Japanese style gardens appeal to me also. Not low maintenance. >I also love the idea of attracting birds more. I have seen blue jays, cardinals, sparrows, and morning doves. A water feature would be great but I don't think I want a pond. If you want a wildlife garden area, circle where you want it on your layout. Do you want to see it from the patio? From the windows of which room? I'd advise a prefabbed, plug-in type of water feature for low maintenance. Most are hideous. Some are nice. Eventually, you can find one you like. >We also love the idea of doing raspberry, blueberry, blackberry bushes for the kids and birds, but I hear the roots can be very invasive. Why didn't you go over to the fruit forum and ask? The very nice people there would have explained to you that you need a 2' deep root barrier for the raspberries but none for the blackberries. (The lazy way to do it is a 2' deep raised bed, but that may not be smart in your zone.) You will want to plant this either on the east or west side, parallel to the property line but with a pathway at least as wide as the mower. You want this on the OPPOSITE side of property than the wildlife garden, if you really want it for the kids. If you want it mostly for birds, there are better choices of plant--far more attractive for people. If you want several types of raspberry, each needs a 2' deep root barrier between them, or the more aggressive types will take over. The bed needs to be 2' wide. Mulch it well to prevent weeds. Each plant needs 3' of length along the bed. Put a hedge up along the other side, between you and your other neighbors, to reduce the feeling of exposure. As far as the existing arbs, I'd personally do a mixed shrub border, but I fear you will want an orderly row of evergreens that will do nothing to soften the shape of the yard and will grown unmanageably huge themselves in time. I can't really see the commercial berms and sterile plantings plus wildlife combination. It does not at all work in my mind....See MorePlan for backyard
Comments (6)John you can lay sod any time of year as long as the ground is not snow covered, frozen, or mud so whatever time of year you want to start is fine. Mid to late spring is best after it has warme3d up but not too hot IMO because the grass is actively growing, and it it is not so hot that you have to waste water keeping the sod moist to root. The only thing I do not understand is why bother with over seeding with Rye? There is nothing to be gained by doing so. Whenever you decide to do this nuke the grass with two applications RU assuming it is green. Then scalp it as low as you possible can, remove and rake up all the debris. and add a Sugar Coat of top soil and lay sod. Or if you really want to do it right, forget RU, and mowing. Just hire a contractor to regrade the area with a tractor and box blade and you are ready to go....See More
Mrs. S
5 years agoFrederic
5 years agoNo kids but I defiantly didn’t think about kids jumping. It’s 8 ft from the balcony to the edge of the pool. Our lot slopes so we are trying to balance getting usable space and not having to build enormous retaining walls. The tiers was one thing I thought the designer did an amazing job coming up with. We do have lots of windows from inside to the outside to stop the jumpers :-). We could also bring the deck in, it’s 4 ft deeper then what it is now.
cecily 7A
5 years ago- PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago gracie01 zone5 SW of Chicago
5 years ago
PROYardvaark
5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago
mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
5 years ago- PRO
Yardvaark
5 years ago partim
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoEmbothrium
5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago
PRORevolutionary Gardens
5 years agoFrederic
5 years agoAll, thanks for the comments, some answers. In regards to the septic. It’s about 30ft to the edge of the zone so that’s not a problem. In ref to what we wanted, our wants was a pool, fire pit, garden area, and bbq area. We have about a 12 ft drop in elevation from the driveway to the rear corner, and I thought the terrace areas was a great way to not build a monster wall to hold everything. We already cleared the trees about 20 ft from the pool so I’m not too worried about stuff in the pool though I’m sure we will be picking leaves out. We are located in north central NC so we get a good amount of pool use. We already decided to not do the planters beds out of stone, so either metal beds or wood. Also the material colors, etc are just for texture, we haven’t picked patio or stone veneer. I attached some. Ore pics of inside, I am thinking of using the same stone as the fireplace since it matches our kitchen backsplash. We also aren’t doing any planting until the hardscaping is done so we can decide then.
Frederic
5 years agoI do agree with the lack of curves, it’s tough in the back cause of the slope, go further away from the house just means the walls need to get taller and adds cost. We also have a design for the front which is much “sexier” and has some good curves.
tdemonti
5 years ago- PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
5 years ago jslazart
5 years agoEmbothrium
5 years agoFrederic
5 years agoA few pictures show the neighbor and the wooded lot, I know the renderings don’t exactly capture the whole environment.
printesa
5 years agojslazart
5 years ago
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laceyvail 6A, WV