Large Covered Back Porch -- Need Ideas for More Natural Light
Paige
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
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K Laurence
4 years agoPaige
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Flowering no-mow/water ground cover/grass and large garden bed ideas?
Comments (15)this is new jersey, as in northeast coast US near new York. I'm doing work at someone's house. Their goal initially was to just have a no-mow no water or fertilizer lawn. Then I or they pointed out how some of these no mow/water/fertilizer covers can be flowering type things instead of just grass and they liked that idea better. So we set out to find something like that online in seeds or plugs but I didn't really find anything at first. I just recently found a lot of those things are on ebay cheap seeds and should be started indoors over winter and planted in spring instead of planted now in Fall like grass seeds. At first, we kind of scrapped the idea of a flowering cover because they wanted to do the whole lawn with it but don't want it to spread to the neighbors' lawn especially underground and popping up. So we decided to just do a no-mow type lawn like Pearls Premium http://www.pearlspremium.com/ But considering the cost of the no-mow lawn seeds and not using chemical starter fertilizer or crabgrass preventers, it's a gamble to try and plant and hope it doesn't just turn to crabgrass. I have organic fertilizer but it's no where near high in phosphorus to develop good roots quickly like regular starter fertilizer, Organic starter fertilizer I can only find online believe it or not. Instead of doing the whole yard with something like Pearls Premium, It would probably cost them less for me to just till large landscape beds throughout the property and then get seeds off ebay of things like flowering ground cover (that doesn't spread underground like crazy) and things like creeping juniper etc. I'm open for suggestions on thing like this. Once these things are established, they need zero water and zero mowing and maybe a sprinkle of organic fertilizer every few years. They will need a pruning every few years but that's like an hour of work maybe. At the beginning, yes the newly planted landscape beds will have to be de-weeded well until the plants establish and thicken it up. We're leaving about a 8 foot border space from the property line that will just remain how it is now which is basically weeds with some turf grass mixed in. A no-mow lawn still needs to be cut maybe 3 times a year, so these 10' borders will have to be mowed anyway if they're left how they are or if regular grass or no-mow grass is planted there. Once the landscape beds are thriving, they can decide to plant regular or no-mow grass in the border areas. I can do that now since it's the right time instead of waiting until next Fall but we want to see how the landscape beds go first. I can probably just scalp mow the weedy border areas and that will really retard growth there so that omits the whole having to plant grass there but the yard will still look nice because of the landscape beds. Get the idea now? It's about making a nice yard with minimal mowing, watering, fertilizing, and the cost is very low thanks to ebay seeds. perennial ground cover flowering: http://www.pbcgov.com/newsroom/1211/_images/ground_covers_tibouchina.jpg http://img.diynetwork.com/DIY/2014/03/07/CI-Stepables_Groundcover-wooly-thyme_h_lg.jpg creeping juniper: http://s45.photobucket.com/user/mishmosh2000/media/misc/Oot_Picture-7.jpg.html etc...See MoreHELP - trying to maximize natural light in great room w screen porch
Comments (15)@lmkbuild BTW - we're also going to be building in AL and are in a similar solution. Screened in porch off the main living area blocking light. But, we are facing west so likely to get strong sun. You can see pictures of the rear elevation here (https://www.houzz.com/discussions/custom-house-kitchen-feedback-needed-dsvw-vd~5154367). To get more light, we have a dormer situation up top, but also other dormers so it doesn't seem "added in as an afterthought". Not sure how to phrase that without offending you. Not an architect, nor even a designer, but perhaps fake dormers might help?...See MoreConsidering adding windows to flank fireplace for more natural light
Comments (5)If there wasn't the porch then it might be worth it, but it doesn't look like it would be. Try things like decorating your shelves and adding artwork above the fireplace with color. Below we have included some ideas that might just help....See MoreHelp with large covered porch layout :)
Comments (20)Thanks to all the recent posts, it feels like there is consensus on the scale needing to be bigger (plants and furniture) and more contrast to bring it together. I agree with both those ideas! The large shrubs aren't going anywhere anytime soon, although they could be trimmed back some, because of the reasons P.D.Schlitz mentioned. I've been shocked and delighted by how many birds (even a humming bird!) have visited our home, and they need those areas to thrive. But I am planning to fill in some of the gaps along the outside edge of the wall so it looks less straggly and more unified, probably with camellias since they are doing well in our back garden and evergreen where we live. The swing is also staying because my kids adore it (and it's more for swaying than swinging, doesn't bump into the back wall thankfully). But I want to lower it a little to make it easier to lounge on. Besides that, I have some great inspiration now to work with, and I really appreciate all of your ideas and advice! I will definitely post pictures when I have some meaningful updates. Gosh I wish real life were like the home improvement shows where boom, everything comes together in a matter of days :)...See MorePaige
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K Laurence