Help with front yard landscaping
Hello all.
I am in need of some assistance with figuring out what to do with my front yard landscaping. I'm sure I've already made several mistakes so please be kind. We are on a fairly tight budget so please try to keep it relatively simple. I would be doing the lions share of the work myself so diy friendly would be great as well. I don't mind doing some yard work but I don't want to spend every weekend pruning and tinkering so low maintance would be a plus as well. We a located in British Columbia, Canada and our plant hardiness zone is 6b. The house is south-eastish facing and receives a lot of natural sunlight.
We plan on doing a row of cedars along the left property line separating our yard from the neighbors. I fell like we need a path of sorts from the front door (I know should have poured it with the drivay and entrance slab), so I'm thinking some sort of patio stones that would look nice. I was thinking of some small shrubs lining the path but with the drivway being so close I'm not sure. Maybe a bed or two near the front patio/entrance would be a better idea. Under the front window we were thinking of doing some small trees or shrubs so as not to block the natural sunlight coming through that window.
In all honesty I feel a little lost at this point. I keep just doing things for the sake of doing something but I feel like I need to have a more specific vision of where I'm trying to get.
Please let me know if you need more photos or information. Thank you guys so much in advance.
Comments (6)
mit
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoThanks for the response yardvaark. I guess the thinking for the path to the front door would really only be tradition? Or maybe curb appeal? And really I think you're about the redundancy of the path. I purposely poured the driveway wide in order to allow me to park and still have room for the walkway. It certainly isn't something I've got my heart set on.
As far as the "cedars" go that's a great question that I cannot answer as I didn't realize this was a thing. I was thinking the cedar hedges that are very popular in this area. I will try to attach a photo.
As far as the power lines it would probably be a good idea to stop at the pole I'm thinking. Plus when the city plows the streets a lot of snow ends up in the yard and I don't think they would last more than one winter the way the city likes to plow snow into people's yards. Maybe I could do something to take your eyes off of the power pole. I'm open to suggestions.
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Help with front yard landscaping!
Comments (11)Thanks so much for explaining the phrase "in a perfect world to me." But I guess one should expect the level of snark that comes with posting in a Houzz forum. Whitewater, yes, thank you, I wasn't exactly picturing "trees" as intended in the photo. I do think something flanking the house might be nice. I also would like to have a large shrub (not sure if this is the correct term -- I am thinking o a hydrangea) in front of the fence on the right side, so as to hide our vegetable garden area from the road. I want to make sure I don't plant anything that would conflict visually with a tree planted more towards the center of the right side in the future, if that makes sense. I have some small pots on either side of the steps now, but I'm thinking they may need to be much larger once the planting is complete? Kind of just made do with what I had for the time being....See MoreHelp with front yard landscaping
Comments (10)I would consider adding a low wall along the driveway to reduce the slope a bit if possible. Regardless, you will want a highly textured mulch and a spreading groundcover as Skmom suggested. These two will help reduce erosion and help moisture soak in rather than running off, but you may need to install soaker hoses as well. Choose and place the azaleas carefully with regard to the window unless you are aiming to hide it and don’t need natural light in the room behind it. Whatever you plant now under the J maple will likely be all the planting you can do there, as J maples have relatively dense surface roots and don’t particularly like having their roots disturbed, making it difficult to add plants successfully later once the maple is established without the underplanting or the maple suffering. If you plant spring bulbs, plant a medium height groundcover such as the painted ferns as well to cover up the dying foliage of the bulbs. Leave a couple feet under the maple unplanted, and if conditions are right, the groundcover will spread. If not, foliage will hide it. Along the path and next to the door you want low enough plants so visitors don’t feel crowded by encroaching shrubbery, but tall enough so that the walkway nestles down into them rather than perches above. I would also likely add simple, visually unobtrusive railings to the pathway, fastened on the outside, for safety. Stepping off one of those drop offs due to slick conditions or a careless step could be dangerous. Alternatively, consider a knee wall along the steps and walkway, though that would be more expensive....See MoreNew Home! Need help with front yard landscape!
Comments (8)I think sprucing up your lawn quality will go MILES. I also like the post showing a corner tree, and nice edging/mulch. You have good bones to work with, just needs more TLC....See MoreAmateur over here. Help with front yard landscaping (please!)
Comments (16)Thank you all for your great feedback and recommendations so far. I've included my follow-ups to your comments below as well as a link to additional images of the property at the bottom. arcy_gw – Correct, there are no parking lanes or sidewalks on the street across the front of my property so no one uses the current walkway. I added a view of the street from my house to show as a reference. ShadyWillowFarm – Thank you! I would be open to a new color for the front door, but haven’t thought about it yet. oreolucca1 – Great, thank you for your recos. Yes that’s one of the tricky parts as my property is north facing, but some areas (about 8 feet in front of windows) get full sun all day, and closer areas/corners to the house get part sun/shade. ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5 – City is Atlanta. I’ve added a closer shot of the shrub in the left corner you noted. What do you think? Yes, I would consider coming out into the lawn. RedRyder – Thank you! I’ve seen multiple articles on those who’s shrubs or trees have grown past their expectations or aren’t able to maintain so great to hear that feedback and the varieties I should stick to in order to avoid something similar. Yardvaark – After looking back at my 2 photos I posted in my original post, I agree with your feedback. It’s impossible to get an accurate feel for what’s needed with those so I have added new ones to this post. Hope these help? What are your thoughts after looking at these? Let me know. Tsjmjh – No, I don’t have a deer problem (that I know of). Love your shrubs (especially the dwarf blue spruce!). Celerygirl – Wow! I had to make sure you had the right house when I first saw your mockups. These are great. Thank you! With the new photos I’ve posted here, do you think that sidewalk would work with the tree on the left? Decoenthusiaste – Thank you for your recos and feedback. That’s great advice about the nursery guarantee. emmarene9 – Yes, the house faces north. It’s Ivy on the right side that has spread and been working recently to take down. Regarding the left side, I’ve posted a few additional images here that hopefully gives a better idea. Thoughts? Yes there’s a brick planter against and attached to the left side of the house, currently sitting empty. There were many additional images to upload so I've included them in this ideabook: Front Yard_CURRENT...See Moremit
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoWow that looks great Yardvaark. I hope I can get it looking even close to that good. It is to bad about the neighbors roof ;). Made for a nice patio however the upkeep has made it generaly unsafe for public consumption at this point.
I really like what you did with the extension for the walkway between driveway and house. I wonder if there is any way of achieving that look without a call to my concrete guy. Probably not if I want to keep the look uniform I suppose.
As for the arborvitae along the right hand side of the house, I thought I didn't have room but upon closer inspection it may be something that I could make work. The gravel to the right of the truck and up the side of the house is parking and a walkway for our suite, so I don't want to make it too tight (moving furniture and such through there). I have attached a photo of the pathway up the side and maybe you can tell me if you think there is enough room for something like that. How big is the circumfurance usually on those
The tree in the front is a nice idea as well as it would hide the power pole a little. The only concern I suppose would be finding one that wouldn't grow tall enough to affect the above powerlines. Do you have any suggestions for what I should be looking for that would provide coverage but not grow to tall?
Yardvaark