help with yard ideas and curb appeal
Kristi Christman
3 years ago
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Kristi Christman
3 years agoRelated Discussions
help w curb appeal, porch ideas, tree removal???
Comments (37)Hey Everyone, Thanks, again. I have more comments/questions throughout at ***** and at the end based on your latest round of discussion. lpinkmountain Thanks for the article. I hate for that tree to go, but think that it would look betterand I could replace it w/ something else like a cute red bud tree Ive heard about that newspaper planting. It sounds too good to be true! But, heck, maybe Ill try it. The ground in Tn is so hardso much clay! BarefootinCT. I love, love, love your house/garden. ***Do you have other photos I could look at? (Yellow is sort of my "dream" color. They always look happy to me and if I had my druthersor money, more correctlyI would redo this house.) Is there a path between the foundation plantings and this welcome garden? You said it spilled out of the foundation, but I cant quite imagine it. Ive attempted my first Paint drawing of what Im thinkingbutis the bed by the stone path a bedor just plantings? I dont want it to look like an island in the middle of the yard. *****Can you (or anyone) think of another thing we could do to simulate sidelights or add interest/width? Im just thinking that a new door/cutting the house wider is a bigger task than I want to take on(Im having a hard time getting hand people/builders here!!!) Some people have door frames hereand I have about 10 inches on each sidebut I guess it would look weird to only frame part of it. I mean, the purpose of the sidelight is to add more width and give the door more presence and visually shift it closer to center, right? Can you keep the door and just buy a sidelight thing? Saypoint Thanks for those links. I have spent a lot of time looking for plants. Its the deciding that kills me. Or deciding and then not finding it. I plan to go to the nursery today and just see whats thereand see what they might get in (Its hard for me, too, to be patient because Im a teacher and once school hits my life is pretty much over. I am trying to work less, however, but you knowyouth of the nation and all thatpretty important and hard to say "no" to!) *****You said.."A common mistake when putting in paths or walks is to put them so close to the house that you can't plant anything more than a couple feet wide in the pocket that remains, so keep that in mind." Sorry Could you clarify? The pocket that remains? Does the drawing I attempted work in this regard? *******For nowuntil I see plant availI am thinking of 5 or 6 shrubs that are evergreen and have structure (e.g., yew, laurel), a large holly for the corner of the house (or something else green and tall, but that doesnt need loads of light) and some little annuals. Not sure what would go between the yew/Laurel and annuals maybe something like Nandina which does well here, but Im not sure those colors of yellow/red would do well with the house and other colors. On the tiny welcome plot by the walkway, Im thinking just things like daisies and some little grasses, maybe bulbs in the winter/spring and pansies in the winter. Would it be better to have something more substantial but compact like heather or compact laurel? I prefer not to use annuals if I cantoo much work, reallybut I do like the punch of color they bring! Chelone Thanks for the encouragement. If you look at my photobucket links, you can get a sense of things inside the house. The house is smalland if we move the door to the side, people would walk in and have to take a sharp left as theyd "hit" the dining room table. Currently, you walk in the front and have an open path by the table. (I would add that I just knocked down a kitchen wall to open the sight line when you walk in the current door. We closed off the side door to create a galley kitchen insideor we willif any construction person ever calls me back.) See the photos at: http://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j49/andi956/ As far as using a front porch, I doubt we wouldand I dont feel the need for privacy really as we pretty much live in the large, fenced back yard. The street is nothing to look at, you see. Make sense? Karinl- Keeping me on task, are you? LOL. Thanks. I appreciate being reminded to slow down. Ive been thinking about all this for so long that it makes me nutsand I want to have it now. YesI dream of some kind of flagstone pathcottagey. (When I knock down the sealed up chimney that just into the kitchen the space will be used to house the fridge which opens up space for a row of cabinets opposite.)Its likely that I could use the chimney brick for a "grilling station" in the back.) ****What color stone would be best with my house/plant colors? I tend to like the sandy colorslight brownsmaybe with some gray, but all gray feels a bit cold to me. Yet, maybe thats better? Lazygardens Well, it looks weird on my house, but is common in my neighborhood. For some houses it looks ok, cute even. I just cant figure out why mine doesnt seem so cute. Hopefully the landscaping will help. And we may build a mud room or something onto the left side of the houseone daybut its low priority, mostly due to money and because we need a bath on the *other* side of the house first. (In fact, its possible well move!) OK would you all indulge me in a few more thoughts: 1. We are now feeling like the tree will goand perhaps, in its place, well plant a red bud tree. 2. I am thinking of the best path to the front door. Many people park in front of the house, some park in the driveway. I had put this little bed by the side fence because the concrete/blacktop there was so patchyand its not a dream, obviously. Maybe next year I can add lots of flowers (e.g., daisies, purple cone flowersomething that can stand being next to the blacktop but its tricky because then it will grow into the driveway In fact, I wish the fence line were set in a bit more!). Now Im thinking that it might make sense to take off one the far left section of the fence to widen that space so you dont have to zig zag around it to get to the steps. Maybe Id hang a bucket of flowers right thereor something to designate the entrance. 3. Can folks recommend colors for house trim and why certain colors would "work" or not. The blue is sort of happy to me, reallybut is bright, I admit. I thought about something that would match the siding, but I hate the house color, soo Out by the fence in frontIm not sure how I would mulch on the slight slopemaybe try those plastic edging things that hammer into the ground to keep the mulch in its place? 5. Final votes on porch shape? A small gable or a flat but wider porchand why? Gonna try to add a link, but here's the photobucket page in case http://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j49/andi956/ Thanks, everyone!...See MoreHelp! Requesting Front Yard Landscaping & Curb Appeal Suggestions
Comments (5)Seems to me you do have 3 large projects here & they should be tackled in certain order to prevent wasted money & time. 1st project = large evergreen. Get an arborist to look at it & give you options. Determine what your liability is if it does fall & take out power lines. Answer to that might determine fate of tree but whatever you do to it will dramatically affect any landscape plan. Maybe it needs only to be limbed up & thinned out. NO topping to make shorter! It looks like a tree or shrub is in front of it too. 2nd project = widen driveway & figure out what kind or if a retaining wall will be needed or achieve the look you want. 3rd project & the fun one = create an appealing front yard! In this project my advice it to move those Rose of Sharon tree standards away from the house. In their natural state they are fairly large shrubs but easily pruned. They just look too close to house In that narrow bed. I’d also advise making a much larger planting bed in front of the house - you’ve got lots of room for a big curved bed to fill with all of the kinds of plants you mentioned you like. Those Rose of Sharon trees can be part of that bed. But, you need to know what the fate of big evergreen tree will be before you can plan the bed & also the retaining wall - where is it etc. So, that’s my advice - 3 steps in most useful order. 🌸...See MoreNeed help with ideas for painting/curb appeal ideas for our house
Comments (6)I love the current green, and the yellow front door! The uniformity of the green allows the garage car-doors and people-door to blend in. I'd remove the fence unless it is serving a purpose (which I don't see). For safety, ensure the visibility of your house numbers from the street. Is there anything you'd like to add out front, such as a sitting space, a cover or a bench near either door? (I don't see the need for anything, it's just what functionality you would like.) For landscaping suggestions, re-post your picture, include your planting zone, the direction your house faces (East?), and a nearby major city so that people can make practical recommendations, and hope that a professional gives you a pretty picture to go by :-) Nice house!...See MoreLandscape, curb appeal ideas for small front yard in New England
Comments (7)This one is a challenge (maybe why no other responses?): to minimize the imbalance of door/windows, settle the high-set house into its site, and cover the bare legs of the rhododendrons(?). I played with a number of options, but this is the one I liked best. It removes the shutters and prunes the rhododendrons below the windows. (I read that late winter is the best time to do that; even though some blooms will be sacrificed, regrowth will have a better shape than if you wait until after they bloom.) I painted the door navy, as you suggested, substituted a larger light fixture, added house numbers, and removed what looks like stone veneer on the stair risers. Plants are: one Purple Pillar rose of sharon (the tall shrub rising into the empty space), four New Jersey tea (native) flanking the stairs; two white evergreen azaleas and two Elegantissima red-twig dogwoods at the corners; and Chocolate Chip ajuga in the strip between sidewalk and street. Spring bloom will be the ajuga (blue), azaleas (white), and rhododendrons (color?). Summer bloom will be the rose of sharon (light red-violet with a deeper center) and the New Jersey tea (creamy white). There won't be much fall color--but New England's sugar maples provide plenty! (You could substitute Little Henry Virginia sweetspire for two or all four of the New Jersey tea. That would give you earlier summer flowers and red/orange/gold fall color.) In winter, the rhododendrons and azaleas will be evergreen, and the dogwood's red twigs will show. Spring: Summer:...See MoreKristi Christman
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