Front Yard Landscape - Need Evergreen Help!

3 years ago

last modified: 3 years ago

Hi everyone! I’ve been in my home for about a year now. I previously asked for suggestions prior to closing, and I’ve already implemented many of those suggestions such as removing the mature overgrown boxwoods and redoing/expanding the front walk.

I’ve planted two hydrangeas in the rear of the bed, and some hostas to go with the other existing hostas. And of course begonias for a little seasonal color which will die off soon as the weather changes.

Since the hostas and hydrangeas don’t provide year round foliage/color, I’m looking to add some evergreens into the landscape, but don’t know where to start.

I’ve looked at golden globe arborvitae, mop cypress, and a few others. I like them, but I’m concerned about size. What evergreens can I use that are smaller or can be easily pruned to keep at a smaller size?

Edited to add: Location is just outside of DC in Northern Virginia. Also, the large thuja and old tree to the right will eventually be removed. The large tree probably first. I plan on having the thuja trimmed away from the house in the mean time.

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Comments (11)

Christina
3 years ago
Where do you live?
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
3 years ago
big city name ..

why did you leave the one huge thuja??? on the corner .. it looks like its already scraping on the house ...??? .. i suspect i know the answer ..

i think you ought to figure out how to solve that issue.. so that in a few years.. you can get rid of this old monster ...

i had trouble with black mulch in sun and heat .... if you end up with problems in the future.. think about that as the root of the issue ...

if you did the stone work.. good job ...

is there a reason you cant step off the side of the porch to the spigot.. rather than having the random stepping stones???? ..

ken
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If you're going to own a car it requires that you know something about car maintenance: periodically, the oil and tires must be changed; it must be washed and fluids filled, etc. These are things one learns to do in order to have the pleasure and convenience of owning their own vehicle. Similarly, if you're going to own a lawn, you learn to mow it weekly, edge it periodically, and keep the weeds out, etc. Groundcover is no different. Depending on what plant you make it of, you must learn how to prepare for it, what maintenance that plant requires, and how to control it. Groundcover requires a bit different approach than grass, but it is not necessarily harder or more time consuming. It is just different. I find it to be easier so my yard is 100% groundcover. The number one difference is that weeds must be kept out. This is not harder than weekly mowing. It's just different and there are methods one can employ to make the job easier. In the long run, groundcover can be considerably less work after it's established (which depends on the plant used) than a lawn. Your example of "battling an ivy plant for years" has me thinking that no one is employing any effective methods of controlling it. It is a bit like never mowing, edging or weeding the lawn and then blaming the grass for being out of control. One thing is for sure, only weeds will be happy if you try to grow grass where there not sufficient light to do it. It boils down to the fact that you must have something growing to cover the ground, or you must cover the ground with mulch (and replenish it ongoing). The something growing can be a sad attempt at a lawn (which is what is there now); it can be groundcover; or it can be a mixed variety of plants (like in that picture above). What else is there other than solid hardscaping which is not the least practical? Of those solutions you can already see exactly what one of them looks like because you have it now. You can probably envision the mixed variety of plants covering the ground. Is there any question that it would not be the highest maintenance of any solution? If you take another look at the left side of the photo I submitted of the houses with sloping fronts, you'll notice that it is solid groundcover. It doesn't look like there's a weed in it. You can see at its left side a sharp division where it abuts its neighbor's grass lawn. Each planting is distinctly separate. The groundcover is neither running into the grass, nor is it rampaging over the edges of the walk or steps. How is this even possible? The fact is, it happens in millions of places all over the country. It's obvious that one can learn how to employ plants in such a way. Or they can refuse to do that.
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This is not a list of plants, but is an organizational layout, involving a reshaping of the bed so as encompass the tree out of the lawn and lead the viewer to the front entrance. The colors serve to differentiate one type of material from the next; they're not suggestions for what colors you should use. That's up to you according to what is available. Eventually, you'll be forced to limb up the tree in order to avoid having it consume the porch. Not insignificant is the undersized landing, narrow steps and lack of cheeckwall, that allows either dirt to be spilled on the steps or that plant material cannot be maintained next to them .... basically a permanent "scab" next to the steps. Widen them and add a cheekwall to solve the problem and make for a nicer entrance experience. I would not enclose the steps or walk with planting. They would only serve to obscure the entrance more. While mentioning the entrance, I will say that the porch post next to the garage seems completely unnecessary and serves to create a narrow passageway ... which is not as good as a wider one. I'd remove it. Also, consider getting beefier posts to replace the remaining ones with.
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lkayetwvz5
3 years ago
I asked for recommendations several months ago and didn't get much. I just planted a dwarf Hinoki cypress, a dwarf Mugo pine and 2 Blue Star junipers. I had to do a lot of reading, looking at other peoples front yards and visiting the nursery several times before I finally decided on these. I understand the stepping stones - jumping off the porch into a bed of loose dirt and mulch and tracking it everywhere - you made a good decision. I like the tiered beds.
FrozeBudd_z3/4
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
Justin, you are correct regarding 'Golden Globe' thuja, it gets rather large! 'Little Gem' and 'Little Giant' are good choices, so is 'Danica' and it's colorful yellow sports of 'Mirjam' and 'Harvest Moon', these are beauties, this is not a good photo, but you get the idea.
Justin D
Original Author
3 years ago
Christina - just updated location in original post. Thank you. I knew I was forgetting something when posting last night ;).

Ken_adrian - The thuja wasn't high up on the list to remove since it's doing okay. Need to remove the large tree beside it in the lower bed first since it's showing signs of age/disease. Haven't had a problem with the black mulch in the past year or so, but will keep that in mind. Can't take credit for the stone work, but thank you! I wanted to remove the railing so I don't have to use the stepping stones, however, it would leave the siding in need of patching, and it's 20 years old, so it wouldn't be easy to match.

Ikayetwvz5 - thank you for those suggestions - I like the look of the dwarf hinoki cypress! Sorry that you didn't get much help. At this point, i'm just happy with getting some suggested plant names, so If i'm able to get a few suggestions from everyone, i'm good :) It's hard to make a decision.

FrozeBudd_z3/4 - Thank you for those suggestions. Will look those up now!
Little Bug
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
What kind of hydrangeas are those? The one on the right is too close to the house, whatever kind they are. Hopefully you picked a type with a mature height of only 3’. IMO, though, that still may be too tall unless it is your goal to block your windows.
Christina
3 years ago
I'm in 7b and been struggling as well, it's semi tropical but I still need to find things can survive an occassional freeze here. Inkberry Holly grows fairly slow so it won't take a lot of pruning like boxwood and only gets 2-3ft, partial to full sun. Evergreen Azalea gets about 2ft but can get very wide and needs special pruning after flowering and likes shade. Winter Heath is 12-18 inches likes partial to full sun and needs pruning after flowering.
Christina
3 years ago
I meant I'm in 9b!
Justin D
Original Author
3 years ago
Little Bug - they are endless summer hydrangeas. I believe they are on the smaller side when mature. Don’t mind blocking the lower half of the windows as they are in the formal living room and almost go to the floor 😊.
Justin D
Original Author
3 years ago
Christina, thank you for those suggestions. I do have some azaleas in a bed closer to the road and on the side of the house. I like those. Winter heath looks like a good choice that provides some color. Never heard of that one before!
Christina
3 years ago
Justin D no problem! It looks pretty already and coming along well.

Front Yard Landscape - Need Evergreen Help!

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Christina

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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