Help with no grass front yard, please.
This bed in the front of our cabin has had me flummoxed from day one. When we bought the place there was a huge raised bed in a circle made from the river rock. It was full of this plant called chameleon plant that a friend of mine who is a horticulturist told me was extremely invasive and the only way to get rid of it was to burn it. So I have spent the past 3 summers pulling and spraying and finally this year haven’t seen any of it. So the center bed is basically just mulch at this point with one plant. The beds around the perimeter are pretty much done. They are shaded as each section has a tree anchoring it. The center is full sun. I was originally thinking I needed a pathway through the bed, but it is not really walked through, we usually just walk on the driveway and not through the bed. I was at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens last weekend and liked how they had large beds with different plant groupings. So now I’m thinking I just fill the bed with interesting plants like a display garden I guess. The rocks that are now defining the beds are there to help with water runoff so they really need to stay.
Here is an overhead shot taken before we owned the cabin or cleared out the over plantings and the center raised portion. The cabin on the left is the main cabin, the cabin on the right is our detached carriage house with an apartment above that family and guests use. The big road on the right of the pic is the public road.
This is a pic showing the center bed in grey, the maples in purple.
A basic sketch.
Here are some current pics.
From the front steps of main cabin looking out to mailbox and road.
From across the road. That is an arbor we added.
From the corner near the carriage house
From the arbor looking out to the road. ignore the 3 big square rocks, those are parts of a bench. Not sure where to put it.
And from the center of the cabin looking out to road.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.
Comments (18)
tozmo1
2 years agoAnnette Holbrook(z7a)
2 years agoRelated Discussions
Please help me landscape my small front yard?
Comments (14)I wonder if an "oval" of grass would help in this case??? I just looked up the definition of an ellipse on mathworld and my eyes are still spinning :-) I think Reyesuela makes a couple of good points. The first, regarding the grass shape, is that when you make your beds, you should pay attention to the shape of grass you are creating, not so much the shape of the bed - the bed shape will be more or less immaterial once you get it filled, while the grass shape will always show up. And actually, since you like formal, I might almost play with a rectangle of grass under the window surrounded by straight beds on three sides, obviously not going right to the road to avoid the snow plow - or putting low, tough plants like the most vigorous hostas on the road edge. The second, if I understand correctly, is to create a space within your front yard where you can be, or to enclose your house, rather than making it a sort of frame for your house to be simply looked at. I strongly agree that, especially when you have a small amount of space, what matters most is how you want to feel when you are in it or in the house looking out. Depending on the feel of your street, you may want to be visible; I don't know. What complicates this approach is what you say about the snow plow... you might be best off to make the front edge grass, along with the edges of the driveway where your car door needs to open. I would not not not do a standard foundation bed under the window. So predictable. I think a pretty patch of grass, tidy beds - not necessarily symmetrical plantings, but formal is good - there is really something about that row of Rhodies that just looks right. You could remove sod under them, joining their little patches into a long straight bed, underplant them a bit if you widen the bed. karinL...See MorePlease help me design a new bed(s) for my front yard
Comments (20)I remember how difficult it is to get started when you have a bare, flat yard. I kept staring out the windows, trying to imagine what I could plant where. It helps if you have someone stand outside while you look out the windows. Have your helper walk around from place to place, waving his/her arms, and maybe even holding a broom up overhead. Try to imagine your helper is a bush or a tree. When your helper gets to a spot that looks good from the inside, make a note of the position, or have your helper plant a garden stake (much easier to move than a tree!) Then go stand outside, or across the street, and see if that really is a good place for a tree. Use pots of annuals which you can move around until you find a space placement that suits you. THEN dig a bed. You can always set out empty boxes, or laundry baskets or even chairs to find spots for a shrub. Anything of a similar size that's easily movable will do. Here are some general principals I've found helpful. If the front is your main entrance, plant things that you will be happy to see when you come home. Start planting close to the walk and steps. This will encourage you to expand. Take it slow. I read once that you should live in a house though one set of seasons before you do any major changes. I translated that into planting annuals at first...which will have to be redone anyway. Fall is really the best time to plant trees and shrubs, as then they will get lots of rain. And, they will be cheaper at the 'year end' sales. Plant evergreens and long season perennials in the front as you and the neighbors will be looking at this area every day. Don't be afraid to take out something you don't like. Try to transplant it, or give it away. If it lives, fine, but you don't have to put up with something you don't like. Bare ground will make you feel better than a plant that irriates you. Don't plant acid loving plants close to the foundation of the house or near the cement path or sidewalk. They won't thrive. I figured this out after losing a row of azaleas, one by one. You can buy spray paint that is specially made to be sprayed holding the can upside down, so you can mark the edges of the beds. Just make sure that it isn't 'clear' paint. (Yes, it does come that way - a friend did this!) Or take a container of flour out and use that to mark plant placement or bed edges if you want a very temporary marking. The front yard is your house's public face and a place to show off your gardening skills. Rather than screening off the street, plant so that people driving or walking by will have something pleasant to look at and your visitors will find inviting. And for safety reasons, you don't want to 'hide' your house. Burglars go for entrances that are screened off from the view of the neighbors. Re paths: Make sure you leave good access to the utility boxes. Make sure you can get a lawnmower and wheelbarrow everywhere they'll need to go. You won't want low branching trees too near paths, either. If you don't have a pleasant view out the windows, one small patch of bright color will draw your eye away from the eyesore. Try a few pots of color, just set out on the ground, and see how they draw your attention. You do want to 'hide' the foundation of the house with taller, more solid shrubs. This will help transition the house into the lot, and help it look 'planted' rather than just 'plopped' onto the lot. Place lower plants further away from the house, along the path and sidewalk. You don't have to have ANY lawn in the front, but you don't have to take it all out at once, either. Have fun! Daphne in Tacoma...See MoreHelp with Front yard - scaling back the grass
Comments (8)There's a lot I don't get about this post, beginning with orientation. The convention (and it ought to be a universal rule) is that calling out "left" and "right" is from the viewpoint of the street at the front of the property. What you are calling the "right side of the house" looks to me like the left side ... unless your house is the one at left that barely shows. You go on to say all the things you are going to do. But where are the overall objectives that will control what you are trying to create? It seems to me more like you are gardening and don't have much interest in employing landscape design (using plants and other materials to solve problems as opposed to having this or that nice thing somewhere.)...See MoreFront Yard Grass, heavy shade and heavy sun
Comments (4)I believe Emerald Zoysia will do fine. If you can wait until spring....thats when I would do it. I did mine in the middle of summer but got lucky because it was during a very wet period with lots of rain. I laid every single square myself and was very anal about making sure they were down correctly. BTW...there are many on this site that know a whole lot more about this than I do and I am sure they will chime in about what grass would work best....See More
Annette Holbrook(z7a) thanked btydrvnbtydrvn
2 years ago
Fori
2 years agoAnnette Holbrook(z7a)
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoI’m going to go measure the space under the arbor, and the bench itself. It would be very appropo to put them together as both were Mother’s Day gifts, albeit about 15 years apart.
Annette Holbrook(z7a)
2 years agoThe bench top is 36”x18”, the width of the arbor is 78” and it is 26” deep.
Here is a pic showing a tap measure at 36”
The other place the bench could go is in the side bed under a J.Maple. I would obviously move the bird feeder and potted plants. Tape measure also at 36” here.
Lyone Fein
2 years agoUser
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoEven though it is a small space on a public road, I think you might get out there and enjoy being if you create areas of distinct and different interestLittle mini gardens inside the garden, each with their own story to tell. It should be a space to walk through and discover variety, and sit in, not just look at from across the street or above.
Japanese gardens are fun that way, especially since very few of them are big at all. But they have different sections that contrast and provide for different thoughts and experiences. The plants are rarely high maintence. The gardens include places to sit and objects or sculptures, or bells to ring, different textures underfoot
Atherton Japanese Garden · More Info
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Eugenia Cabrera
2 years agonolanirvana
2 years ago
C Dyer
2 years agoUser
2 years agoIn many places in the world people sit in gardens, piazze, public spaces that are on the main road. On the Upper West Side of Manhattan in NYC, it has always been a popular things to do on Broadway
Annette Holbrook(z7a)
2 years agopotter99
2 years ago
btydrvn