Need advice - Landscaping and trees needed on steep incline back yard!
Dyan Weis
last year
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cecily 7A
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Steep slope in back yard...would love some ideas! (pics included)
Comments (26)Juliann, I'll post a site from the UK that has pictures of various types of gardens. This link goes to their Cottage Garden which they say is "contrived to look uncontrived". There are many other types of gardens there that might provide inspiration. Which plants you choose depends on which climate zone you are in. I'm in zone 3 so am somewhat limited in what I can grow. I'll post a pic of what I call my wild bird garden. It's an area in my large garden that has the birdfeeder and birdbath. I allow the flowers to go to seed for the birds so they self-seed. This area has changed over many years altho I initially seeded shasta daisies (the butterflies love them) and yarrow and planted a few established perennials. The yarrow seeds I planted were a mix of red, pink, and white, but the white resembles the wild yarrow we have so we pull it out and it's mostly now only tones of pinks and red. There are also Lamb's Ears because they seed all over my garden but I leave them in this wild area (the bees love them). There are a few other plants, a pink mallow that's 'weedy' but it fills the space and is quite pretty and we also have several lilacs here. Near that area there is also a drift of common old irises which we've allowed to spread. They are in the lower part of the rockery and I will eventually weed some of them out as the bloom time is not very long. If I were deliberately planting a wildflower garden I would not buy a wildflower mix as there could be invasive plants in it. I planted a mix about 14 years ago and still have Dame Hesperis (Dame's Rocket) altho pull out many every year and try to dead-head them ASAP before they seed. It's quite a weed in warmer climates. I would choose seeds of plants I like that are hardy but not invasive and mix them together. Another option is to plant in swaths with various plants and grasses hardy to your area. Keep in mind the moisture requirements of the plants as you decide. The area where I have shastas, mallow, and yarrow needs little watering and only a spring weeding so is easy care. Here is a link that might be useful: The Garden House...See MoreNeed advice for the front yard landscape
Comments (7)I second the dwarf hawthorns. They are on my short list to get some for myself. I love their foliage and their mounding form. Oleander is an amazing and beautiful shrub, but they are also extremely poisonous. I don't know if you have to be concerned with that, but I thought I'd just put it out there. Lantana is poisonous too, and it isn't evergreen, but is clearly one of my favorite plants because they are carefree, extremely drought-tolerant and the butterflies just love them. I have a good friend with a child with special needs, and now I am always conscious as to the toxicity of a plant before I put it in the ground. Also, I love Mahonia Aquifolium, or "Oregon Grape Holly". They are evergreen, have similiar foliage to the hollies, so they'd blend nicely, but they have yellow flowers in spring, and berries in fall. Also, the foliage turns purple/orange in fall. They're slow growing, but will get pretty tall at maturity. They like sun or shade, deer resistant and drought tolerant. There is another Mahonia, Leatherleaf Mahonia, or Mahonia Bealei, but it's supposed to be invasive in our area. Please don't confuse the two. Also, I don't know how drought-tolerant it is, but IMHO, you can't beat Pieris Japonica for thier foliage, however, I've been told they're more of an "accent" plant, instead of a hedge shrub, so you may want to consider that. But, they are carefree, I've never had any problems with disease, or deer. Also, I am totally in love with Camellias, so I'd have to vote for them as well. I know they get very big, but since there are so many varieties, I'm sure there has to be one that comes in a smaller form. Gardenias do well in either sun or shade, but I think they prefer sun. The deer have never looked at them sideways, and for the first year I owned my house, I never watered them once and they came through the experience without a problem. When I found out they were Gardenias, I watered and fed them, and they bloomed like crazy for me the next season. I understand that they can have a problem with pests, whiteflies???, but I haven't had any problems, yet, knock on wood. Perhaps, if you let us know more about the sun/shade aspect, we can give you better answers....See MoreNeed advice for front-yard edible landscape
Comments (19)I would probably take the route of 'implement a florida friendly landscape to eliminate the waste of drinking water and the contamination of our local waterways'. Play up that wetland community you share space with. The HOA can squack as much as they won't but they can't trump FS 720.3075 http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?mode=View%20Statutes&SubMenu=1&App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=720.3075&URL=0700-0799/0720/Sections/0720.3075.html If they want 30% 'lawn' in the front, come up with a plan that leaves all the hell strip and the piece next to your driveway to the west in 'lawn' and then use 'lawn' as wide pathways around your front gardens. Oh, and I am fairly certain that they can not restrict you from implementing a florida friendly 'lawn'. My 'lawn' is green stuff that I mow regularly. From the street it looks pretty much just like all the other resource hogs in my subdivision. Except that mine gets no fertilizer or pesticide and very, very seldom any additional irrigation. The secret to my lawn is multi-part. It is NOT monoculture. It started as St. Augustine, overseeded Bahia, plugged Zoysia. Added Mimosa strigrillosa in stubborn spots. Plugged mondo grass in shady spots. Turned really bad spots into fruit tree beds. Dumped loads of tree trimmed chips onto the really, really bad spots and planted root crops. I don't use any pesticides in my front yard, and very little chemical fertilizer. It has taken several years, but the front 'lawn' is looking really nice. The natural order of things has slowly been restored. Part of the reason it has taken longer is because I'm a poor gimp and am doing all the work myself. Now I am curious about what % lawn I have out front. And what % is planting beds. I do know the planting beds > lawn. And another big section of lawn is coming out this year [grin!]. My front yard planting beds are mixed use beds. Edibles, perennials and ornamentals. I even grew heirloom tomatoes in my front planting beds this past fall - spring. My artfully disguised compost bin is in the front side yard. Speaking of compost, one way to look at your 'lawn' is as green manure for your compost bin! I am also working to capture rain in my yard and I like to think that the grass pathways and grass at the concrete edges helps to keep water in my yard and not running off. I am also working on capturing rain runoff INTO grass zones in the yard. Rain water garden type concepts. My general idea is improving water holding capacity of the yard to help improve the crops from the edible bits and parts of the front. I'm rambling I guess. If you go over to the Tropical Fruit forum and hunt up a post from Sunworshiper aka Angela that shows her gardens; you can see she has fruit tree planting bed islands around her front yard. Big islands. Very nicely executed. Veggies and perennials tucked around the fruit trees. Oh, and she lives in an HOA in Ovieda. I am in Lake Mary, but not in a HOA. Our deed restrictions expired 5 years ago. I got to tour Angela's gardens a couple years ago, her gardens have been my inspiration for keeping my front yard edibles below the radar. St Johns Water Management District might be able to give you some advice. It is not a matter of IF, but rather WHEN Seminole County has to start cracking down on water quality the way that the gulf coast area of Florida is currently. http://floridaswater.com/waterwiselandscapes/ Gabby Milch with the Seminole County Extension Office might have some pointers for you. She does the Florida Yards and Neighbors program for Seminole. Also, you might want to send this document along to your HOA. http://fyn.ifas.ufl.edu/pdf/CCRs_Sept-20-2010_final.pdf Here is another news article about HOA vs Florida Friendly Lawns (this one is part of the St Johns River Water Management District) http://staugustine.com/news/local-news/2011-11-08/homeowners-citing-little-know-law-win-battle-hoa-plant-florida-friendly Angela is a great resource you should consider tracking down. She is an engineer, and has a wealth of detail about fruit growing tucked away in her head. And she frequently has divisions for trade. You are welcome to come over to our place and look around, but I'm still working on growing up to be like Angela. Plus, my neighborhood is not the same scale as yours and Angela's. But I have Beauty Berry bushes you can take! And sweet potato slips. And Okinawa Spinach. And Callaloo. And Florida Cranberry. And Black Jungle Butter Beans. Yardlong beans. Whipporwill Field Peas. Sorry for all the rambling. Hope this helps you some. I've posted below a link to a 'tour' of my gardens this past winter. ~dianne Here is a link that might be useful: Tour...See MoreFront Yard Curb appeal - Landscape / Hardscape advice needed!
Comments (46)Dennis - Unless I missed it, you didn't say what direction the front of your house faces, and how much sun it got, that is, if it's sun is obstruction by tall buildings on the other side of the street. The other very, very important thing for you to think about, of which other Houzzers might not be aware is that Southern California goes through extreme water shortages pretty much every single year, and many areas are told to not water their lawn or do it only minimally for parts of the year. That should really inform how you think about landscaping. Admittedly, I do understand if you despise cacti and other succulents. But you might want to seriously think about eschewing live grass in favor of artificial turf. There are marvelous artificial turfs now that would fool anyone, certainly from standing height, and you obviously don't need to water it and think of all the $$ you save in gardener's fees, and none of those those pesky varmints rolling up the sod, either.! You can can still have specifically carved out flower beds, and trees and bushes with planned irrigation for those specific areas. Your area abounds with very experienced landscape architects. You want someone who has an artistic eye, and who knows hardscape and who is very familiar with the plants that do well in your area, and is familiar with the exigencies of life in SoCal and in your microclimate and can speak frankly with you about what you want to get out of your garden and how much work you are willing to put in to it. Do you sit outdoors in the front or the back? Do you want fragrant flowers on a trellis where you sit there or will a fragrance annoy the heck out of you? Will you sit outside in the morning or night, so do you need flowers that bloom in the am or bloom in the evening with colors that will be seen sell in twilight and at night? Do you want an herb garden for cooking? Do you want vegetables? Do you want several rose bushes so you can fill your house with roses, or other flowers so you can always have bouquets? Of course Dig Doug's designs look fantabulous as always, but note that his designs show significant hardscape changes to the front of the house. You might want to think about saving up some money for the hardscape work. If you get rid of the grass and put in artificial turf, you will end up saving a fortune of money on your water bill that you can put toward hardscape. If you have never owned a house before, you would not believe how much the water bill will be, and when you add in watering the lawn, holy moly!...See MoreDyan Weis
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