Landscaping, Front of House, Small Spaces
Janice Scoville
last year
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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 MoreI need ideas for landscaping the front of my small ranch home!!
Comments (3)Here are suggestions for a simple scheme that keeps some lawn. The first thing I would do, though, is bust out the end of the walk (where it meets porch) or maybe the whole walk, and redo it, adding space and width. A skinny walk with little space at the porch makes the whole house look cheaper. If breaking out and redoing is not possible, then find a way to patch on some extra space....See MoreLandscape ideas needed for small ranch home-front yard
Comments (4)Deepen the beds front to back and on the left side, I'd swing the bed out at the corner and plant a small tree. Small is the key word here. We don't know where you are, but in my zone it might be a Viburnum prunifolium, Red Bud, or Serviceberry. Low plantings would connect it to the house....See MoreNeed landscaping recommendations for small area in front yard
Comments (9)i used black mulch.. and it cooked my plants ... it held heat long into the night.. instead of allowing a longer cool recovery period from the onslaught of the day ... and keep in mind .. with all that cement.. you are already in a heat trap.. plant wise ... and when you use any color.. you either have to paint it every year .. yes.. they have stain for such .. or recover it to keep it fresh ... and i thought to myself a pox on that house.. https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffnt&q=mulch+paint&ia=web so i would go.. and recommend.. natural.. which will age to a natural grey.. which would mix in with your blue/gray palette nicely ... another way of saying it would be.. i dont interior design my color palette outdoors ... i dont know what to tell you about that tiny bed to the left of the door.. both the architect and the builder ought to be slapped upside the head until they stop designing such a useless space ... maybe the cement guy too .. lol ... what are the two purple plants in there .. you better learn how to properly prune if its JMaples.. or renovation prune if they are shrubs ... because they will soon be overtaking the walkway ... whenever you want plant suggestions.. you need to be a bit specific on location.. big city name is better than the bottom eastern half of the US ... finally .. you dont mention if you want to go full contact gardening... like the caudwell suggestion ... but that really would be the way to make it really pop ... btw: i cant tell if the fence is stained or whatever.. but if it were just cedar .. it would also age to the grey mulch color i mention .. so if you are going natural with the fence.. then do so with the mulch ... ken...See Morenickel_kg
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