Landscaping SOS
Dani V
10 months ago
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Comments (13)
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
10 months agomad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
10 months agoRelated Discussions
Formal landscape advice
Comments (12)"I like large swathes of the same plant gbecause it's more dramatic than onesey-twosy style." I forgot to add-- I do too---I love things planted in mass, monochromatic color schemes and a lush full (but neat and well balanced) look. I knew nothing at all about landscaping, but am learing that this is pretty much a "formal" style. ALSO learning, that it's ridiculously expensive to accomplish. I'd like the carrie ann mini hostas to grow together to form a continuous edge---that meant planting about 40 of them in mass. They are such a pretty variegated color with sweet white flowers (one of the few hostas with pretty ones imo) that I thought they would soften the line of the boxwoods. I like hostas and have luck with them, so I wanted them as a main player in the landscape. There is a designer-- Deborah Silver who plants these limelight hydrangeas in mass and they are so beautiful. I wish I had more room to put a hedge, but will have to settle for the side of my house at this point (sorely in need of some kind of wow factor---hoping the limelights will be it.)...See MoreAttracting Beneficial Insects to Your Landscape
Comments (39)Absolutely. Leaf-footed bugs are not your friend. If you learn to recognize and kill them while they're young, they won't live long enough to do a lot of damage in your garden. I'm going to link a page that has a photo of the immature leaf-footed bugs in the center near the top of the page. When you see a bunch of little bugs like that clustered together, they generally are leaf-footed bug nymphs and you're doing your garden plants, especially tomato fruit, a big favor by killing them all. If you see a similar-looking bug that is alone on a plant, that usually is the nymph of an assassin bug/wheel bug that is beneficial. I always leave the lone ones alone because they're the beneficial ones, but I kill the ones I find in clusters. Usually I start seeing the wheel bug and assassin bug nymphs in May, but I usually don't see leaf-footed bug nymphs until June (or even July in a really good year, and this was not a really good year). With pests like squash bugs, stink bugs and leaf-footed bugs, I try to kill all the young ones I see early in the season in order to keep their population growth slowed down. Stink bugs and leaf-footed bugs are incredibly damaging to tomato fruit, and you know what a tomato maniac I am. I'll share my garden space with lots of pest insects and leave most of them alone, knowing the good garden helpers like toads, frogs, lizards, birds and beneficial insects will get them, but I never miss a chance to kill a squash bug, stink bug or leaf-footed bug. Leaf-Footed Bug Info...See MoreNeed help landscaping front yard
Comments (11)Trying to make progress even though I'm using a temporary (for me) drawing program. My sketch is incomplete. We don't have a good idea of what the left or right front of the house looks due to being absent in the pictures or covered in shrubbery. Nevertheless this can cover some of the basic points. Sorry if I'm repeating myself or something someone else has already said but I don't want to re-read all. I would not bring planting bed alongside the walk toward the driveway. doing so will make the walk seem much smaller when in fact it would be better if it was wider. Too, it will add to maintenance and it will not look as good as if you had nicely edged turf there. A truth about turf is that it will not grow in too much shade. It's time to divide out those areas from the lawn where it won't grow and turn them into groundcover. I disagree with your idea of planting so many things -- 3 stripes of plants -- in front of the foundation. There simply isn't room and this busy scheme will not look near as good as a single plant in front of a given part of the foundation. Color fits flanking the entrance. A low evergreen shrub or groundcover could surround the bay windows and shrubs or low plantings could be farther away (this is the area we don't yet know.) We don't know what the condition of the lawn at the left side of front yard is either. If a tree is far enough away from the others and limbed up high enough that sufficient light gets below it, it's possible to grow grass. If otherwise, then it's not and that area should be sectioned for groundcover. A small (12'-15') multi-trunk tree (made of a large shrub) could be off the right corner of house....See Morelandscaping SOS
Comments (15)There already is Leucophyllum in the bed — they get way too large for that spot and look scraggly with too much shade. Cordia boissieri would be very iffy in Houston, especially with how our climate is changing. Mature Red Yuccas would also be too large there. Houston is not arid and rocky like west Texas, Hill Country, etc, it’s lush and humid. There are so many good choices for plants that would thrive. I’m in an area of D/FW with bad soil … I envy the growing conditions down there. Fatima, the first thing I’d do is see about hiring someone to transplant the Yaupon Holly. It’s too big to be in that bed, and they look so much better not sculpted. As much as it would pain me to do it, I’d cut it down if transplanting isn’t possible. I’d remove everything from the bed … maybe transplant whatever you can to the backyard …and start over. I’d find an established local nursery, not big box store, to help with suggestions for the beds. Take pictures to show them. I’d want a more layered look in the larger section of the bed using proper sized shrubs and perennials. I’d add in a pretty birdbath for interest. Google ”Landscaping in Houston” and look at images for inspiration. Your house is beautiful, updating the landscaping will look wonderful. :)...See MoreDani V
10 months agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
10 months agoSigrid
10 months agoCelery. Visualization, Rendering images
10 months agoMelisa
10 months agoffpalms
10 months agopartim
10 months agoemmarene9
10 months agotracefloyd
10 months agolast modified: 10 months agoffpalms
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