Seeking help with landscaping ideas for front walkway
missa215220
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littlebug Zone 5 Missouri
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seeking garden path ideas
Comments (15)craigslist in your area lists free bricks, and if you keep an eye on it, from time to time, i bet someone will have pavers. http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/zip/ http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/zip/2418781475.html Also, agree, that you can make your own with concrete mix and have some fun with it. Is your pathway in sun or shade or both? I have used wood chips on mine, and love the look of it. I have three such pathways. Now, as for walkability, that would be a personal preference. If it gets a lot of use, pavers or concrete stones that you make are the best bet. If light traffic, thyme is a great idea, as well as several other plants. Someone has even made a business of this: http://www.stepables.com/ Have fun with this project! I bet it will look great when you are done. :-)...See MoreHELP - I need ideas for landscaping front yard
Comments (14)KY2011, a plan will not be useful to you in creating a landscape design unless it is accurately drawn--with the distances being measured--and your's is not. One 16' distance is shown at more than 3 times the length of an 8' distance and many other measurements are obviously not proportionately correct. You'll can print out a scale that will allow you to measure the distances. (Link below. Use the inch-decimal--sixth one down--to create a plan that is 1" = 10". That will probably work the best. Be sure to disable "shrink to fit" when you print.) The measured plan allows one to fit in objects that are also measured ... to make sure that there is room for everything and that one has placed enough objects (plants) in the plan. It allows one to see that the distances between objects are properly proportioned, for best use of the space being created. This brings up another point that plants shown in your plan are not well or realistically arranged. Some are too close to the house, but too far from one another in the rows. The "bump-out" portion of the building is not shown, so plants march across the front of the house as if it weren't there. This will not work in real life. The Japanese maple could not be placed as you have it. That's a space sized for a Hosta. (The 6' - 8' ht. you've marked is at one stage of its life, but is not its end height.) A nice landscape uses plants to solve problems and create a positive image. It's not just placing one's favorite decorations (plants) wherever they can be squeezed in around the yard. There's no reason a homeowner can't do their own landscape design, if they're willing to use the methods professionals use and also learn a lot about plants. I suggest that you draw an accurate plan and re-post (without plants shown.) Then you could probably get suggestions for better plant placement. You should also be thinking about what architectural shortcomings need enhancing by plants. The size of the house has been mentioned. You've also mentioned the "concrete at the porch," but it's far enough away that it doesn't look any different than the siding, and and I don't get the impression you're anxious to hide that. While its finish at close range might not be the greatest, couldn't some paint take care of it?. Why not start with that and see if you detest it as much? One person mentioned hiding the bottom of the stone facade. (A vine on a custom trellis or a clipped hedge could take care of it with the least bulk.) What about hiding the bottom of the "bump-out." With no architectural devices appearing to support it (same as stone facade) it looks like it defies the laws of nature and so would be better hidden. Street trees help frame the house (as well as provide a protective ceiling at the street) so why not pick ones that can be more readily limbed up in order to create the view below? If you don't do the things that need be done, you'll end up with the typical "builder's landscape" ... something to rip out just as soon as, or shortly after it becomes grown. Here is a link that might be useful: Decimal inch ruler...See MoreIdeas for new landscaping and walkway - front yard zone 5b / 6a
Comments (10)If it were me and I was going to redo the front walk I would just do poured concrete in an oval shape to mirror the bed around the trees in front of the house. That's the least maintenance. Yes, remove the yews, they should not be trimmed in an unnatural box shape for a home as natural looking as yours. Don't know what the tree is next to the yew shrubs, maybe blue atlas cedar or blue spruce? Either way, it is going to get big so you may want to move it now while you still can. It's a "specimen tree" meant to be viewed from afar, so I'd put it in the back yard, "afar" from the house where I could take it in while sitting on the back patio or looking out the back window. You could take out the front set of birches with two trunks, that is the one that blocks the view the most. I wouldn't do that, but I am a tree hugger. Where the yews and that blue green tree are, I would put some flowering trees or shrubs that would remain small, and maybe something that smells nice to greet me as I walked up to the front door. You don't say your zone, but it appears to be a 4 season area so I'd put in some rugosa roses (but that's just me) maybe mixed with hydrangeas. That's what I have in my front entrance way. Roses can get buggy, so if you want something even less maintenance, shrubby cinquefoil and low growing spirea are just about as easy peasy as it gets. "Knock out" roses don't smell as great as a rugosa but are more foolproof, depending on your zone. BTW, there are small evergreens you could put next to your house. There are some small junipers that would fit the bill, or a bird's nest blue spruce (which I don't particularly care for but some folks love). But like I said, not sure what that is by the yew hedge, it may be a dwarf for all I know but it doesn't look like it from my casual glance....See MoreLandscaping - Walkway to Front Door
Comments (15)This is a view from the street so you can see how much lawn there is. There is also a "detention area" for potential heavy rain water in front of the concrete wall. The door is painted light burgundy so it's not a dark color but because it sits under the overhang of the entryway it appears dark from the street. I am thinking of replacing that door with a glass door. But it's kind of "vintage" to the house so I keep hesitating. We use the pathway about 50% of the time and the door from the garage into the house the rest of the time. The mailbox is along the street (right of garage). I know I have to move those pots from the front of the walkway but they are SO heavy. We moved them into the garage because of Hurricane Ian and when we took them out of the garage the next day that's where they landed. My bad. My instinct for the front is the simpler the better. but I really like everyone's ideas....See Moremissa215220
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littlebug Zone 5 Missouri