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Design Dilemma Shrubs Landscape Design

Need Landscaping help!

last month

Hi everyone,

I need help with landscaping ideas for zone 7 (northern bc). I want minimal maintenance (so perennials?). I’m so clueless when it comes to this that I’ve put it off for 7 years now… please help!! There’s no one around here that does gorgeous landscaping. Or if anyone knows someone online that they recommend because I’m happy to pay too. I’m desperate!

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Comments (10)

callirhoe123
last month
There must be nurseries near you. Go to one with pictures of your house and information on which direction it faces and they should be able to make lots of good suggestions and install the plants for you if you want.
Nancy R z5 Chicagoland
last month
If you want minimal maintenance, you would be better off thinking in terms of flowering shrubs than perennials.
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One must love the vagaries of landscape terminology, where often words don't have very exact meanings. In general, a groundcover is any number of plants that are capable of solidly covering the ground surface but where their growth height has a finite, usually low, limit. Often they are plants that spread sideways. Sometimes they are vines grown on the ground like Vinca, and sometimes they are clumping plants, like Liriope. In terms of residential yards, a groundcover might get as high as 3' (my own guidelines). But one chooses its height based on all the factors that apply in a given situation: window height, overall size of space, particular purpose, necessity for pedestrian traffic, etc. Grass turf is usually not considered to be a groundcover per se, even though it is low and covers the ground solid, because it is highly specialized, needing to be pruned weekly by machines. Most groundcovers are not meant to be walked on but can tolerate varying degrees of it. It seems to me that your alcove could accept a height of 6" to 18" (the taller so long as one needed only rarely to walk into the area.) But that depends on your relocating the hose spigot to somewhere more convenient. (If it's the pipe coming out of the ground, it shouldn't be too difficult. If it's running through the wall it will be more involved.) If 'Big Blue' Liriope grows where you live, it could be nice there. If you have to leave the hose spigot, you'd need stepping stones or a walk, and a way to guide the hose. And a wall mounted reel. Still, seems very inconvenient in that location. At the strip along the garage, the same Liriope would work well there, too, IF it grows well there. But it would be nice to see annuals below the windows that come up higher, to the bottom of the window. In the picture above, it looks like Liriope spicata between wall and walk, which isn't going to be as pretty or interesting as L. muscari 'Big Blue'.
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"We've had a few landscape designers come out to give us ideas, but most of them want to over-plant and turn the place into a forest." There is pressure in the industry to go in this direction and it comes from everywhere: the client, the boss, the contractors. Everybody wants to squeeze more plants in if they can. Part of this is impatience. Everyone wants quick or instant results. Part of it comes from the urge to sell product. And part of it comes from peer pressure; a designer may not feel like they're "doing enough" professionally if they aren't providing the fullest look. I felt this in my early days of work and it took a long time to resist. It's a nice looking, good sized house, but the walk to the front porch is seriously undersized relative to everything else. Unfortunately, it cheapens the look of everything else. The walk and the step should be the width (or nearly) of the opening between the porch posts. Due to the grade, it would probably require installing a small retaining wall. (There really ought to be a retaining wall there now. I can picture maintenance difficulty and erosion problems on the way.) If you ever decide to fix it, I would explore the idea of eliminating one step, by tilting the walk slightly upward as it approaches the porch. (The picture doesn't indicate if this is feasible.) IMO, there is not enough shown in the pictures to give much feedback on planting. From the overall front, it looks like you could use some large trees off the corner of the house, but neither of these areas can be seen well. Nor can the complete foundation planting area be seen. (We only see the central part from a hard angle.) My picture is not a comprehensive look, but is only addressing the walk issue.
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Good gravy about the metal frame, i call for a saws all and just buck it back to the wall if you cant get the bolts out. lol. ponies need lots of sun, or they wont give you enough flowers to make it worth their while. So I'm not sure if they will work for you here. you probably get some morning sun in the front but im not sure. Paint your front door black is no good for your cute house. As to the shutters I would just remove them. Instead of white trim I might fancy a sage green or leave it as is once you remove the shutters white will be too plain IMO. You really need a good landscape plan, ex: there is no path from the front door, and that will be a big factor into the garden design. https://www.gardenia.net/plant-combinations/hardiness-zones/7
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I'll start by admitting I am not a big fan of red leaved trees that hold that color all season. In spring it's fine. In your case that red is going to blend in so much with your roof and brick colors you will lose "nice statement trees" points, even help breaking up the concrete points. Bloodgood Japanese maple are common as dirt anyway. That is not much of a statement for a house this nice. I will take your word that you have 14' of space at the porch corners. That is enough room for a small tree including Japanese maples if you plant forward at say 10' out allowing the tree canopy to cover and shade the concrete in time. Light trimming on the backside as needed won't hurt a small tree's form. But I don't want to plant the trees on the porch corners. They really need to go to the outside of the two windows on either side of the porch. I don't want to hide the front porch with trees for one or block all the windows above. That is a problem on the left side because the bed narrows to much to the left of that window to place a tree there. There is symmetry/balance freak here who will have a cow at this suggestion. On the left side plant the tree where you have the 14' on the porch corner. On the right side plant the tree over towards the alcove past the window. Even more room for a nice specimen tree there. So yes you can do Japanese Maple, just not 'Bloodgood' please. Check out the Full Moon series of JMs, Acer japonicum. Those have a very cool leaf shape and are not as common as dirt yet. Other small specimen/statement trees to consider are: Chionanthus, Fringe Tree Stewartia pseudocamellia Heptacodium miconoides Serviceberry, Amelanchier sp.
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last month
The hierarchy of plant maintenance - from least to most - is as follows:
- Evergreen trees
- Deciduous trees
- Evergreen shrubs
- Deciduous shrubs
- Ornamental grasses
- Perennials
- Annuals
- Vegetables and fruits
romanszone8
last month
I have to agree with gardengal and Nancy. For minimal maintenance and a continuous flow figure out which outstanding performers work best in your area- check out a nearby nursery and work with them to find your core structure of evergreens whether they are a mix of shrubs and trees, a few deciduous flowering shrubs, and then some ornamental grasses/perennials for texture and balance. I’d strongly advise on having sun/soil and directions of the layout when choosing your plants. ☺️
romanszone8
last month
Landscaping against that stunning dark backdrop is going to upgrade your curb appeal tenfold!
djacob Z6a SE WI
last month
Beautiful home! Is that gravel? Gardengal knows her stuff so work with the hierarchy she’s given you. Depending on your light/ shade conditions, you have a lot to consider. A couple of ornamental trees would be nice, not close to the house but further out in the yard. You need foundation planting first though. This could be shrubs and some nice perennial grasses. As others have said, work with local nursery/garden centers for ideas for your area.

debra
Yvonne Martin
last month
Do you have a university with a horticultural department that could help you? Some of them in the US have newlestters or web pages that help people select plants. So far north you will be severely limited in plants other than those native to your area.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last month
"So far north you will be severely limited in plants other than those native to your area."

Actually not. Coastal BC up into southern Alaska has a very mild maritime climate - USDA zones 7 and 8 - and a very wide range of plants can be grown there. It is just a shorter growing season.
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
last month
last modified: last month
BC has some wierd planting zones I live in Creston and ours ir 5 to be safe . I think the style of the home needs to have ver structural plantings and I would do some huge corten steel planters too This is what I was thinking
Sigrid
last month
I'd start by getting books on garden design. There will probably be some from the library. Your gravel lends itself to the French style. But it might not be your style. So, start with a general style. Next, do structure. Obviously, you' need some paths. Then identify beds. There are a lot of gardens photos and articles on Houzz, so you might find something that works for you.

Lay of the Landscape: French Garden Style (houzz.com)

Get the Look: Untamed, Naturalistic Garden Style (houzz.com)

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