8 Twists on Foundation Plantings
Up your home’s curb appeal with house-side plantings that soften borders and add flair to your landscape
It’s easy to overlook foundation plants — those shrubs planted close to where a building meets the ground — because, well, they’re often fairly forgettable. But instead of picking the same nondescript green shrubs as your neighbors, why not plant something that will not only soften the border between your home and garden but also add to the overall design of the landscape? From uncommon evergreens to flowering perennials and frothy ornamental grasses, here are eight ideas for dynamic foundation plantings.
2. Mediterranean style. Gray-green and silver foliage complement the pale stones and dark shutters of this home in Orange County, California. The low-water foundation plantings include evergreen Little Ollie dwarf olive, a darling low-growing and nonfruiting cultivar of the European olive that reaches only 4 to 6 feet tall and wide, layered with blue fescue grasses and ‘Morning Light’ coast rosemary in the foreground.
Plant Combination
Light requirement: Full sun
Plant Combination
- Little Ollie dwarf olive (Olea europaea ‘Montra’, zones 8 to 11)
- ‘Morning Light’ coast rosemary (Westringia fruticosa ‘Morning Light’, zones 9 to 10)
- Blue fescue (Festuca glauca, zones 4 to 8)
Light requirement: Full sun
3. Layered. Consider foundation plants as a layer of a larger border planting, rather than just fill-in shrubs, to play with the backdrop for the garden. For example, in this Columbus, Ohio, border planting, the bigleaf hydrangeas act as both the foundation plants and the border’s backdrop. Lower tiers of pale purple-flowering catmint and evergreen boxwood fill in to form a dynamic, layered planting.
Plant Combination
Light requirement: Full sun to partial sun
Plant Combination
- Bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla, zones 5 to 9)
- Catmint (Nepeta sp.)
- Boxwood (Buxus sp.)
Light requirement: Full sun to partial sun
4. Colorful and informal. Rather than growing in a straight row along the side of a building, the plants of this foundation planting and border grow in clumps around specimen trees to create a varied planting design. Plants include low-growing azalea, two types of salvias and yellow clumps of ‘Golden Elf’ spirea around three specimen trees: weeping white spruce, ‘Jane’ magnolia and ‘Red Dragon’ Japanese maple.
Plant Combination
Light requirement: Full sun
Plant Combination
- Azalea (Rhododendron sp.)
- ‘May Night’ sage (Salvia x sylvestris ‘May Night’, zones 4 to 8)
- White sage (Salvia verticillata ‘Alba’, zones 5 to 8)
- ‘Golden Elf’ spirea (Spiraea japonica ‘Golden Elf’, zones 4 to 9)
- ‘Jane’ magnolia (Magnolia ‘Jane’, zones 3 to 8)
- Weeping white spruce (Picea glauca ‘Pendula’, zones 2 to 6)
- ‘Red Dragon’ Japanese maple (Acer palmatum dissectum ‘Red Dragon’, zones 5 to 8)
Light requirement: Full sun
5. Tropical eclectic. The double foundation plants bordering the home and garage in this Venice, California, side yard give the pint-size deck some real personality. To the left, the tufted stems of papyrus are practically Seussian in their whimsical form and scale in the small space. Velvety deep purple elephant’s ear fills in the border to the right with lush, jungle-like foliage. While both plants appreciate consistent moisture, keep the foundation beds quick-draining by amending soil before planting and providing small amounts of water on a regular schedule.
Plant Combination
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade; Alocasia needs partial shade to full shade in hot inland regions
Note: Both plants are frost-tender and appropriate only for mild-winter climates.
Plant Combination
- Purple elephant’s ear (Alocasia sp.)
- Papyrus (Cyperus papyrus, zones 9 to 11)
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade; Alocasia needs partial shade to full shade in hot inland regions
Note: Both plants are frost-tender and appropriate only for mild-winter climates.
6. Traditional with a twist. This New York garden has plants we’ve seen before, but in an arrangement that feels at once fresh and familiar. Instead of the usual row of evergreen boxwoods marching along the foundation, the designer used three tiers of boxwoods — all clipped to spheres in stair-stepping sizes — to form a backdrop like oversize green gum balls. The large columnar planter in the middle of the bed further breaks up the predicability of the design and allows for an easy-to-change seasonal container planting. Pale golden Japanese forest grass and silvery-green catmint fill in the front of the border.
Plant Combination
Light requirement: Full sun to partial sun
Plant Combination
- Boxwood (Buxus sp.)
- Catmint (Nepeta sp.)
- Golden Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’, zones 4 to 9)
Light requirement: Full sun to partial sun
7. Minimalist. Although technically a wall-side planting, this planting bed outside a contemporary Los Angeles home would work just as well along a foundation. The design is elegant in its simplicity. Pale rush marches along the exterior to create a graphic planting that feels distinctly modern. Clump-forming pale rush, native to New Zealand, is surprisingly drought- and heat-tolerant and does not require a damp-soil habitat like some other rushes.
The design really shines at night, when lights placed at intervals between the rushes illuminate the wall and Douglas fir fencing. The upright forms of the rushes act like side walls to the lights, creating a banded effect that increases the drama of the design.
Plant Used
Light requirement: Full sun
Plant Used
- Pale rush (Juncus pallidus, zones 8 to 10)
Light requirement: Full sun
8. Geometric. In this garden in Vancouver, Washington, built-in benches and concrete planters filled with grass-like foliage and evergreen plants create a standout backyard foundation design. In the back planter, the deep green foliage of Mexican orange and the cascading lime-colored foliage of golden Japanese forest grass form a pleasing composition. Wiry horsetail rush fills in the perpendicular planter, acting as a “room” divider.
If you’re thinking about building a foundation-level planter like this one, hire an experienced contractor or another professional to help. Drainage is an important consideration for all foundation plantings (see planting tips below), and wall-side planters require top-notch drainage engineering. Raised soil, for example, should never touch the building, and the soil should always be quick-draining, with drainage aimed away from building. Even planters that appear to be right up against the home have a back side, or a gap is left between the planter and the home’s foundation for air circulation.
Plant Combination
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
If you’re thinking about building a foundation-level planter like this one, hire an experienced contractor or another professional to help. Drainage is an important consideration for all foundation plantings (see planting tips below), and wall-side planters require top-notch drainage engineering. Raised soil, for example, should never touch the building, and the soil should always be quick-draining, with drainage aimed away from building. Even planters that appear to be right up against the home have a back side, or a gap is left between the planter and the home’s foundation for air circulation.
Plant Combination
- Mexican orange (Choisya ternata, zones 7 to 10)
- Golden Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’, zones 4 to 9)
- Horsetail rush (Equisetum hyemale, zones 4 to 9)
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Tips for Your Foundation Plantings
Right plant, right place. As with selecting plants for any other area of your yard, choose ones that will thrive in your climate and with the amount of sun and moisture the planting site receives.
Year-round interest. Add at least one evergreen plant to your foundation border to make sure the area isn’t completely bare in winter. For example, mix plantings of ornamental grasses and perennials with an evergreen shrub like boxwood or privet for four-season interest.
Water and drainage. Since foundation plantings are right up against the building, it’s best to be extra-sensitive to drainage issues for planting beds. If drainage is a problem in your garden, have an experienced professional help create solutions for foundation plantings, such as installing a French drain. Avoid having spray from irrigation aimed directly at walls; ideally install soil-level drip or soaker hoses. Don’t use plants that thrive in damp or consistently soggy soil as foundation plants.
Plant placement. Set foundation plantings at least 12 inches, ideally closer to 18 inches, away from building walls to allow air circulation. If you have plenty of space, you may want to consider leaving a gap of 24 inches or more to allow someone to walk between the home and the edge of the planting beds for easy maintenance.
More
How to Help Your Home Fit Into the Landscape
How to Design a Colorful Flower Bed
Find a professional on Houzz
Right plant, right place. As with selecting plants for any other area of your yard, choose ones that will thrive in your climate and with the amount of sun and moisture the planting site receives.
Year-round interest. Add at least one evergreen plant to your foundation border to make sure the area isn’t completely bare in winter. For example, mix plantings of ornamental grasses and perennials with an evergreen shrub like boxwood or privet for four-season interest.
Water and drainage. Since foundation plantings are right up against the building, it’s best to be extra-sensitive to drainage issues for planting beds. If drainage is a problem in your garden, have an experienced professional help create solutions for foundation plantings, such as installing a French drain. Avoid having spray from irrigation aimed directly at walls; ideally install soil-level drip or soaker hoses. Don’t use plants that thrive in damp or consistently soggy soil as foundation plants.
Plant placement. Set foundation plantings at least 12 inches, ideally closer to 18 inches, away from building walls to allow air circulation. If you have plenty of space, you may want to consider leaving a gap of 24 inches or more to allow someone to walk between the home and the edge of the planting beds for easy maintenance.
More
How to Help Your Home Fit Into the Landscape
How to Design a Colorful Flower Bed
Find a professional on Houzz
Plant Combination
- Chinese fountain grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides, USDA zones 6 to 9; find your zone)
- Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta, zones 3 to 9)
Water requirement: Moderate; low once establishedLight requirement: Full sun
Caution: Chinese fountain grass can self-seed and become invasive in some areas. Check with your local nursery before planting, and help prevent reseeding by cutting back seed heads in fall before they reach maturity. Get a similar look with garden-friendly ‘Blonde Ambition’ blue grama grass (Bouteloua gracilis ‘Blonde Ambition’), which does not reseed.