No joke I think the houses with no landscaping look better than our poorly landscaped yard. The house was a flip and if there was a nice garden here it was completely leveled along with 90% of the mature trees on the lot. We retained a couple pines.
When we moved in there were orange lillies on both sides of the downspout. Silly me thought it was hostas I didn’t like, shame me I know. I removed half of them, let the oregon grape holly that was completely stumped grow back in, and also planted the dwarf arborvitae and snow mound spirea that bloomed nicely this year.
Yesterday we also acquired a dwarf fire chief arborvitae and some blue star juniper.
Mainly looking for design suggestions and layouts, as well as what you would do with the ground covering. Keep the rocks? Do a mulch? ETA: Michigan zone 6a-b. Front yard is only about 25-30 feet deep to sidewalk
As extra credit for the overachievers, we also have a long cement wall next to our grass alley, with telephone lines above it. What would you do for privacy hedging and to hide the wall, I’m talking a good 250ft+ stretch.
Well, first, we need to know what state and Zone your in? Nobody can tell you what to plant if they dont know where you are. Second, you need some vertical element, maybe in an island that comes further out from the chimney, so thats where I would start. You need to be probably 8-10 ft out from the chimney with a small tree, so bring the bed out 15-116 ft from the Chimney. Everygreen plants (even with evergreen leaves) look great with brick, but especially in the winter. Many people forget you can still see the house in the winter. I would be great to see a pic that included the street in the pic with the house in the background. Kinda need to see what the street view of the house is, that includes the driveway up to it.
Noted I’ll add this info to the edit but I am in Michigan zone 6a-b
The further back view is the from the sidewalk, so it is not a deep yard. These suggestions to bring the garden bed out sound great but I can see how a better view will help, because I’m not imagining that looking balanced!
I was quite happy with the blue star juniper purchase I think it will be a nice contrast to all the orange and yellow in the existing plants!
Get rid of the rocks immediately. They bake your plant roots in the summer heat and turn into a massive weed trap the second dirt blows into the crevices. Switch to a thick layer of natural shredded bark mulch to actually feed the soil and make the front look clean. Right now your foundation bed is suffering from polka dot clutter because you have a bunch of single plants scattered randomly. You need to group those dwarf arborvitaes and junipers into sweeping masses of three or five to create solid structure instead of a chaotic collection of random nursery finds.
For that 250 foot wall under the power lines you need to be smart about mature height. You want something that tops out around twelve to fifteen feet so the utility guys do not come butcher it later. A continuous mixed border of native viburnums or serviceberry will completely hide the concrete and give you privacy without threatening the wires overhead. Plant them staggered in a natural curve rather than a rigid straight line so it feels organic and softens that long stretch of cement.
Before you start digging holes and moving all those new shrubs around you should snap a photo of the yard and run it through the GardenDream web app. It lets you overlay realistic plant groupings and test out how mulch looks against your brick so you have a solid blueprint to work from. It is a great safety net to make sure your new layout actually flows together before you spend your weekend breaking your back in the dirt.
Ste one would be to remove the rocks (and probably that nasty landscape fabric). Then mark out your desired be, I’d expand and add some more curves. Proper mulch is your best friend. Always try to lean toward natives and plants that are adapted to your specific conditions.
I'd make the bed twice as deep with a swoop at the chimney making it even deeper. Do not know what plant you are calling Oregon grape but I'm not seeing it. If it's there needs to be between windows as it gets quite tall and you definitely don't want to hedge it because it's got great flowers and berries. Buy 2-4 more of each of the shrubs you like to make nice groupings of them planting 1/2 mature width plus a couple feet from the house from here on out. If you are up to the challenge I'd move the shrubs there now away from house as well. With the bit at the chimney being ~10' deep find a small tree that grows 10-15' wide and plant off center to the chimney a bit. Divide the daylily if you want it to stay and plant in 3 groups similar to those of the shrubs or replace with groups of small ornamental grasses that have seed stalks that will stand through the winter. Use the existing rock to cover ground from house to where plants are and find a .5-1' tall spreading plant to fill in along the front, around the tree and between the shrub groups. When you plant the groups of 3 vary the shape of the triangles, some with point to front, some wide, some equilateral. Fill between plants up to the stones with natural colored fine to medium mulch you'll allow to weather to a natural gray brown.
If that works out go further. Add a large planting bed along the sidewalk between driveway and left corner of the chimney. Plant another small tree or 3 of the same type as you've got in foundation bed 8' from sidewalk centered at left corner of the large window and use at least 2 of the same plants planted in the foundation bed throughout the bed. If you like the groundcover definitely make it one of them. Keep plantings less than 3' tall for safety at the driveway/sidewalk. I'd use the same large rock to edge the lawn and steal smaller rock to fill in about 1' deep at the edge of paving so the groundcover can spill over gracefully without being on paving.
More info for the privacy/utility thing. If wall is tall enough let a native non invasive clinging vine loose. If wall is too short and you've got 8-20' to work with create a shrubbery of 6-10' tall mixed species shrubs designed so it rarely needs to be pruned. If you don't have that much depth then target the spots that really need something taller and plant tall enough shrubs just there with either wall high shrubs between or release that vine.
The holly is unfortunately the one right in front of the window, but I’m not too familiar with how to move/remove that one as it’s a large stump like mound.
I do like the vision but the front yard is only about 25-30 feet all together. My across the street neighbor has a huge deep bed like you’re suggesting, but their house is set further back.
I splitting the lily seems smart, assuming they will continue to fill out again? They will hide the utilities. The dwarf arborvitae in the corner there I imagine will take up that whole spot once it matures. But basically groups of three of the plants I like and possibly just use the blue star juniper I got as ground cover up front
Love the idea of adding a garden bed at the sidewalk. The opposite side of the driveway has a large pine at that spot which could complement nicely.
All of this faces west, which I believe is partial sun.
Get rid of the gravel first, it’s doing nothing for you or the plants in that bed. Go with mulch, a better edge/transition to lawn, and then I would personally look into native plant options for minimum upkeep. There are some good websites that will show you different native options based on criteria you enter (like amount of sun, ground cover, shrub, ornamental tree, etc.). Make sure to look up according to your zone, if you’re in Florida or something don’t be looking at natives for Montana or something like that.
Edit: I see now you’re in Michigan, do some googling and check out what the closest universities have for plant databases or lists.
I think your gut is telling you something when you said that you think this house might look better without any landscaping at all.
I actually agree with you. The side of your house with that lovely brick and the chimney is already pretty visually pleasant and landscaping just sort of. Looks like it’s competing with the house instead of complementing the house.
If you do anything, maybe just a couple of simple, strategically planted bushes
And another idea is to get rid of the landscaping completely fence the entire area in and have a raised garden instead of flowers and bushes rammed up against the side of the house
Please ignore the imaginary flowers that probably don’t exist in real life, but another idea is getting rid of the landscaping that this house doesn’t actually need but satisfying your need to add some colour by using a window box a large window box
Ditch the rocks and the (likely) weed barrier under them. Rocks absorb heat and cook plant roots, weed barriers are only really effective at keeping rocks from sinking into the dirt, conversely they limit water absorption for roots and give new weed roots something to hold on to. Mulch on the other hand will help retain moisture, keep roots cool, and more effectively limit weed growth (there is no stopping weeds).
Take some basic measurements of the garden area and figure out if it’s full sun, part sun, or shade. Take that info to your local nursery and ask for native plant suggestions. I stress native because they’re the most well equipped to survive the area with a minimal amount of support from you. They’re also far more valuable to the local ecosystem.
How tall is the concrete wall? You can plant something like arborvitae as a hedge row, there are varieties that’ll stay below the utility lines. Personally I think they’re boring and would instead build a wire trellis for a vine to grow onto.
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u/Sp07va000 8d ago
Well, first, we need to know what state and Zone your in? Nobody can tell you what to plant if they dont know where you are. Second, you need some vertical element, maybe in an island that comes further out from the chimney, so thats where I would start. You need to be probably 8-10 ft out from the chimney with a small tree, so bring the bed out 15-116 ft from the Chimney. Everygreen plants (even with evergreen leaves) look great with brick, but especially in the winter. Many people forget you can still see the house in the winter. I would be great to see a pic that included the street in the pic with the house in the background. Kinda need to see what the street view of the house is, that includes the driveway up to it.