Help with the front of the house...

[May27JnJ]

I wanted to start a thread for everyone to ask advise, since I couldn't find a thread like this. (Not to me though. I have a black thumb! :D ) So feel free to hijack! That's what it's for.


Here's mine:
I want to ask advise on what to do with the front of my new house. I want to plant some more and make it look more "green". I love flowers and lots of color! But I don't have a green thumb so I think I'll need something very low maintenance.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a114/jendubz/2640623_1.jpg

[AHammer]

your porch is perfect for some hanging baskets. some flowering shrubs would be nice, too.. i don't know anything specific to recommend, though.. I'm still learning what's easy to maintain myself.

[kmmommy]

I agree with the planting suggestions. If it were my home I would probably paint the shutters, replace the front door, paint the railing around the porch and stain the porch.

[May27JnJ]

Those are some great ideas! What should I paint the shutters? We are planning on getting a new door and adding a glass storm door.

[AHammer]

Those are some great ideas! What should I paint the shutters? We are planning on getting a new door and adding a glass storm door.

I'm a fan of colors that pop.. we have a red door and shutters and I love the look! (kind of a dark barn red). A bright blue or green could also be nice.

You could also add some interetsing focal points like a bench or bird bath.

[May27JnJ]

Sounds great! I can't wait to work on it!

[snoopy30]

I agree that some hanging baskets would look nice on your porch. You could also add some pretty pots w/ colorful flowers (or whatever is seasonal) on the steps and the walkway. I find "container gardening" to be easier on those of us with black thumbs ;) If you have a good garden center nearby just ask them what plants/flowers would work well for whatever type of sun you get on the front of your house (morning or afternoon).

[kemaji]

I like the idea of some sort of flowering shrub. Also, for more color in the summer months, what about some daylilies? Mine last close to two months and they are practically maintenance free.

[May27JnJ]

Wonderful ideas! Man! I can't wait to get started on this. We're moving in April. Will that be too late to plant?

[loving624]

April would be the perfect time to plant daylillies, esp in VA. I'm in the south too, much deeper south, but nonetheless it's the south, and the daylillies I planted last year are just now starting to bloom. Last year I planed the first week of April and they lasted until about mid June. I'd definitely add some more shrubs as well, and some hanging baskets.

[AHammer]

Ooh, I also recommend day lilies. they are FABULOUS, and multiply a lot every year, so they're a good investment. Here in dallas, mine bloom all summer and into the early fall.

[lauren f s]

We live in Texas and I bought several lilies and planted them yesterday! My great-grandmother had them in her garden every spring/summer and they were always so beautiful.

[MrsBeckyLP]

I would definitely cut at least three feet of sod away from the front and right side of the house and plant shrubs there. IMO, it needs some landscaping; grass right up to the house doesn't look very good. You could line it with landscape stone or just that black rolled up stuff, adding stone or mulch to the area where you cut the sod out. (but first lay down landscape fabric and spray for weeds.)

[Maggie8202]

I would definitely cut at least three feet of sod away from the front and right side of the house and plant shrubs there. IMO, it needs some landscaping; grass right up to the house doesn't look very good. You could line it with landscape stone or just that black rolled up stuff, adding stone or mulch to the area where you cut the sod out. (but first lay down landscape fabric and spray for weeds.)

Totally what I was thinking. It needs some sort of bed with some shrubs that have some sort of height. At least to create some balance. I think the bed could be lined with one of those natural slate walls or a larger landscape stone. I love the added color and neatness that mulch adds and it helps with the weeds. I would start with the basic shrubs and possibly some that do flower at various times during the season, and then fill in with pansies, impatients and mums to add color.

My husband is a landscape designer and we had to move the landscaping design program to his work computer, otherwise I would have shown you what I mean in terms of shrubs and height.

Here is an example of some different ways to line the bed. You can see around the stones there are pieces of slate. You can also see some larger landscaping rocks that are by the waterfall.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/186/423404004_9890634616.jpg?v=0

[May27JnJ]

Wow ladies! Thanks so much for the amazing ideas! I can't wait to start all this! You all have given me lots of ideas that seem to go pretty well together!

Thank you all so much! If there are any more ideas...add them!! I love it!

[Jaycee]

I could see some window boxes like these making a HUGE difference to the front of your house!
http://www2.yardiac.com/show_category.asp?tgs=1769127:18094453&cart_id=4133567:707591688632&category=1701

[MrsBeckyLP]

I don't know if I scared you with my idea for cutting back the sod and planting shrubs, but I just wanted to come back and tell you that it is pretty easy to do, and I'm sure you and your DH could handle it in a weekend. You can rent a sod cutter, or you can do it by hand with the tool shown here in Figure G (http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gl_equipment_hand_tools/article/0,1785,HGTV_3582_2486764,00.html) or using a flat shovel. If you're only going to do the front and side of the house, I'd just do it by hand -- it's a great workout!

The front of our house was landscaped (poorly -- with a few shrubs and wood mulch) when DH bought it back in 2003, so the following spring, we cut back about two feet of sod all the way around our house and put in 2-inch river rock like this:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k269/lp_becky/riverrock-d-1.jpg

We also took out the leftover mulch (wood mulch decomposes over time) and brought the rock all the way around to the front of the house that was already landscaped. It was fairly expensive for all the rock, but mulch is cheap and you get the same effect.

I think some taller than average bushes/shrubs would look nice in front of your house since the windows are kind of high and the house is elevated. I also like the idea of window boxes. I think the house is really cute and has a ton of potential!

Let me know if you have any questions (I did decorative landscaping in college during summers, so I have some knowledge), and have fun!

[May27JnJ]

Jaycee - I love the idea of window boxes. I always loved those, but I didn't know if they were still "in".

futuremrslp - You didn't scare me. ;) I don't like grass right up against the house either. I think we'll do it by hand. We helped my IL's do that to their house. Your ideas are great and I can't wait to see what I can do with them once I get going!

So some tall shrubs, hanging baskets, paint and maybe some window boxes. I think those things right there can make a huge difference!

Now since I have a black thumb, are day lillies annual?

Thank you ladies! Ideas still welcome if you think of anymore. :D

[jajacobsen]

No - day lillies are perennials. Tehy oly bloom once per year and need a sunny location, but they will come back EVERY year. Another idea is to plant a series of bulbs and tubers that will provide continuos bloomimg from spring to fall. So plant daffodils (spring), daylillies (early summer), gladioli (summer), etc... These will come back every year.

[May27JnJ]

Wonderful! I need something that will come back! Thanks so much!

[ceaserbride]

Oh! Oh! My turn!!
I desperatly need landscaping ideas for the front of our house! (none of those ugly shrubs are in the front anymore. I'm not against shrubs...just those ones.)

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k124/tashahornjakov/house.jpg?t=1175023112

[MrsBeckyLP]

ceaser- Would you be able to post a closeup of the area to be landscaped? I'm having a hard time "seeing" what's all going on there! :)

[Kimberland30]

I also need help with our front landscaping. Two years ago I redid the flower beds, which I consider to be in three parts. There is the area in front of our porch, the area that goes from the driveway and surrounds the tree, and the area in front of our bedroom windows (the last two areas connect).

Some issues we have is that almost the entire area is shaded because of our huge oak tree. It is blooming now, and it never fully loses its leaves until it blooms again in the springtime. So planting flowers is okay as long as they tolerate shade, but planting bulbs hardly works since they tend to lean to the light, which means I have to support them (which looks goofy and is a PITA).

Our sidewalk and part of our driveway is mangled because of the roots from the tree. Our hope is to eventually cover our front porch in stone and redo the walkway in the same material, and redo our driveway...but that is years off. We've been told that we can cut a few of the surface roots of the tree without damaging it, so new edging isn't a problem. I'd love to have raised flower beds, but considering how much we'd have to do, it's not cost effective.

One of my main goals is to cut down on the amount of bed space. It's just too time consuming and costly to keep it up. I'd like to keep the area around the tree - so maybe doing a tree ring instead of having such a large area is the way to go. But since the tree is close to the sidewalk, I wonder how that would look. I'd like to get rid of the area leading from the driveway, and from the tree area connecting to the front of our windows. The porch area can stay, but I need to break it up so I'm thinking of maybe tiered flowerbeds there. The azalea bushes don't need to stay, I can move most of them to the back yard. I think I also need something taller in front of our bedroom windows, but I'm not sure.

So here are some pictures, any ideas would be helpful (as far as plants to use, ideas for the layout, and edging materials). Edging is definately needed since our yard is on a small slope, and any rain we get washes the mulch down the lawn. I don't like the plastic black stuff we have down now, it was intended to be a quick-fix...5 years ago. :)

Area 1 from the driveway and around the tree (a tree ring wouldn't be as wide if we go that route).
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f298/knewtoff/DSCF0029.jpg?t=1175035870

Continuation that goes to the front of our bedroom windows
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f298/knewtoff/DSCF0033.jpg?t=1175035924

Area in front of the porch (it's semi-raised now, it used to be three-tiered but the landscape timbers were rotting on the second level so I tore them out)
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f298/knewtoff/DSCF0011.jpg?t=1175035975

Whole house shot to give you an idea of the size of the tree
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f298/knewtoff/house5.jpg?t=1175036260
TIA!

[jajacobsen]

Kimberland - whay not incorporate shade-lovng annuals (impatiens coem sto mind) and shade loving foundation bushes, such as hydrangeas, azaleas or rhodadendrons? These shade loving, blooming bushes will give you color and fullness year round, and then you can add color with a few annuals.

Shade is your friend! I have a Western facing non-shade front and everything gets fried.

[Kimberland30]

All of the bushes you see are azaleas, and I love them. I wish they stayed in bloom longer though, or bloomed throughout the summer. We also have a hydrangea bush that is just now spouting new growth. I'd like to get a few more and put them somewhere.

Our back yard gets full sun. We cut down all our trees back there and need to replant new ones but we haven't decided on them yet. I'm thinking of a Magnolia Jane or a Japanese Maple.

[Maggie8202]

For around your tree this is what I was thinking:
I don't know if this helps, but in one of our shady areas of the yard we made a hosta garden. I saw that you had a couple already planted there. We went out and found every single different variety of hostas we could find and planted them all together in the area. Once it started to fill in it look really pretty and unique. We covered the soil with a dark mulch. I really wish we took a picture. Hostas come in so many different shades of green, yellow and white it turned out very colorful. Some of the hostas even flower.

[Kimberland30]

I *heart* hosta. It's so easy, loves sun or shade, and is very low maintenance. We have several varieties but I need to get more to fill in that space. I was also thinking of doing some type of fern. We have a lot of bulbs coming up that I don't remember planting, so I hope they turn out okay. DH wants to wait before doing anything "major", so I'm hoping he plans on redoing the sidewalk when we start to landscape the front yard.

I'm pretty sure we are going to do a ring around the tree, keep the area in front of the porch how it is (maybe move some bushes and get more plants with different bloom times so it's not always green), and keep the area in front of our windows. We'll follow the house line up to the sidewalk and cut it off there, which means we'll get rid of a lot of the flower beds on the other side of the sidwalk and leading to the driveway.