Beginner Gardening: Front yard / corner lot needs help for British pocket garden, 0 by Twincol

Twincol wrote:
Aaaah, what a difference a season, makes, huh? You may recall earlier that the soil was dry and absent any kind of plant life. I spread pre-emergent late fall and the result you see in the attached pic. Is this UNBELIEVABLE or what? Clearly I must destroy the ground cover before continuing with my new ground cover and pavers and etc etc etc. What a mess!

However, what is not obvious as you look at the the weeds is that I had the Star Jasmine planted today. Two little plants per hole, times 12 holes, with an occasional Pink Jasmine strategically placed to soften the Star Jasmine fencing I expect to grow up here. The three little Pinkies will add some visual interest in the deep shade on both side of the house as they unexpectedly throw out their "clouds" of vines atop the heavy Star Jasmine, I hope. I also had some hosta bulbs placed on the west side of the house as underplanting to the existing azaleas, which have survived years of neglect. They deserve some buddies to lighten up the area.

Moreover, take a look at that arch I brought out from the back yard and planted over the walk approaching the house. I have two of them, a matching pair. The other I plan to plant at the end of fence as it approaches the patio gate, west side of the house. It fits perfectly at that spot. The one you see here, however, is a different matter and I planted it to travel around it for a bit and see if it's what I want to do. I plan to anchor the entry with climbing roses on each side, drifting along the fence away from the walk. Kind of like arms opening up in greeting, if that makes sense.

Now then, is the archway (??) too much? Note that I am standing in the middle of the street at 5 foot 10 inches tall (177(?) cm for my metric helpers) observing straight on to the walkway. The top of the arch interrupts the lower roof line visually. And with the roses moving up and over, adding to the height, hopefully it won't move up and over the top of the roofline. A passerby on foot will note the height, a car driving by will see even more, as eye level is at about 4 feet (10 cm). I've plant holes resting beside the archs, which are iron, BTW, with 4 X 4 inch (10 cm) squares to tie the branches to. Is that architecturally correct or acceptable? Frankly, I don't even know where to begin my thinking here. I mean, this is no "high-end" (pun intended) house, not large, as you can observe especially in the pic with my helper sitting on the porch.

Cruising through my David Austin cat last weekend and saw the Mortimer Sackler climber and I'm dazzled; see it at http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/63392/ Hmmm, a Knockout might be better? Easily receiving 8+ hours sun daily. This site requires a reliable plant.

It makes the best sense to place it inside the fence line, rather than outside. And it's too wide to center on the fence. And note that the pavers, a step up, will begin at the crack in the walk, at the fence line, at the edge of the arch. This feels right to me, which is why I ran the fence here.

Thoughts? Ideas? Wisdom?

Linda, pleased to be back at work on her front yard landscape!




Oh, and BTW . . . you should have seen the 17YO kid I have working with me. His father is a landscaper and he worked with his dad for many years as a youngster. He scooped up three large garbage cans full of weeds contaminated with the bermuda grass and seeds overlaid on the Fruitless Mulberry roots. You should've seen him as he worked with the planting. We'd dig a little hole for the bulbs and Star Jasmine plants, he would place the plantlet with the tiny roots, cover the roots, and then stand up and tap them gently with the toe of his sneaker . . . oh so gently. He has a wonderful respect for plant life which is wonderful to watch in such a young'n. It was so natural for him to do, not something you might expect a young man to do unless he'd done it regularly under close supervision and training. It was so sweet to watch. He'll be working with me closely over the next few months and I am very grateful to have the help.