Beginner Gardening: Landscaping help for first time homeowner, 5 by glb0078

glb0078 wrote:
Hi Everyone,

My husband and I bought our first house a year ago and are slowly trying to update things - one of those being our landscaping. Last year we had to sod the entire yard and we put edging around the flower bed and tree. I also added some flowers around the tree. I would really like to get rid of all the shrubs in the picture and start fresh. We were thinking of putting a purple leaf plum near the left side of the house (you can't tell but the flower bed curves around at the end) and maybe some boxwood shrubs in front of the window. On that note, I've heard that you're never supposed to put a tree close to your house because it could cause foundation problems so I might just try to find a tall shrub - any ideas?

Does anyone have any ideas as to what to put in the flower bed? Also, I want to get rid of the shrub next to the front door, what should I put there if I remove it?

Some info:

1. We have edging around the existing flower bed and tree (it's a flow-y design)
2. I really like trees and shrubs to look "organic" and "flow-y" instead of pruned and perfect.
3. Our yard gets full sun (faces south) and we live in zone 8 (North Texas) so we need plants that are drought tolerant
4. There's probably about 5 or 6 feet on the end of the flower bed where we want to plant the purple plum. I was also thinking about possibly extending the flower bed so it wouldn't be so close to the house.
5. I would estimate that the flower bed is probably about 3-4 feet deep and we installed green metal edging.

Thanks in advance for your help!! Any ideas are GREATLY appreciated!!