I just joined the group, thanks for the welcome. I live in Rockwall, just east of Dallas. I'm brand new to gardening although I've always loved to tinker with plants. My first big project is my front landscape. I spent the summer pulling everything the builders put in six years ago. The ground is solid clay. I formed my new beds by digging up the sod and turning it over, then layers of newspaper and soil. So the top 3 or 4 inches is the good stuff I bought but under that is junk. So I'll have lots of questions for y'all.
First, is there something I can be doing now to improve the soil before spring?
Second I had a professional landscaper draw up a plan for me. It called for 2 japanese maples, one on each side of the front door in front of the windows. The more I research it the less I like this plan. I like the idea of color and heighth but they seem to be very expensive and I'm worried about obstructing the view from the windows too much. I would love any ideas, perhaps crepe myrtles or an interesting fruit tree. We spend a lot of time in those rooms so I'm more concerned with what we see from inside(ie blooms, birds, butterflies etc) than curb appeal although I hope to have both.
Thanks in advance, I'm excited to be here.
newbie question.
You have already done a lot to improve your beds, but on clay soil the answer is mulch.
Leaves, shredded tree trimmings from the landscapers or anything organic you can get your hands on, pile it on high, it will shrink down and the higher you make it the deeper it will affect the soil.
For your front instead of the maples use these shrubs Possum Haw Holly they are native and gorgeous. http://wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ILDE
Check out this picture also
I vote natives, too. They'll probably be more effective in attracting wildlife to watch, because those are the plants the animals are adapted too. (Crepe myrtle in particular is sort of inert in the landscape - they're hardy and longblooming, but don't much interact with birds and bugs.) A small water feature (plain ol bird bath, or a little fountain or such) will make a big difference in how many animals come, too.
Sometimes it's hard to think about trees in a new landscape because they, you know, grow. Something that looks pretty ok at first may be a crowded mess eventually. Or something for the long term may feel sad and sparse when it's brand new. My point particularly as to big trees by the house is that when they are little they will have limbs low down which will block the windows. As they get big, you'll trim those low limbs and have a clear, albeit shaded, vista.
I would also be thinking about shade/sun, and about water requirements. Fuel and potable water can only get more expensive. I would be looking to put the big deciduous trees where they'll provide shade on the house in the summer, but allow as much warming as possible from the winter sun.
From what you say you like, I'm sort of imagining a little garden room visible from indoors, and then the backside of it is what people see from the street. Vs the more street oriented plan it sounds like you got already. That leaves less of an expanse of lawn sweeping away to the curb, but more privacy, more for you to look at, and hey less to mow.
There's a forum here somewhere for landscape design. You might take some photos and see what folks there have to say. They're from all over, so might not be as hip on your local plants, but can give you some ideas about form and color and such.
Keep us posted... It's a nice sort of problem to have...
Thanks! The Possum Haw Holly is perfect. I definitely want to go native as much as possible. Obviously I want the front to look nice but I don't want to spend all of my time maintaining it. I've got so much I want to learn and I'm really leaning towards gardening more, as in "look at the vegetables I grew to eat" instead of "look at my perfect flower garden". Hopefully as I gain knowledge and my kids get older I'll have time for both. For now I want to get the front bed going this spring and I know I need to get trees and bushes in first. I agree about the tree dilemma, what looks good now may outgrow the space, I'm seeing that a lot in my neighbors' yards and I want to avoid it. The Possum Haw Holly looks ideal. I love the red berries in the winter.
This message was edited Jan 7, 2011 8:00 AM
MrsCave,
when I moved to DFW six years ago I took lots of classes at the Dallas Arboretume (www.dallasarboretum.org) and at North Haven Garden (www.nhg.com - their classes are FREE).
That's where I lern how to "garden in purgatory" ... like Jimmy Turner said, he is the amazing director of the Dallas Arboretum.
We do have a very rich soil her and we can grow lots of stuff and vegetable gardening all year around.
Good luck !
MrsCave, welcome to the forum! Its fun learning to garden in a new zone and with a blank slate! This forum is sooooo helpful.
I must have the same landscaper you have--or maybe they went to the same school. I like the footprint he designed for the front of my house, but no natives (or roses--must have those). He also called for Japanese Maples. One tree form and one bush form. I thought I would probably kill those easily and end up with a really expensive bonfire in the backyard in no time. I started looking around and one of the Tyler nurseries suggested a smoketree, http://www.soonerplantfarm.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/plants.plantDetail/plant_id/436/index.htm. This nursery also had Japanese Maples (lots or gorgeous and really expensive ones), and they didn't try and talk me into one anyway. So I thought that the smoketree was a good suggestion as I was going for the color as well as the form and am picking two out this spring as soon as the hardscape goes in. They can be trained as a small tree or a shrub just as the plan called for. I don't know if a smoketree is a native, but they said it does really well here in TX.
I love that possum haw, too. And am replacing a couple of the non-native evergreens I'm sure I will kill with the Ilex Decidua. Just need to pick our the cultivar....Decisions, decisions! It is turning out to be fun finding native or near native replacements for the really fancy stuff he put in this plan! Don't need help picking out the roses I want--David Austin already has my money....Sigh....
Well, happy planting!
The Smoke tree is native to Texas;
http://wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=COOB2