Landscaping ideas, please?

Okay...we have a very nice day today so I did my walkabout. Here are pix of my property, a blank canvas mostly. I am open to all suggestions since I have no idea what I am doing, what grows here, when to plant, everything. My only criteria, lots of color and fragrance! I would love to attract butterflies and hummingbirds. I like the idea of pathways and separate areas, benches, gazing balls, etc. I have NO idea with regard to plants, when they bloom, or anything. So...feel free to chime in at anytime. I welcome all ideas and suggestions, but we aren't rich and will definitely have to do this in phases. I understand the hardscaping should be done first and will be, but want to put this out there for input. Thanks, everyone!

The first is coming down my driveway from the highway. I envision a circle of bold color where the boat and trailer currently sit.

Now we've turned toward the house. There are 10 peony trees lining the right side of the driveway which may or may not survive...several of them looked a bit sketchy early last winter, so I am more than willing to rip them out and start again. The uphill neighbor has planted a Rose of Sharon hedge at the top of the slope on the right so I am hoping this will be a nice backdrop. I scattered Creeping Thyme seeds on the slope (enough to cover 4500 sq ft) last summer and had some come up, but the slope is heavily weeded with stickers (any suggestion on how to eradicate these buzzards?). Between the two windows to the right of the garage on top of the rock pile will be a small (8' x 10') shed. There is also 2 Ranier cherries and a Fuji apple at the top of the slope on the extreme right.

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This is the view from my front porch. The large mostly dead cedar tree in the left center will hopefully disappear sometime soon. The view is the Strait and San Juan and Lopez Island so I want to keep things low here in order to maintain the view. There will also be a deck which will extend to the first fence post on the right. The visible chain link fence has two passiflora already planted on it.

Looking directly north, from the front porch. Notice the shadow over this area of the yard? It is exactly noon when the photo is taken. At the extreme north end is where the vegetable garden will be, by the Alder trees and beyond the drop off by the little cedar. The Alder trees are the property line.

Now we're still looking north, but also west. The large maple tree is where the "Quarter Acre Wood" begins, and that will remain fairly natural, except for the clearing in the middle (about 50-60' in diameter). There is a gentle slope toward the wood where I would like to put a steps down to the wood. Will also likely landscape a little beyond the young cedar. How do we hide the septic tank covers? Ycccck!

P.S. The artichokes in the pots are still hanging in there...you go, girlz!

Looking from the corner of the garage northwest to the "Quarter Acre Wood."

At the extreme northeast corner of the property, southwest toward the house. We are planning an arbor over the walkway in front of the garage. I also have planted some bulbs (narcissus, daffodil, and tulip) along the walkway in front of the garage. There is a planter next to the house which follows the garage to the front door. There are 3 Endless Summer hydrangeas, 2 Bleeding Hearts, 1 red Rhody, 1 Ligularia, 3 Peacock Orchids, and a plethora of Laurentia in this planter.

From the same northeast corner, looking toward the "QAW." This is kind of the area I plan to put the veggie garden.

This is the 50-60' clearing in the "QAW." Don't know what would grow in here but I have a vision of faeries and elves, etc. Last summer there were head-high nettles and tons of blackberry bushes in here which were very prohibitive. I'm sure they'll be back again this year!

This is from the corner of the driveway/garage looking northeast. The walkway in the corner is the one where the arbor will be and also the one which has the bulbs planted next to it.

And that's basically it. The property is 1 acre, 200' x 224', taken up partially by house, the boys' play yard, and the "QAW." Now, a few questions. How to control the indigenous stuff that pops up all by itself...the grasses? horsetails? nettles? berries? stickers? And, does anyone know how pussy willows spread? We have a small area on the southwest where I stuck some pussy willows last summer and there seems to be quite a few more than when I started. which is okay because we're not going to do anything with this area anyway.

So, I'm open to any and all suggestions. Thanks WAY in advance!!!!!!! ( : < )

A new picture to paint how fun! My husband and I bought our property just over three years ago. Spent the first year clearing and building the house. We left as much native as we could.

My suggestion is that you first take care of the invasive stuff. Blackberries have to be rooted out, it's hard work but it's the only way to get rid of them. They send out underground runners and pop up everywhere. The best tool for doing this is a Mattock. Here is a link to what it looks like http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=2&p=10522&cat=2,42578,40769 you can usually get them at your local hardware store. The forked end is great for digging out the blackberries (also scotchbroom and burdock.) You will want one with that has a handle that is long enough for you to use standing up (the one in the picture is for kneeling with.) You will need to be able to stand to get enough torque on the blackberry vine to get it out of the ground. Once they are rooted out you will need to regularly mow or weedwack the area to keep any new sprouts from taking hold. This should also help control the nettles. If you already have a weedeater you are ahead of the game. If not I would suggest you invest in a good one that doubles as a brush cutter. Here is an example of one: http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100030943&N=10000003+90401+503350&marketID=401&locStoreNum=8125
You said that you had brambles, is it burdock?http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/53500/
or is it thistle? Here is the website for invasive plants in our state: http://www.nwcb.wa.gov/weed_ID/weed_id_1.htm

Our property was covered in scotchbroom when we bought it. Many hours where spent rooting it out, some of it was taller than me 5'3!

You have a beautiful home and piece of land and so many wonderful years of gardening to look forward to! I have some seeds that I would be happy to share with you. Foxglove, columbine, hollyhocks and nasturtium. Let me know if your interested and I will drop them in the mail to you. Chat soon, Rachel

Wow. You have quite a palette there. I definitely think I'd map out zones - sun and shade, wet and dry, well-draining, not draining, etc. as you get started. And use some natives as the backbone of your project (hazelnut, vine maple, ninebark, serviceberry, birches, huckleberries, salal, currant).

I'm fighting salmonberry - it's okay in a wet area, but will creep, so you have to keep it reigned in. The blackberry I've done okay with, but it takes vigilance, as well. The dewberry (the gray one) is hard to control, but at least isn't as troublesome as some. I don't have horsetail (knock on wood) - I don't think you can really get rid of it. I have brackenfern and it's the same way. Both dinosaur food, methinks. Willows like water. Sounds like they might spread easily: http://landscaping.about.com/cs/hedgesfences/a/pussy_willows.htm. Hmmmm . . . don't know whether I've been of any help.

You might do some research and attend the native plant sales in the spring - you can get lots of things bare root for very little . . .

http://www.wnps.org/landscaping/plantselect.html
http://www.rainyside.com/features/plant_gallery/nativeplants/http://www.rainyside.com/features/plant_gallery/nativeplants/
http://www.tardigrade.org/natives/nurseries.html

I'm anxious to hear what some of our more experienced and creative gardeners have to share as far as design goes - I'll pipe in if I think have anything good to share. You might check out some of the earlier posts as far as hardscaping - Pixy's done some great work making a wall in her back garden.

The native willows spread very easily. The only trouble with them is that they have many trunks and parts of the tree will die off throughout it's life. They are very prone to bug infestation. I have several that are native and I spend more time cutting dead stuff out of them than I do enjoying them. The other native trees that I do not like are Cottonwoods; they are very shallow rooted and also are very prone to bug infestation. I love Alders, Douglas Fir, Cedar, Dogwood, Cascara there are just to many to list! I can see your 1/4 acre wood filled with salal, oregon grape, hostas, hellebores, honeysuckle, dogwood, I'll have to think some more........ Here is the Washington Native Plant website to get your mind brewing http://www.wnps.org/index.html

I will be digging up a bunch of native stuff for the green elephant swap on March 1st. I would be happy to share some with you for your 1/4 acre wood (I love that name, is Pooh there?) You should come to the swap, it's great fun and you will get tons of free plants!
Saturday March 1, 2008 - 10 am to 2 pm

Rain or shine gardeners from around Puget Sound gather to exchange and share plants, seeds, ideas and enthusiasm with others. No Sales. Just trades or freebies, please.

The Green Elephant is a twice-a-year plant exchange; first Saturday in March, first Saturday in November. It is hosted in North Redmond, Washington, at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Cross; The site offers parking, covered areas, indoor facilities, kitchen, lots of lawn, and playground. It’s five minutes from I-405 and I-520.

Directions and Maps to the Church of the Holy Cross

Contact: Jim Eichner
Cell Phone 425-223-7249

street address is:
11526 - 162nd Ave NE
Redmond, WA 98052

Tailgating Encouraged The format for the trade is like a tailgate party. You just pull into the parking lot and open up your trunk to display your treasures. Traders exchange expert gardening information as well as plant materials. In two hours all the deals are sealed.

Free Stuff Many gardeners generously share plants from the abundance of their gardens--An excellent way to begin your garden. There is always a pile of plants free for the taking at the swap.

In pots or bare root. The Green Elephant is convenient for trading bare root plants. Simply dig and divide perennials bare root to trade. They are dormant and can be transplanted with no shock.

Take a walk in our beautiful memorial garden Visit the grass labyrinth; the crocus should be in full bloom.

What if I have nothing to bring to the trade? The swap is a great place to start your garden. Many traders love to help new gardeners get started. Come and ask questions, get advice, schmooze a little and you’ll walk away with some goodies. Bring some homemade cookies; gardeners are a pushover for food.

Well I better think about getting some sleep. Rachel

Oh yeah, the mattock is the greatest tool. Buy two - one for your DH and one for you. You won't want to share . . .

And don't forget, from time to time, to petition the yard faeries - they will help, if they can. :-)

Wait wait wait - wasn't pooh in the Hundred Acre Wood? AND he lives here, on this side. You don't get everything!

I think there is enormous potential in your garden - this is going to be fun! Here's my first suggestion - would you consider putting your vegetable garden up closer to the house - I really like the look of the area with the septic tank covers. Some reason as soon as I saw that i really pictured a lovely old fashioned veg garden with a quadrant of beds and used brick paths. I'm going to do a bit of research for some images. Especially if you included a cutting bed for floristry flowers.

You could think of this as a temporary design. It would give you some real satisfaction preparing the beds this winter (rotavate, dig in some muck, and lay temp brick paths on a sand base just abbutting the bricks) and then get the vegetables and some annual flowers in for enjoying this year. You could also get some perennials going to for moving later. Having it close to the house will also prove very convenient - while you are working in the veg patch, you can also continue to observe the rest of the area and branch out.

I do appreciate the wisdom of doing all the hardlandscaping first, but quite honestly, I just don't feel that you are at that point yet. Take it slow.

Really looking forward to the unfolding of this garden. Wahooo, we have a project!

Here's one pic
http://www.remarc.com/craig/images/marcia1.jpg

Or something like this?
http://groovygreen.com/groove/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/Italian-vegetable-garden.jpg

As the garden progresses these gardens can be dismantled and moved to another location if you don't want to have the kitchen garden so close to the house - but they can be lovely places to wander.


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This message was edited Jan 2, 2008 4:16 AM

OOH, you have a lot to work with! I think I agree that getting the lay of the land will be important first: figuring out where sunshine is, moist areas, etc. Then looking at the topography to see where your high and low spots are and how the house sits in relationship to them. Then I'd start dividing the property into 'rooms' and decide how to connnect those. In my yard I had to live with things for a couple of years to see where the paths emerged before connecting spaces.
I also agree that having the vegetable garden closer to the house would be nice. A 'kitchen' garden (called a potager) is so convenient and they can be very attractive. Combining attractive flowers, herbs, and vegetables has an honorable history. Here's a website with some basics:
http://www.northerngardening.com/kitchengarden.htm

Ooooh - a kitchen garden on a grand scale. Yes, yes yes!!

You're right, Laurie...Pooh is in the Hundred Acre Wood but we have named the Quarter Acre Wood in his honor should he ever decide to venture forth. I LOVE the idea of a kitchen garden! And yes, I would absolutely consider moving it closer to the house for this year. Never even occurred to me to do so, never occurred to me to mix veggies and flowers and herbs...(that's because I'm a first timer! DUH!). Love the idea and can't wait to get started. I've been working on a map of the property in my Realtime Landscaping Pro software but haven't had enough time to just sit down and do it. The house was just finished in February so this is our first year in it. It's fairly well-draining, since were on a gentle northward slope and the house is located on the highest part of the property. The area directly in front of the house where the deck will be and where the proposed potager is located is fairly flat and does puddle up a bit during heavy rain. We are, however, in a great location which, when all around us is getting inundated with rain and/or snow, we tend to get only a fraction of what everyone else, even those just a mile or so away in all directions, is getting.

Thanks again, everyone, for the great ideas. I will definitely be at the swap (have to bring cookies although I do have about 22,500 mixed California poppy seeds ~ is that a lot? (=

I look forward to meeting everyone...this is going to be GREAT!

You have an area that puddles up?? Two words: WATER GARDEN!!!!

Um...maybe not quite that much of a puddle...more like a bunch of little tiny footprints in the mud. But I was thinking of a pondless waterfall in the area sloping down to the QAW. Thought that would be a wonderful feature...

Suree..... a pondless waterfall would be a great idea... but not as great as a pond WITH a waterfall! So much fun! And it attracts all kinds of wildlife!! Plus, so many very cool plants that you can grow! Maybe a pondless waterfall now, and then when you are more confident about what you want, you could add the pond later.

The whole pond freezing over in the winter and fish dying and stuff bugs me. I think I'll stick with the potager to begin with. Nice, though, the neighbor behind me has a greenhouse to which I have access, so if I end up with some stuff and no earth to put it in, I can always pop it in there for a while until I find the perfect spot!

Sheri - regarding the septic tank covers: we had to deal with this & it is something you will want to give much thought to prior to doing anything. Do you know the size of your tanks? To be in compliance with code you will need to be a certain distance away from the septic "footprint". Practically speaking, you will need to figure out what you're comfortable with, but allow room to access AND replace tanks. Hopefully, you'll not have to replace, but access is important as you will need to have them pumped regularly. My suggestion would be to consider "hiding" them with containers - a sort of 'Pot Ghetto' with containers of various heights filled with whatever flowers/colours you want up close. They can be moved without harming the plants, & this won't impede access to the tanks.

I would pick out three places that I felt had the most visual/emotional impact & create those areas first. Ideas will come forth as you work your property. A vegetable garden, landscaping near the house & an area that you would frequently view from inside? You've got a great lot with space/vista...
I believe all of us would agree that building up your soil is a must - particularly for a vegetable garden. So - composting what's available on site is the way to go.
Shrubs & trees will provide bones, and using annuals to fill in with colour is the least expensive way to go, especially those that reseed.

I thought the paths between the beds can be worked to accomodate the tank lids. And quite honestly, if the tanks are soak-away, this is good for a veg bed: keeps a good moist layer, and its compost. Just besure that what goes down the drains is organic - stop using the whiter-than-white laundry powder and switch to ecologically sound cleaning products (better yet, join the rest of us and stop cleaning and wear your garden clothes with pride! The grocery store gets use to you pretty quickly). If the tank tops still bother you in the path, how about making decorative castings to act as a stepping stone (this is possibly too much detail to think about right now).

My brother built wood tops and sets them over the spots where the septic tanks are - said it didn't take much time at all (but he's very handy, so I discount his advice). Anyway, it's a little easier to use the septic tank surface when it's flat.

Sheri - if you want a laugh, be sure to check out the "You know you're an avid gardener when . . " thread from a couple months ago. Laurie's right, most of us would rather be out getting our good clothes dirty than doing the laundry and washing our "gardening" clothes . . .

Katie - I think that has to be my favourite thread - there are so many laughs in there!!

Just been back to the top of this thread - I really want a vegetable bed in that septic tanklid photo - I picture it kind of wrapping up and around - yup, that's my spot - with a nice seat towards the back where the third lid is - looking towards the house. Well until someone else comes up with a different idea for it - then I'm going to change my mind. Maybe. We'll see. Possibly, so what does someone else want to do with it?

Yep, a vegetable garden would be great there. I once saw plans for a portable wooden deck - i.e., you could move it occasionally. Basically it was just a low wooden box with supports underneath. It was not connected to the groung. You just put it where you wanted it. You could do something like that in the form of a path - long rectangular 'boxes' that you could put over the lids, built from treated wood so they wouldn't rot. They could form a central path into the vegetable garden. Since you'll probably want your vegetable garden to be fenced against critters, there could be a gate at the beginning of the path. Then it would be easy to lift them off when you have to pump the septic.

Hi Outtamygord and all. I have designed a few raised veggie beds and it is hard to do without using pressure treated wood. pressure treated isn't good especially for rooted vegtables. I have done cedar and concrete blocks and faced with pretty wood as well as stone. I have also used metal roofing and huge cattle water troughs. It is hard to find other material preassure treated is the easies and looks good in timbers. Good luck I'm interested in any other ideas. Heidi and Dragonfly This picture wan't what I was going to send but I don't know how to get this photo off

Wow...BEAUTIFUL porch (face green with envy)! Wish DH was handy with that kind of stuff but, alas, he is not. *sigh* Love the idea of the veggie garden there. Going to get working on it asap. My favs are grape tomatoes and any kind of peppers, so can start with that. It would be kind of cute to put a little picket fence around it. Don't want to make it too high because of the view thing, and we don't have to worry about the deer right there because we have automatic deer alarms. I like the pix from Pixy and Laurie, too. So many ideas...

Hee hee . . . I was going to ask about the automatic deer alarms - you know, how they work, why you have them and all that. Then I realized that I have 5 "supposed" deer alarms myself - my alarms are sporadic and the deer are stealthy. I suppose if the dogs were outside without me more, they'd do better, but then they'd jump the fence and . . . anyway, I digress.

Beautiful entry, Heidi - is that yours? I think, after previewing, you may be stuck with your picture. Before previewing you can edit the url that's in the little box to delete it and start over with the browse button (you might not even have to delete your previous url).

I found this plan for a garden - you can use it as a starting point and something to get your mental juices flowing:
http://www.gardeners.com/Create-a-Kitchen-Garden-With-4-ft-Raised-Beds/default/8026.page;pgid=Yfob4oos00000000000000000000wCdCWZPs;sid=CCDrSwR7Q3kjhUMGsRXKSQRxZbIE_5-hl30=

You only need to go up about 10 inches and the look of stacked rock is really nice - then you don't have to worry about keep the integrity of the wood . . .

Hello outta, Welcome, you have a beautiful property/blank canvas to work with....Everyone here will help you so much! I had a lot of help choosing new plants to mix with my daylilies last year and loved all the ideas. You have come to the right group for help and fun.
Happy Gardening,
Carla

This is my raised garden beds, I used the lasagna method, lots of whatever you find that makes compost. and I raise it each year. and you have to remember to rotate you veggis each year.

And I also use tires. mosely for the plants that like it warm (soil) tomatoes, and potatoes.

Came up with a new idea last year for my potatoes, my old horse trough (bathtub) planted "Yukon Gold" from Gurneys best ones I ever had. In one of the tires I have "Red Rosa" and another one has "Russet" they have been producing for the last 3 years. LOL from a tire.

Katie59...THANKS for that link. Just went outside (yes, in the rain and wind...oh woe is me...alas and alack...I think I am succumbing to the calling!?!?!?!) with my measuring tape. I figured that with a 30" walk in between the beds, only 4 beds is far too small for that area so am planning 9. It will fit beautifully in the flat area right outside the front door and not impinge upon the area we have planned for the deck. Oooooohhh...goody, goody, goody. Now it's just figuring out the plants! Woohoo!

Hey guys, we have got her. She's hooked.

I'm also thinking that maybe you want to beef up your arbor a little bit and put it at the back (SW of the front?) of the potager leading into Pooh's Cousin's Wood. That will really lead the eye all the way through the kitchen garden and encourage exploration. If it gets enough sun, you could put grapes on it . . .

Till's
Did you drill holes in the bathtub? How do you keep it from getting to moist with all of our rain?