Planning my front yard

I bought my house last spring, but I was SUPER pregnant and didn't get to enjoy much gardening last year. So this year, I'm ready to GO! My front yard is a little weird. It's level with a low stucco wall on the west side and my driveway on the east - the road is north, house south. Last year, some kind of morning-glory-esque creeper took over the entire yard with its windy vines and little white blooms, devouring my already pathetic bulb garden with it's two ugly rose bushes. That garden is at the base of my porch, with big wood edges, and I plan to gut that and replant. Here is my big question though:

I want to fence the yard so my kids can run around in it while I garden out front as well as in the back. I am deciding between vinyl and chain link fencing, both of which would be on the short side - meant to keep toddlers in, not jumping dogs and whatnot. I'm leaning toward the chain link because I'd like to do climbers, especially grapes and some pretty flowering vines and of course, the cost is a factor. Now, at the front of my yard, the flatness gives way to a three foot incline (I'd say 45 degrees). There is a utility access point in that area, so I'm thinking of fencing only the level part of my yard and leaving the rest to the sidewalk unfenced. As such, I'd like to plant a groundcover that will stay low, cover well, and be simple to edge when it creeps onto the sidewalk, but that won't climb up my fencing. We live in Utah, so I'm in zone 5b and I'm trying to keep thinks semi-draught-friendly. Our yard is grass, and I'm wanting to install timed sprinklers, but I'd love to leave that incline un-watered (i.e. let it get what it gets from any run-off from the yard). I've done some searches, but I don't have the foggiest what to go with. I don't care if it blooms, but I'd like it to just be dense and decent looking through spring, summer and fall. I'm allergic to lantana and verbena (to touch them) and I don't like the cat urine smell they give off, so those are a no-go.

The only other idea I had was to do a natural fence of shrubs, but I think that would take too long to be an effective barrier for my kids and I'm worried the initial cost would be prohibitive.

I also need advice on what to do about the grass. As I said, last year my yard was pretty much a dried up mess of vines and dandelions and not much grass. I have an ex-husband with access to a decent amount of landscaping equipment, so I can do just about anything at low cost. Do I aerate? Do I till? I can't afford to sod the whole thing, so do I overseed and then do I need to cover with topsoil, or no, and if not, won't the birds eat my seed? I had the water conservation folks come out so I know how much I need to water, but I just want to get off to a good start with minimal chemicals - I'd like to keep it organic if possible.

Thanks in advance for any help - I know I'm asking for a lot!

Eileen

Do you have (or could you get pictures) to share?

Check see if your morning glory like plant is bindweed. If so get ag. advice how to cope. It has very deep, strong roots.

Start by acquainting yourself with High Country Gardens catalog, which specializes in plants for the desert west. You'll save yourself a lot of time, money and heartbreak (not to mention water) if you choose the correct plants for where you live.

I second that recommendation--I get tons of plants from HCG and I've been very happy with them. They are in a warmer zone than you, so make sure you check the hardiness since some of the things they sell won't like your winters. But the ones that are hardy in your zone should do nicely with your summers and lack of water. Yuccado is another good source of drought tolerant plants--they have more stuff that won't be hardy for your than High Country does, but it's still worth a look, I imagine they have a few things that are good for zone 5.

The nice thing about buying things that are native to your area or areas with similar climates is that you don't have to worry too much about amending the soil and going to all kinds of trouble. I grow mostly things that are either CA natives or native to other climates similar to mine, and I have never once amended the soil. I do mulch everything, and eventually the mulch will break down and improve the soil, but there was definitely no need to do lots of amendments to start off with.

You may also want to think twice about the lawn--lawns are really not appropriate for dry western climates--even if you ignore the environmental consequences of the amount of water you need to keep it alive, just the cost of the water and the difficulty in keeping it alive during blazing hot summers ought to be enough to make people consider alternatives. If you really want the green, they've made a lot of improvements in artificial turf, you can buy stuff that really looks a lot like real grass now. It's a bigger initial cost than sod, but it lasts for years and needs no water, so over time it is a much cheaper option. If you really want real grass, I'd look at the types of grass that High Country Gardens recommends for your area--they purposely look for the most drought tolerant types of lawn grass that are appropriate for each area. You may be able to find cheaper local sources for the grass they recommend so I'd shop around rather than ordering it directly from them.

If you overseed, the best thing to do to keep the birds off is to put down straw over the area, this will protect your seeds somewhat but still allow enough light to get through to the seeds. If you use topsoil, I think it buries the seed too deep and it won't germinate. Straw won't be perfect at keeping the birds off, but it's definitely better than nothing.

Thanks for the tips, I'll check out that seller, and see what I can find. Unfortunately, the area I live in would be WICKED unhappy if I had anything other than a grass yard - it's kind of the thing around here. I'd really like to do more of a garden in the front though, so maybe I could manage something green that's not so much grass. The back I want grass for the kids though. It seems to grow okay here since the summers aren't all that hot (compared to Phoenix anyway) but I'll look into drought tolerant varieties. Thanks again!

Here's a side pic of my front yard, btw. It slopes quite a bit in the front, and I want to pull all the stuff in the wood-lined garden and start over (it's got bulbs and roses now).

Okay, so it looks like I can plant a fescue grass for low water usage. I'm just not sure how to combine things like flowers, grasses and groundcovers so it doesn't look like a total noob got a hold of a hoe and shovel and went to town on my yard. (Total noob = me). Should I fork out the funds for a landscaping program, or pen and paper it? I think there are a lot of options, but for example, I'd like to groundcover the slope at the front of the yard and fence the flat part, but I would like to do it from seed to avoid crazy costs from buying flats of plants. Is this even possible?

Hi Eileen
Maybe it is the angle - but compared to the other houses (across the road) you have a nice deep front. I like it..puts your house up on the hill. I would plant a more substantial /interesting tree in your front yard - as a focus (where the other tree currently is) and I would expand that natural area around it in a wide irregular design - mulch it in well ..you can cut in a narrow trench and back fill with small pebbles/gravel etc. and do away with the larger rocks. By expanding the natural area and at some point adding a boulder or two, you can reduce the amount of ground cover you will need for the front sloped area. If the mulched area is broad enough to give enough room for the new tree and its roots/shade etc., you can then put in some shrubs or flowers in that area too. You have that wall separating your property from next door. Perhaps in keeping with the landscape architecture already established, you can create an enclosed space for your kids by creating a low wall instead of the fencing. Plant in front of the wall with materials that repeat the form and texture of your neighbors trees shown behind that wall in your photo. On HGTV there have been a few shows where styrofoam blocks or styrofoam 'walls' were used to make a superfast enclosure and even a tall wall for an enclosed courtyard. They actually took a chain saw to it and created openings in the wall (like portals) for interest. It was described as being strong and long lasting and not expensive (because hardly any labor time.) I think cement is poured into the styrofoam to give it stability. We have a neighborhood the next town over where all the houses were built this way - replacing stick built technology. The outside of the styrofoam can be stucco, painted, faced with anything you want. I imagine you can even use cement blocks if not interested in the styrofoam. If that doesn't appeal, you can maybe just use some kind of brick or stacked block to create corner pillars on the front flat area (where you want it to be fenced) and then span between the corners with metal wire fencing material. I don't know what it is called --its not chickenwire - it's more substantial - pulls flat and tight - and nicer looking ..but not anywhere near as expensive as chain link. It comes in black (it disappears when you look at it) and it has small openings...It maybe vinyl--but I think it is a coated metal. You can grow vines on it. It's ok for little fingers not sharp... Again, planting the shrubs in a line in front of it ..---you won't see it from your view (it truly disappears) and it won't be seen from the road either. It won't cost an arm and a leg either. I think it would be more dependable to contain the kids --no worrying that they will escape from the space like they might if you just had shrubs creating the 'fence.' You wouldn't even need the pillars in stone or brick (I thought it would match that long sidewall in the photo) you could sink the metal posts or thick wood corner posts to attach the fencing. Doing this little bit creating the 'bones' and hard structure first would give you time to think about the types of plants you want and plan your landscape design.

This message was edited Mar 1, 2008 12:12 AM