clean slate - landscape design for front of house

Hi, I’m a newbie here and am looking for some advice on landscape design for the front of our first house (which we recently bought). When we bought the house the yard was a total disaster. We have since had a collapsing retaining wall rebuilt, and had a scraggly hedge that was at the front of the house pulled out, so now the whole front of the house looks “naked”. We have a clean slate. I am looking for some ideas for what to plant at the front of the house (foundation garden?) and continuing along the top of the retaining wall.

Here is what we’d like:
- deer resistant plants (our house backs to a wooded area with lots of wildlife)
- hardy/easy care plants (we are beginner gardeners)
- preferably nothing that’s poisonous or has sharp thorns (we have small kids)

We would like to plant a mix of evergreens (so we won’t have just sticks in the winter) and perennials, and prefer to focus on an interesting mix of foliage for year-round interest (e.g. a mix of plants of different sizes, shapes with different leaves and stems, some variegated, etc.). Flowers would be a bonus. I am looking for a mix of plants of maximum height about 4 feet, not a monolithic block or hedge. I definitely need plants with some height along the top of the retaining wall, to keep my two young boys for falling over the top! I have been thinking of focusing on a ‘theme’ of purples and maybe yellows, or else alternatively maybe a woodland theme (since we have woods behind the house – but are there woodland-type plants that do well in the sun?). We are in zone 6b and the area we need to plant is east facing, and gets the morning sun.

We are not crazy about rhododendrons or azaleas – which is what everybody in our neighborhood has.

Some thoughts for shrubs: Euonymus fortunei ‘esmerald ‘n gold’ (which I really like), mountain laurel Kalmia latifolia (will this get too tall?), some sort of dwarf hygrangea. For smaller plants in front of the shrubs: variegated lilyturf, dwarf lavender, Nepeta walkers low. For something that will cascade over the retaining wall: Phlox subulata, Aubrieta, Saponaria ocymoides, or sweet alyssum.

I really need help on what to choose, and which combinations will work well, and will be low maintenance. The landscaping company that did our hardscaping (retaining wall, etc.) suggested just planting mountain laurel, but I would like a more varied planting. I was thinking maybe a mix of 2-3 different shrubs, a few smaller plants (a mix of heights), and something for cascading down the retaining wall.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

here's a photo of the area at the top of the retaining wall

You need to go to www.showoff.com It is the best free landscaping program, and easy to use...You can even print your picture after inserting plants.. have fun!

thanks for the tip, goatilda

Just found this and can't wait to try out this program...... THANKS!
Genna

Hi esadungada, Welcome to Daves Garden. I see you are not getting much response, so give this a try. Check out the Mid Atlantic Gardening forum. Just post the picture above with request for ideas. In your comments, just keep it simple. Something like this.


"Hi, I’m a newbie here and am looking for some advice on landscape design for the front of our first house (which we recently bought). When we bought the house the yard was a total disaster. We have since had a collapsing retaining wall rebuilt, and had a scraggly hedge that was at the front of the house pulled out, so now the whole front of the house looks “naked”. We have a clean slate. I am looking for some ideas for what to plant for my zone"

Don't be too specific so you can get alot of different ideas they have. Then just go to Plantfiles with each suggestion and see the information and photo to determine if you would like to try the plant. As the suggestions come in, at some point, ask if they have a source they prefer to get the plants from.

You have several folks in your area. To see who they are do this:
Click on member list
scroll down to zone 6
click on "click here to view only subcribers"
look in the last column for Locale.

I checked briefly , you have someone in your town chriscol
and greendog is near you I think. I'm sure there are alot more, but I didn't go thru them all. The list begins with the earliest members, looks like 2004. I usually click on the last number forward to get the most recent year and then click backwards from there. Enjoy the wealth of info on Dave's Garden. Good Luck with your project. Don't forget to take pictures as you go and start your journal( click on tools at the top of home page for journal)
Also, when you go to Mid Atlantic Gardening forum, look for any RU(round ups) that are taking place near you. People gather together and bring plants to swap. Newbees are not expected to bring plants but receive alot of them to bring home.

Thanks very much for the advice, drapelady. Much appreciated! I will give the mid-atlantic gardening forum a try.

You may want to consider boxwoods which are evergreen. They have much finer leaves than rhodies and azaleas. Boxwood is one of the few plants deer seldom if ever eat. Not sure for your area, but some species of hydrangeas stay green in milder winters.