Need ideas for front yard of Tudor revival-style home

A little background: we've been in our home for going on 4 years this summer. The backyard had been landscaped by one owner & then allowed to overgrow by the next owner. So we've spent a lot of time cleaning that up. Now it's on to the front. The house faces west. Due to trees and proximity to neighboring home, it gets full sun on the south corner & mostly shade on the north corner. The center gets full sun. My husband has chopped down two of the four yews that were there when we moved in (but still needs to remove the stumps) and I have dug up and thrown out gallons upon gallons upon gallons of lava rock (UGH). There is quite a bit of clay in the soil so I know it needs to be amended, which we plan to do this fall. So far, since we have begun clean up of the area, tulips & hyacinths have appeared in the spring in that section between the yews. I also planted a clematis which I am trying to train to climb that little section of fence which I had found in the rafters of our garage. Last fall I put in daffodil bulbs, of which a few came up & bloomed this spring, but I think I need to move them b/c I don't think the soil drains well enough where they are. In the bed on the left (the shady north corner) I put in bergenia & astilbe this spring. But now I need suggestions for a flowering shade loving shrub to put in that corner, as well as some ideas for other perennials in the center area around the clematis and in the bed on the south side. I'm thinking about a eunonymous (burning bush) on the south corner. Any thoughts? Any & all suggestions welcome; TIA!


This message was edited May 30, 2008 2:36 PM

An azealia (did I spell that right) would look good on the left. Something like sedum 'Autumn Joy' would look good on each side of the trellis. I personally love dianthus. I hope that helps.

Smokey

I like azalea too but as far as I know, they don't do very well in my zone. I actually have lots of dianthus planted, but it is annual here (although it will reseed itself). I like the idea of the sedum! I have some in my back yard, and I can get more free from my MIL. Thanks!

jc, what a beautiful home you have. I love it.

Brick Tudors like yours look terrific with English-style cottage gardens. Many plants for that style can be raised from inexpensive seeds and you can add plants over several seasons (or plant all at once, of course).

drapelady . . . thank you! We love our home too. wood_fern . . . I love the idea of an English cottage style garden! I will definitely check out that magazine. I have been trying to put in plants like ecinachea (sp?) and cornflower for that wildflower look in our backyard. Thanks!

I wish I knew how to make a photo collage, but I can seem to pull it off so I will have to send individual photos. We have a stucco Tudor up on a hill. The front garden is mostly hill and a bit more formal than the back. I have low growing plants on the hill itself and am turning the flattest areas into being mostly hosta with grass paths. The back is English cottage garden in progress. Here is the front.

Some of the hosta in front

The back is more difficult to try to get an overall so I have a few photos of areas.

The sculpture is one I made.

another

Last one, some more of my sculptures.

Zen, I absolutely love your house. Poor lady sculpture. Wouldn't you hate to be in that position for life. Makes me want to make her a dress for you to cover her. LOL

She doesn't seem to mind.

I like it a lot, zen. What are those low growing purple flowers in the first picture, by your steps? I have tons of hosta in my backyard and along the side. Some of them are huge and need to be divided; maybe I'll move some in front. There are only two varieties though (they were here when we moved in). I'd like to try some different ones.

The flowers are creeping phlox. It really spreads fast. It doesn't re-bloom but is a nice green.

JC, you can grow azaleas in your zone, but you need the Northern Lights cultivars. Correct me if I'm wrong (zen) but I believe they were bred at the U of M to withstand zone 4 winters. I have Mandarin Lights... I also think your house says "formal garden," how you interpret that...? Maybe well manicured, as opposed to free for all cottage garden. IMHO.

Zen - lovely. Of course, but still! And I agree, your lady looks quite content!

JC, I completely agree with trioadastra - it looks like your tastes kind of run cottage/ shabby chic which IMO is at odds with the architecture of your home, much more stately, formal (and beautiful, by the way!). (BTW, this is, of course, all opinion so take what you like and throw away the rest!

Trying to get a bit of the cottagey stuff going and hopefully still giving a nod to the architecture of your home, I'd eliminate the white stuff (I'd do a little cottage shed in the back yard and use your fence and white chair, there) and keep the plantings low in order to show off the house. I lowered and broadened your window boxes to give the full breadth and height of them and put in some shade loving hostas that will brighten the area up a little.

Hope this gets your creative juices flowing, good luck!

Thanks for the feedback guys! Thanks for the fun photoshopping, Pagan. You know, that fence trellis wouldn't be my first choice if I could buy something, but in the interest of saving money I'm using found stuff. (I definitely agree that wrought iron would be more in keeping.) The white chair was a garage sale find of my MIL's, so I kind of have to use it whether I like it or not, KWIM? I do understand what you mean about the house being a little more formal, but I guess if you saw it from the side and back you might not think so . . . the "official" style (according to the local architectural society) is Tudor cottage, so it's not quite as formal as some of the huge "real" Tudors you'd see around us. It is really a Chicago bungalow (which is a much less formal style) with a Tudor facade. ANYHOO, I do think maybe a modified (more structured) take on the cottagy look would fit better. To be honest, while I do love hosta, I am a little hostaed out. EVERYONE has them around here, and I have so many in my backyard and along the sides that I'm not sure I want any more, LOL. The day I took the photo it was cloudy, so you can really tell how much sun the area gets, but it gets a LOT. What I'm really interested in is learning more about native IL prairie plants and trying to get some more of those going, which fits more with the cottage style, don't you think? At any rate, I really really appreciate all the feedback and ideas. So much more to go on than if I were thinking about it all by myself!

Oh, and thanks for the tip about the Northern Lights azalea, trioadastra.

Ok, here is a picture of my house from this afternoon . . . a bright sunny day. More accurate depiction of the sun it gets. I read back on this thread and realized I kind of contradicted myself re. hosta . . . in one response I sounded like I might like some in front. But I have to say after thinking on it a little more . . . don't really want any in front. But I like the azalea idea. What kind of light is best for a Northern Lights azalea? And how about a small lilac bush to the left of my fence/trellis? I know it was suggested that I get rid of the yews altogether, but I'm having a hard enough time getting DH to dig out the stumps of 3 old ones that he cut down already. So I'm making do for now . . .

The Northern Lights can take full sun to part shade.
I hate to be the one to say this, but when I first saw your 'trellis,' I thought it was a junk pallet that just hadn't been moved yet... Maybe a can of black spray paint would help, if you can't buy a wrought iron one yet. And formal doesn't have to be FORMAL, but you could acheive a bit of it by keeping shrubs trimmed neatly, and repeating plants on both sides of the chimney for symmetry. As you garden away from the front, you can gradually introduce wilder plants, and still have your cottage garden look.

Also, make sure you amend the soil if you plant azaleas. Lime-y clay will kill them very fast! (from experience : (

This message was edited Jun 11, 2008 4:21 PM

Thanks, I was thinking along those lines. The fence isn't worth painting . . . I'll just save up my pennies until I can buy a nicer trellis. Besides, the goal is to have the clematis grow so well that you can't see what's holding it up, right? :)

My fence with clematis. The fence is covered in the summer, but I have to admit it isn't very attractive in the winter.

Here is the photo, I was to quick sending the message.

I do hope my clematis looks like that some day! It needs some serious help and I just don't know what to give it. :(

Watanabei Doublefile is really pretty and has very pretty white flowers all season. The white flowers will look pretty up against the dark house. Good luck!

Clematis really don't need anything special. Also if it doesn't look good put in another right next to it. Really and if they are different colors it looks better. I have had the best luck with ones that I have purchased on the small side from a very reliable nursery. My one any only purchase from a big box store was a disaster.

The one in the photo is Guernsey Cream. It is an early bloomer and will occasionally bloom again later in the year. It seems to have a mind of its own.

Wouldn't you know the one I have now is from HD . . . never again.

If I were purchasing only one I would look for one that re-blooms, not all do. Also look at the bottom to check where the roots come out of the ground. I choose the one that looks the strongest right at ground level. If at all possible one that has more than one stem coming out of the soil. About the only time a clematis is really in danger from being mishandled is when you take it out of the pot. It is easy to break the stem right as it comes out of the soil. I like to cut the pot away rather than try to loosen it and take it out of the pot. I learned that the hard way.