Help with Front Yard Landscape.

Hi all I am here to pick your creative brains. We purchased our house in april this year. By the time we got done pulling out all the ivy and taking down a large pine that was sitting in the middle of the drive way, summer was here. I understand that summer is not a great time to plant shrubs and bushes so we held off. Now fall is on it's way and we really need to start landscaping.

I just don't know where to start. Would love an old country cottage look but don't know if it would work with this house. The neighborhood seems to have a more traditional theme going on but I am not a fan of boxwoods or shaped shrubbery and I really don't like azaleas at all. We do have a crape myrtle (pink) to the right (not shown in photo) and a lilac set back near the fence. I love lilacs but the bush is pretty boring the majority of the year, like hydrangea (both lace top and mop heads), wouldn't mind trying a climbing rose up the trellis. I also like the nadina and the golden thread cypress. I want to be creative and mix it up a bit with a ton of texture. I love wispy.

I think I am just a bit overwhelmed with the choices. I guess my current goal is to just get taller (not more than 4ft-6ft tops) evergreen or deciduous in front of the porch so at least my yard doesn't look completely pathetic next spring. There's about 10ft on either side of the porch and two city planted maple trees at the street.

Should I hire someone? Use a nursery free service or try to do it myself? Ideas, suggestions, insights on plants and all?

Hi ckka, welcome to the site, you are feeling overwhelmed because you are undecided and that natural if you have to start a new garden.
Can I first say, in your picture you have a large tree on the left hand side, is this tree growing in the soil in such a high mound, or have you piled up the soil around the trunk. IF you piled the soil up, then you need to remove this hight pile of soil or you will cause the tree to rot at the bottom and you could end up with a tree crashing down on you or next door neighbours place and maybe have a huge bill for work to repair damage.
IF however this is the height of the natural soil at this stage then there is no worry.

Now to your ideas for planting the front garden, can you give an idea as to how much time you want to spent looking after the plantings, do you wish any grass, what type of soil do you have, (a soil test kit will cost you a few bucks from the garden store) is the area in full sun all day, part day etc, this info would be so helpful to everyone who wishes to help you out.
From what I can see, you could put a wire cage (plastic coated) around the two outer pillars so you could grow climbing Roses up them to add hight and foliage, the perfumed kind would add to the enjoyment when you sit outside, or Clematis AND roses would look good in contrasting colours, say a pink Rose with a lilac/purple Clematis could combine well. in front you could add a few Hydrangeas for bulk as well as colour and these eventually spread out and take up a fair bit of ground unless you want to contain them by pruning hard each spring.
Mock orange is good and there are several different ones, a nice one is with variegated foliage and this is a bit different from the norm, for evergreens there are so many to choose from, just check the final hight for when they are about 10 years growing or you could end up with a monster. IF your soil is acidic, then there are several other plants to grow like Rhododendrons, Camelias and hollies etc, these are evergreen and have wonderful coloured flowers early on in the year, but till you can give more info, then it is hard to go on with a plant list as some plants wont grow in some soils where other will thrive, if your neighbours have Azaleas growing, then there is the likelihood you have an acidic soil in your area but that dont mean all you van grow is Azaleas. get back with the info asked for and help will come fast and furious. Good Luck. WeeNel.

Thanks so much for the start. I will head to the garden center tomorrow to get the test!

The tree you are referring to was actually the one we had removed. It is no longer there. We had the stump ground and the major roots removed as the tree was sitting right in the middle of what used to be a driveway.

We would like to put the driveway back. We are thinking the old fashioned ribbon kind.
The mound was all the ivy we removed from the front yard. It too is gone. My husband did plant grass and it is doing well and he is doing a great job keeping the english ivy out of the new yard.

The yard is pretty much full sun. The sun rolls over the house from left to right. So the right side gets the hot afternoon sun. That being said, I think that will change over time because the maple trees in front are not mature.

Currently there are two trellis in place on the right and left side of the porch. They really can't be seen in the photo. I would have to say, we probably don't want any high maintenance plantings. Spring and/or fall pruning and a few hours a week maintaining would be realistic.

The total front yard is about 170 square feet with the side walk cutting right up the middle.
This does not include the driveway area. I would like to see at least half of that area planted with anything but grass (or ivy). Actually I would like to see 3/4 planted, but my husband likes the lawn and he was the one who pulled out all the ivy. :) Maybe 60-70sqft on both sides of the porch and 30sqft at the front bordering the public side walk.

I be back tomorrow with the test results. I have been looking forward to planning a garden forever, I am really excited to hear all the ideas.

Will be able to help you further with the type of plants to look out for once we know the soil type you have as this will save you time and money when choosing the shrubs/plants you like, not all plants/shrubs are high maintenance but you will need to make sure the ground is well prepared for them before you plant as it helps the plants establish and cost lees due to having to buy replacements so with all this in mind, you will soon have the fun of setting your garden out in the way you want to enjoy it for many years to come. good luck. WeeNel.

I finally got around to testing the ph. It appears the majority of my soil is neutral to acid 6.5-7.0 with one area being more acid 5.5-6.0. The more acid receives some morning sun.
I have been looking at the sun in the front of the house and I was wrong, I can't really say full sun. It is more like part sun to part shade. With one side getting morning sun and and other side getting evening sun. In the afternoon the house shades the front.

Thanks!

I think your house would look lovely with a cottage garden. My suggestion requires patience.

I would recommend not planting this Fall at all. Rather than planting spend time at the library and book stores. Look at cottage gardens, decide what it is you like about them. Do you want a sitting area in the front? What about an arch over the sidewalk at the front or your yard? Do you want it open to people passing by or private? Do you want flowering shrubs, evergreens a mixture? What kind of shrubs do you like in a cottage garden? Since cottage gardens are not formal don't put a row of shrubs right across the front of the porch. I know it is hard to wait, but you don't want to start moving shrubs around when you realize it doesn't fit with your long term plan. It is bones time and the bones need to be right to get the look you want. Perennials can be moved around easily.

Make sure you check out shrub roses they are a must in cottage gardens and easy care IF you make sure you choose ones that are disease resistant or nearly so. High Country Roses has wonderful shrub roses. I tend to choose zone 3 roses even though I live in zone 4. I want to make sure they do well in the winter.

http://www.highcountryroses.com/

I did a search for planning a cottage garden and here is the first 4 sites I looked at. Do some searching on your own. Have fun planning over the winter. That is what I did when we bought this house. I also spent time watching the sun patterns for the year. We live on a hill and had I planted right away I would have not have known that we had a wind tunnel between our house and the neighbors in the winter. The planning is just as fun as planting and if you wait you will learn a lot and choose wisely.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/southerngarden/Cottagedesign.html

http://flowergardens.suite101.com/article.cfm/cottage_garden_flowers

http://www.dotcomwomen.com/home/gardening/cottage-gardens.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/htbg2/flat/module3/top_ten_plants1.shtml

Consider winter sowing as a way to garden in the winter and get some nice plants very cheaply. The first link has all you want to know about winter sowing and more then of course there is a winter sowing forum here at Dave's.

http://wintersown.org/

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/coldsow/all/

This message was edited Sep 22, 2008 7:27 AM