I think the front of the house landscaping looks blah. I took out a lot of plants and would be willing to take out some more of the azaleas if anyone has any good ideas of what I should do. I think I need some evergreen height flanking some of the windows and some lower plants. Thanks!
beautiful home! My eye went first to the sides of the driveway.... you may consider adding long beds up each side of the driveway that draw your eye to the center bed. and more color? rose trees? or other flowering tree/bushes for height around the window area...
just a thought :o)
Thank you anjL. I just planted some knockout rose bushes around the light post in the circle. They were beautiful for the one month that they bloomed before frost. Maybe some larger rose bushes on either side of some of the front windows? That is a good idea about adding some beds up the driveway. I have to get the foundation done first, then work on that!
what zone are you in there?
I would think rose trees around the front windows (ones with thorns prevent burglars too! lol!) but they should bloom for more than just a month?
I'm in zone 9a and mine bloom from march til....well still blooming now! I think it depends on the rose too.
if you know your zone, I can tell you of more flowering shrubs if thats the way you are looking to go...just let me know :o)
I think I am in zone 7.
You can find your zone here
http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/hzm-ne1.html
The right hand corner needs some height and then you need some color in front and in the circular bed. Daylilies have great visual interest for a long period of time.
yes, I was invisioning daylilies along the driveway....up both sides, would give some color there and lead the eye toward that center bed...
Like you, I like some evergreen plants so I have some year-round color. I think some hollies would be beautiful on two or three of your inner corners. The green plus all those beautiful red berries in the winter would keep things lively.
I personally am not a fan of "lining" the driveway. To me it is highlighting the driveway. Same as circling a power pole or something. It seems to feature the wrong thing. Also, the symmetry is a problem for me.
Of course it is a personal choice. You need to think about your personal style and the style of your house.
Julie I see your point there, however I think depending on the angle being viewed from - a lined driveway can make it look as if there isn't a driveway at all. Like when driving by - people will see all the beautiful plants instead of just noticing all the hot top. I always notice how nice other peoples yards look when they achieve that look - it makes me want to do it myself. : )
I was thinking about starting with a dragon lady holly on either side of the picture window to the right of the front door. I would remove the azalea to the right of the window to make room. Opinions?
I'm not sure what dragon lady hollies look like, or which window you mean. But... If it were my house I'd like to see some height from some pointy evergreens like abrovites or dwarf alberta spruces. Like that one tall one that has it's top flattened off, I think it would look nicer if it were allowed to grow in it's natural form, but that's just my opinion.
Like this maybe - I am no landscape designer but I just made sure I put them where they wouldn't grow in front of any windows. I think a pretty deciduous flowering tree (I like the look of weeping trees like a weeping birch which doesn't flower or a flowering cherry) added in somewhere would look nice too.
I tried it with a weeping cherry. : )
Are both of the evergreens you showed dwarf alberta spruces?
I spent about 2 hours at my local garden center with one of their landscapers. He tried to steer me away from dwarf alberta spruces because they were "too common". I like common, they look good, that is why everyone uses them. Anyway, he suggested the dragon lady hollies or wichita blue spruce for either side of that front window to the right of the front door. I like how you added one to the left of the window to the left of the front door.
I would be happy to remove that blue/green plant I have to the left of the left window. I had to chop it across the top because last year a snow almost killed it, that was the best I could do to try to save it. I can let it grow naturally now if I keep it.
I like the idea of the spruces on the far sides and the weeping cherry just to the right of the front door. I just transplanted two laceleaf Japanese maples that I had at either side of the front door to the back because they were starting to look like "cousin it". I need to get working on those bare areas next. I am attaching a picture to show you that there may be room for the weeping cherry where you showed it because of this area (this is the area just to the right of the front door where you showed the cherry).
I have knockout roses around the lampost in the circle for color, but the weeping cherry may look good there as well.
The pics are of alberta spruces I think all three of my plants I suggested are common but it's partly due to their beauty right? They were just the ones I thought of off the top of my head you could look to see what appeals to you at a nursery. Mostly just the shapes are what I was thinking. I like to add uniqueness with the perennials too - some plants I have, are stuff that you would never find in a garden center around here.
I hear you about winter damage that's one problem you might run into if stuff is planted where snow might fall off the roof and hit it - although do you get enough to worry about that in MD? lol Probably not - I sure do.
There is something about brick with the weeping cherry in bloom and tall pointy bright green evergreens that just does it for me. : ) Your house is very beautiful, I like the roof line. : )
Thank you Meredith. As you can see off to the left of the house I have a plum tree (no fruit). I wanted a clump river birch but the landscaper said they were too common. I wish I had the clump river birch! Thank you for your suggestions, I am going back to the garden center today. Will post an updated picture if I plant anything. (And yes we sometimes get snow, nothing to compare to NH though!) Thanks again.
You know after I was thinking about that spot in your picture I wanted to say that I have seen the results of people planting the weeping cherries or similar type trees that close to the house. And they end up getting too big in the long run and looking like they are leaning away from the house. I was thinking in that circle area (kind of inbetween the door and window) because it looks like it would allow it to grow to it's eventual size nicely. Oh and please be aware of any stems that grow out of any weeping tree straight up - I have also seen them where people didn't realize they should cut those off and after 15 years they've acheived an odd looking tree that is half weeping with pink flowers and half growing straight up with white flowers. Just thought I'd warn ya lol.
They do eventually get very large http://www.csloh.com/home/uploads/IMG_1938s.jpg
There's a good pic that shows their size in the PF too http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://pics.davesgarden.com/pics/roshana_1068180187_764.jpg&imgrefurl=http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/30264/&usg=__sU1pmFDIPJqw29VLTFrw1fEx8lM=&h=480&w=640&sz=108&hl=en&start=29&um=1&tbnid=zzFRqw0l8cRjeM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dweeping%2Bcherrry%26start%3D18%26ndsp%3D18%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4DKUS_enUS250US250%26sa%3DN
This message was edited Nov 14, 2008 11:42 AM
nutmegax,
If you like river birch, go for it! Who cares what the landscapers opinion is--he won't be the one living in your house! I have a river birch down by my creek and I love it. They grow quickly and even after they've dropped their leaves, the peeling bark looks so pretty. I wouldn't worry about whether or not a plant is "too common," just whether you and your family like it and will enjoy it for many years to come. One thing I always do before I plant anything though is do a thorough search on the internet to see how well it will do in my zone. Too many of the box stores will sell many plants that can't survive in the local climate. It's no fun at all to put a new plant in the ground, baby it along, and then have it die during the humid summer or cold winter.
nutmegax, it's your house, of course you should do what you like, but I'm with the landscaper on the Alberta spruces. It would be like putting a Sunoco sticker on a nice new car. Just my opinion, don't get upset anybody. I have a couple, they're nice but there are so many other fine conifers to choose from. And hollies. Some plants are common just because they're easy and profitable to propagate.
I feel like we don't know enough about the situation - what direction does the house face? How wide is the space between the drive and the house? How much is your budget? (don't need to answer that).
That being said, I like the 'Dragon Lady' idea, or some other dark, columnar holly. The color would go nicely with the brick. (Speaking of brick, that is magnificent.) Depending on sun conditions, climbing roses or clematis or hydrangea vines might be nice.
Here's a link that might interest you, Rutgers Red Beauty holly and all their beautiful dogwood introductions:
http://agproducts.rutgers.edu/red_beauty.html
I also like the idea of a climber over the entrance to the door. I unfortunately picked a very slow growing ivy for mine...and am running out of patience! lol! Now I wish I would have put in a flowering climber, with a strong scent to great me when I come home :o) ...jasmine, honeysuckle...etc.
I have jasmine in an east facing flowerbed and it's doing great! It's three years old now and it smells so good when it blooms. It's right under my kitchen window so when I have it open my whole kitchen smells wonderful. The first year it was a little slow but by the second year it started growing really well. I think it's a great plant.
The front of the house faces east. It has full sun until well into the afternoon. The distance from the front of the house to the driveway is 10 feet and the mulch area that I recently showed a picture of is 8 1/2 feet wide.
I liked the Rutgers Red Beauty idea. The Dragon Lady Holly can get kind of woody over the years but are very beautiful trees. Since I am ripping out and starting over, I would like to replace with plants that can stay for the long haul.
I just checked out some landscaping books from the library too and will try and remember all the ideas given while reading.
Sky pencil hollies are good for height and year round green color. I like groupings of them. Some of the taller evergreens can get gi-normus and can be too imposing for me. Sky pencils stay nice and slender.
