North side of my zone 5 house is a blank canvas....HELP!

The entrance and gate to my backyard is this nice little area between my home and my garage. However, it is a due north facing area with a quite large maple about 20 feet or so east of the gate. The walkway runs east to west and is broken up so we want to remove it and recreate a new walkway. The walkway would ideally wander from the gate down the middle of the area instead of tightly next to the garage. As you walk through the "area" the focus straight ahead tends to be our pool (we planted a poplar but may move it) and I would rather draw attention to the area they are walking in. At the end of the garage and house the path will fork to go right (north) to our gardens area or left (south) to our waterfall/watergarden then patio and majority of our open 1.5 acre yard.

Because this is the entrance I would really like something nice but I have been staring at it for so long I can't see the forest for the trees. I'm blocked completely.

The boulders you see can be removed. My first idea was to get all of these boulders (free from my father) and use them to hide the very tall foundation and plant in betwee those as a backdrop, but that's where it ended.

My obstacles are: hiding the foundation, the water spicket remaining accessible.

My goals are: to remove the current cement walkway and design a new path, create a warm and welcoming area and draw attention away from the pool straight ahead.

The area is 22 feet long (gate to end of buildings) and 9 feet 9 inches wide.

Let the ideas flow!

Here is a picture!!

I tried to put up a picture but it wouldn't let me... I'll keep trying. In the meantime here are links of the pictures at photobucket.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i300/minertrio/IMG_2800.jpg
(Standing outside the closed gate facing southwest)

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i300/minertrio/IMG_2801.jpg
(Standing at the open gate facing west and slightly south -- Seeing the house, kids swing set and entrance of pool deck)

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i300/minertrio/IMG_2802.jpg
[Standing West (in the yard) facing east (the gate and house) -- Along the left of the picture is the edge of the garage. Notice the walk is right up against the garage.]

Oh, I wish I had those large rocks. I love them. Yes spread them out and plant something like Spiderwort. I gets tall has purple blooms and is hardy in your area. It will get tall enough to hide the foundation. In front plant some Sedum. My favorite is Autumn Joy. For ground cover Sedum Baby Tears or Creeping Jenny. Maybe for the garage a trellis with a vine. Some more of the plants I mentioned or maybe something different with the same ground cover to tie them together. Put the hose on a reel and put a plant in front of it. You would still be able to get to the spicket.

Thank you for the great ideas! I don't currently have any spiderwort because I was told it spreads rather rudely. Can I keep it contained in this area?

I heard only the purple spiderwort is a problem but you have that area pretty much surrounded by walk way.

I think hostas would look great there.

minerquad, nice rocks. I love that weathered fence, and what fun to start with a blank slate!

The following is a list of all the thriving plants I have growing on the north side of my house (several shaded by tall oaks and maples). Most get very little sun (except in morning) and the bloomers always bloom:

SHRUBS
Rhododendron 'Cunningham's White' (mature size 4hx4w')
Pieris japonica 'Dorothy Wycoff' (5x5')
Viburnum dentatum 'Autumn Jazz' (8x8')
Hydrangea arborescens 'White Dome' and h. macrophylla 'All Summer Beauty' (5x5')
Leucothoe fontanesiana 'Girard's Rainbow' (6x6') -- a perfect plant for dense shade
Kalmia angustifolia (3x3')
Ilex glabra 'Densa' (4x5)
Enkianthus campanulatus (6-12x4-6')

PERENNIALS
Boston Ivy (growing up a fence to make a dense, year-round privacy screen)
Pacysandra (low)
Waldsteinia ternata (low)
Tiarella cordifolia 'Running Tapestry' (low)
Geranium macrorrhizum 'Spessart' and 'Bevan's Variety' (low to medium)
Alchemilla mollis (medium)
Nepeta 'Blue Wonder', 'Walker's Low' and 'Six Hills Giant' (lowest to medium high, respectively)
Astilbe 'Bridal Veil' and 'Hennie Graafland' (medium)
Filipendula rubra 'Venusta' (tall)


All these plants should grow in your zone.

Sorry, I just gave you a list without any idea what to do with it, lol.

You can use the shrubs to hide the foundatiion. Rhodies and leucothoe and kalmia are evergreen, so they'll hide it year round, and they are all short enough that you can get around them to access your water, and they won't grow so tall as to block your windows. You might want to consider a single-file stepping path (just lay down some small slate slabs?) to your spigot to avoid stepping on the tender roots of the shrubs. They are shallow growers, and the roots look more like hair than the kind of roots you might expect.

You could underplant the shrubs with some of the low perennials, like the Waldsteinia or Tiarella or Pachysandra. If that fence gets any sun, clematis would give you so much joy because some of it is a repeat bloomer. And what you have is something that will fill in, bloom, and be *very* low maintenance. That's how I started, but now I have branched off into color in other areas of my yard.

Along your new path (have you decided on the hardscaping you'll use?), you could plant nepeta with alchemilla mollis (purple and chartreuse look amazing together) and the geraniums might be evergreen in your area. In fact, all the low groundcovers I listed are evergreen in zone 5b/6a, especially if you get snow.

I like to keep things lush and pretty and low-maintenance. For height, I'd probably go with a shrub or two. I like hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle.' (Just personally, I'm not crazy about the macrophylla or mophead hydrangeas in zone 5. I've had too many heartaches with them not being quite winter hardy enough and ending up with foliage but not a single bloom, since they bloom on old wood. Even the ones that are supposed to bloom on new wood have been disappointing here for me. 'Endless Summer' was an Endless Disappointment. heh!)

I have a pieris 'Forest Flame' and it's really eye-catching in the spring. I second peony8 on that one! Should get about 4-5' tall and just as wide. Mine doesn't appear to be a particularly fast grower, but I've just had it this season so far. Your mileage may vary. Some taller perennials that would also add some punch include cimicifuga (aka: actaea) and aruncus (goat's beard). Both would enjoy moisture, though, so keep that in mind if your site tends to be dry.

For impact beneath the shrubs, how about some hostas? I think that area's begging for hostas, but...I'm a bit biased because I adore them. I'm not the hosta officianado that some people here on the forums are, but there are some lovely large hostas like 'Krossa Regal,' 'Big Daddy,' 'Sum and Substance,' and plenty of others where that came from that could add some definite WOW to your site. On the smaller side, one of my all-time favorites is 'Pineapple Upside Down Cake' (shown in the photo I attached).

Hostas look great with heucheras, and heucheras look great with tiarella. Both are nice low-maintenance additions to a shady spot. I'd plant them in and around the larger hostas. Tiarella will spread by runners, but isn't invasive.

A nice stand of variegated Solomon's seal might also look very pretty there. The flowers show up in spring, but the attractive foliage lasts all season. It complements hosta and heuchera well, too.

To add some daintier shapes, you might try some of the many types of columbine. There are lots of different heights to choose from, from the shorter Biedermeier to the taller varieties like McKanna and the wildflower, aquilegia canadensis. They have a fairly long bloom period, which is an added bonus.

In zone 5, I don't much care for spiderwort. Mine was thuggish. And if it spreads too much it's a real beast to try and dig out, because the roots are very thick and fleshy. Again, your mileage may vary...but I tend to agree with you--tradescantia is rude. hehe

For ground cover, I love sweet woodruff. For me it spreads rather slowly. Some people say it's more assertive. Again, depends on the site.

Good luck transforming your spot!



This message was edited Jun 22, 2009 8:19 PM

So what have you done with it? Can we see?