Hi!
I'm very new to this forum and landscaping. I don't know what to do to liven, brighten, and spruce up this landscaping for this home. Would you help me with ideas?
Possibly a different Paint color for the window panels and the front sidings... White maybe?
Flowers to give it color.
Maple Tree in the front left or another Floral Type of Tree
Thanks!
This message was edited Jun 11, 2015 1:54 PM
Don't change the shutters.
Maybe convince thehome owner to do a brick walk or something not concrete, concrete is easy and looks ok but it's a big eyesore with a brick house like that.
Consider lighting around some plants throw some shadows on the house at night to give passerbys a OoOoOoOoo AHHHH you shouldn't need an electrician either but check your cities code first.
Defiantly consider a fresh mulching and throwing in some space filler plants.
As for a tree or two I'd need a more direct picture of the property as a whole.
I would say the style of your house, being more ORGANIC by the use of natural materials is the way to go,
When selecting materials for any hard landscape whether pathways, fences, driveways, it is always best when they blend in with the architecture' like stone / brick, wood etc when coordinated by tone, colouring so nothing stands out like a sore thumb or even an after thought that prevents the whole picture of the outside being enhanced.
Regarding planting, my idea would be to design around the area by doing a cottage garden style,
this includes path / walkways, perhaps archways where you can grow plants up / over giving some height to the flat areas, sweeping borders with flowering plants (Perennials) these come up into new growth year after year, for privacy, look at flowering shrubs, also some evergreens and shrubs SMALL tree's that give berries of even fruit.
I can envisage a small pond that could have a small fountain or water via a hole in a large stone, the sound of soft gentle flowing water is very relaxing, a pond also encourages wildlife like frogs etc and these are great for keeping slugs / snails etc from eating your plants. Plan for seeaing stops to sit and either rest with a coffee as you walk around your new garden or just to relax and read a paper.
Lighting as mentioned by DirtyMulch is important too, this brings the whole area alive at night, causes shadows, helps show up some shrubs / trees that would otherwise only be admired at a certain time of day.
I have no idea what zone your in, also you need to get soil tested as some plants prefere acidic soil, like Rhododendrons, Azaleas, and many more lovely plants, BUT if your soil is more Nutral, then there is a wide selection of things to grow and make a lovely garde. You can buy a very cheap soil testing kit at garden store and are easy to use, these kits will tell you what type of soil (PH READING) you have, Gardening can become costly so it's important to only buy / grow plants you know can grow in your area.
As for lighting, ponds etc, all these need a qualified Electric qualified person to do all that for you. as a novice can do more harm than good.
There are wonderful books in the book stores for planning hard landscaping, beds / borders etc, how to do all the different things like measuring, how much soil a bed needs added or how deep to dig the holes for adding a rose arch and the proper concrete mixture for the job. A vast amount of info, plans, planting, prep work, materials to use, even how to start your plans. so have a look in the book store or local library, gardening books are expensive so have a good look, take pen and paper along, dont buy the first book you see, you need a book that caters for the jobs you want to do, I found a lovely paperback book in that famous bookstore where you can sit and have a coffee begins with Nob--s, it was on there sale table and it's called "Garden Landscape and Project Plans" I am not saying go get that book but I'm saying to look at books like that as they have drawings, plans, Layouts, plants that will work in certain areas, water gardens, Herb Gardens etc much more.
I have not given plant lists or more ideas as I would like more info like, how much time can you spend in your garden, is the soil clay, rich humus, Acidic. sandy etc, all that matters when planning a garden as well as how much time to care for it.
Get back with more close-up pictures, soil type etc and there are loads of people who will be offering you help.
Hope this gives you food for thought.
Kindest Regards.
WeeNel.
Can you stand farther back (such as stand on top of a car parked at the curb) and get a whole- area shot?
My first thought:
Alter the walkway.
Bring it out from the entry to a central focal point. Perhaps a square, octagon or circle with some interesting feature, and use this as a turning point. Walkway can go toward the driveway and toward the street.
Plain ol' grey concrete is not quite right.
Brick would be good, but if that is out of the price range, perhaps stamped concrete, or salt finish.
Diana_K,
Circles in walkways are NOT the way to go, ever!
The human brain follows a LINE not a circle, believe me people will stop and be like hmm whys this here. It's always better to have a generalized line going to and from the entrance of the house. Just because it looks good doesn't mean it's the best way to go :)
When there is some sort of feature centered in the circle/octagon/square such as a fountain or planter area with color that is the reason for stopping.
When the change of shape is the junction of several walkways, this is another good reason for making it a focal point. There could be as many as 4 walkways coming together in this yard. That is why a picture that includes the whole yard will be helpful.
As for whether that shape ought to be round or have straight sides, this decision is based on what works at the site. Bricks generally work well with straight lines. Flagstone and concrete are usually better than brick if the design of choice is a circle.
Straight lines, 90 deg, 45 deg corners, and true radius circles are more formal, and go with brick.
Having a long line, whether curving or straight, with no features (such as the existing walkway) makes it sort of a highway, for people to rush along, and not slow down to admire the garden.
Not saying to make it all squirrely, though. The walkway does need to go from point to point in a reasonably efficient manner. No reason it cannot be nicer, though.
A central feature where several walkways come together is one good way of doing this.
I think the trouble you are having when thinking about Diana's ideas are, your looking at a flat green area with a long boring pathway that takes you quickly fron one end to the other, a garden design is supposed to encourage you to stop, admire, smell the Roses so to speak, and around every curve, corner or obstacle or bed filled with plants, there should be a surprise, there is nothing more boring than being able to look out the window or step off the sidewalk and you can look without a blink at the whole garden.
Dirtymulch, I think you have to take each garden and work with what it has, in the case of the garden and house under discussion there are a lot of nice views from every windows at most angles, this has to be taken into consideration you have to look OUTWARDS from the house as well as be outside when approaching the house.Any single long solid / concrete structure within a garden does need softened by adding circles, semi circles, square / oblong shaped beds, seating archway or whatever, but believe me, I have a huge garden, to try keep it interesting and there's NOT a straight path, fence, bed or parking area, a larger garden needs broken up into what we call rooms, this is so you DONT see everything in one glance, there are different things growing in each section, divided by shrubs, fences, archways, and YES a small area of concrete that has been here for over 100 years, I like meandering throgh the garden trying to envisage what has came into bloom what surprises await me, I'd hate to look out my windows and see the whole garden all at once,so use the space to your advantage, that's what garden planning is all about make the best of what you have and adding more interest as you go.
I think Congchualele Home is the best asset, what he has to do now is NOT distract from that but enhance the outlook, take away the plane green of all the grass and not go OTT but make the garden fit around the lovely home. Even the smallest of gardens need seating / stopping areas and hard landscape areas for this to be possible, helps you decide to stop.
Kindest Regards. WeeNel.
Wow! You guys are quick with responses! Thank you for taking your time out to answer my question and give suggestions. The home is a brand new home, so we're not looking to do any major reconfiguration to the front. We are more so looking for suggestions for what plants or floral plants that would go well with what we have, along with the placement that would enhance the front of the house. We'll definitely get a better picture with a whole front yard and get the soil tested.
My goal is a modern, clean but beautiful look.
DirtyMulch, great suggestions. I actually am okay with a concrete walkway. We'll definitely place in new mulch and lighting for sure. As for the shutters, you wouldn't suggest to paint it a different color even? I feel as if the house in the front is dark with the browns and dark tones.
WeeNel, sounds great! Attached is an image of what I am looking for. I was thinking something on the lines of these stones to surround current plant area and elevating the eye up surrounding the house.
Diana_K. Stamped concrete would definitely make the front look better. We will certainly consider that later on.
Shutters:
You could match the color (off white? Cream?) used above the brick.
I see the pic in the last post. Is this what you are looking for?
Your garden is flat, so not really a place for ledgerstone walls. Especially with brick. You could make raised planters near the street, perhaps to flank the walkway.
The mixed planting is nice. Perhaps 3x as many plants as you have.
Have you identified the plants you already have?
What size will the grow to? Is that a reasonable size?
Planting concepts:
Tall in between windows, on large walls. Tall could be a tree (not right next to the house).
Shorter under the windows so you can see out of them. The tree would have spreading branches above the top of the window, in time. This frames the view out of the window.
These are somewhat back ground plants. Grown for structure, they are something that is always there. They certainly can have flowers or colored leaves.
Seasonal planting might be perennials. These live for many years, but go through seasonal changes- growing leaves, flowers, dying down... so there is a changing array of colors and textures.
Annual color is probably the most work. Plant a concentrated patch in the main focal points. Do not try to spread them out all over.
