This is my friend's house-

This is my friend's house. He is a long retired homicide detective who has no wife. He has one little dog. He is a very busy man who is on the go all the time. He's pretty involved in the community as well as with his family and also with Freemasonry so he does a lot of charity work. His youngest son has some younger children that come over and play in the yard so no plants that are poisonous. The man is never home and basically told me that cutting the lawn and turning on a sprinkler if he had to was the extent of his gardening and he wouldn't be interested in having to fiddle around with anything. He would like to give his home some more curb appeal. I told him I would help him make it a wildlife garden using carefree native plants and he said he wanted to fit in and look like everyone else but I could use some native plants as long as they didn't look wild or anything. He says he'd like to have plants that are easy to pick up locally and he doesn't want any of those plants that you have to replant every year. I told him what he wanted was out of my league but I'd get help with suggestions on how to "fit in" without looking wild. I kept meaning to start a thread. I'll add pictures from different angles of his property and tell you what's going on as well as some of the suggestions one of his daughters in law had. If anyone feels up to the challenge, feel free to offer suggestions as I plan on printing out the entire thread for him and giving it to him for his birthday along with the gift of a shrub or maybe a vine to go up his martin house pole. No invasive plants or weedy plants though as he won't want to be dealing with a bunch of seedlings.

Here goes- this is the front of the home and it faces west.

As you can see to the left of his driveway, there are commercial buildings. I suggested he create some privacy by planting a mixed hedgerow of some sort. He thought that would be fine. Since that is sort of an alley there, probably not a good idea to put up a fence as the snow plows that come through would just destroy it within a few years.

This is another view to give you a better idea of the front. The sedums were a gift from another one of his daughters in law so they stay but he said it was ok to move them around or add more if that would help. That daughter in law also comes over and plants petunias every year.

Close up of the front, could probably use some plants with height-

Hey Eq! Are you in IL or MI? Might make a difference on what is native there. :)
So kind of you to help him along with making his yard match the rest, but I bet he won't even come close to how pretty I am betting yours is! :)

Another view of that bed and the hosta can be moved he said. I think he got the hosta from a girlfriend. Depends on whether he's still dating her or not whether it can be moved from that prominent position.

Now here's the side by the alley so you all can get a good peek at how everyone can see what's going on at his house-

This is traveling around the front of his house to the right. It's a southern exposure but with the houses so close together it really doesn't benefit from all the nice rays. As you can see, his daughter in law loves sedum and petunias. Me personally, I'd love to hide that meter.

This is a full length view of the south side of his home-

Lauren,
Which zone does he live in? Looks like he already has cement curb so I doubt he'll be interested in changing the shape, size of the flower bed. Sooooo guess that means working within the current outline.

First, lose that pruned overgrown everygreen against the house!!! A TALL interesting trellis there with a vigorous clematis there would be good. His flower bed is so narrow, he's going to have to get some vertical going on for impact. He might consider some other "yard art" for low maintance interest like a gazing ball on a medium height stand.

Replacing that white wrought iron railing with a more substainal white vinyl railing with nicely proportioned finial ball on the posts would make a HUGE difference! A couple of large rectangle cobalt blue ceramic pots with plants spilling it out would be nice but probably more work than what he wants until it's on a separate drip system.

A few Stargazer lilies, maybe a good strong blooming day lily, some tulips for spring, some purple coneflower and a taller variety of shasta daisy or black eyed Susan.

I'm curious to hear what others have to say.
Pat

This is the back of his house. It faces east and you can see the detached garage and oh look... more petunias! This is a great opportunity here folks. There is nothing but petunias happening.

Oh but how I LOVE petunias! :)

How about a trellis or lattice around that meter? Maybe some climbers up the side? I love petunias, but does she maybe suspect they come in more colors? Whew. How about a medium height evergreen hedge for the side nearest the commercial property? It would also help provide a bit of a noise barrier as well. Just need to find something in your area that can handle the road/sand/salt mess.

Back yard, sort of-

Back of the garage-

Back northeast corner of backyard-

Back southeast corner of backyard and that Prunus thing is infested and is dying so it must be replaced. He'd like something around 15-25' for there. I can probably take care of a tree choice for that spot. I will also take my chainsaw and cut down the other one for him so he doesn't have to pay a service to come and do it.

This is the east side of the property line-

Your tour is complete.

This last photo is the sum total of all the garden decorations we get to work with. Oh goodie goodie gum drops! I don't know which son bought these for him but they do need to be worked in to whatever we come up with. They're sort of fun but I sure wish he had more little concrete critters to spread around.

Ok, now to answer everyone's questions. I was on a roll loading photos and didn't want to lose my place.

This house is in Illinois. He likes my property very much but isn't interested in turning his property into a woodlands or a wetlands and he could care less about native plants. That's not important to him.

He is in zone 5b is my guess.

I'll spare you what I told him about his 'pruned overgrown everygreen against the house". He likes that butchered nekkid looking thing that's pruned half way up the trunk. He will be reading this so I'm not in a position to comment further but perhaps if he reads it from somebody else he will see how others view that THING.

As far as yard art goes, he's got some and it's in the last photo of this series. He'd probably be open to adding more or I could get a hold of one of his kids. Yard art makes for great Father's Day and Christmas gifts and for the man who has everything he wants, they're probably desperate right about now.

Post a link to a photo of what you had in mind when you typed this-

I really think he could use something else in that area too and he's got money, he just doesn't like to spend it on flowers and such.

The clematis is an excellent idea and they sell those by the boatload around here.

I can run some planters by him. I've already suggested one and couldn't really read him on that issue. Planters can be hard because if you forget to water them once, everything in them is toast. He'd probably be good about dumping a pitcher of water on one planter but more than that might be pushing it.

All of these are good save the Shasta Daisy but please get a link to the plants you are thinking of if at all possible because he basically knows nothing about plants and needs a photo. If he has a photo in front of him, he can decide better.

I like petunias myself but she used the exact same petunias everywhere. Must have been a firesale on that color petunias. They did add color to the yard though which was a step in the right direction. Count on those petunias being planted every year. His daughter in law is a very sweet person and it would hurt her feelings if he didn't let her plant her petunias.

Lattice around the meter is fine by me and probably fine by him if he goes with a few trellises elsewhere on the property to add a little visual interest which he is sorely lacking. One thing I have learned though, don't mess with the meter reader a lot or they will destroy what ever is in their way.

No salts back there in that alley. Alleys don't get salted in that town. An evergreen hedge would be fine. He'd have to buy them all small so they'd transplant better. I don't think he'd be thrilled about having to prune anything so take that into consideration. On the other hand, an electric pruner might make a nice gift for the man who has everything from one of his kids.

Equ, I'm drafting up my ideas and will post soon. I have some questions though:
1. Does he have a back door on the east end facing the back yard? I do see the side door on the southside.
2. When he parks his car, from which door does he enter his house?
3. Does he like to grill or BBQ outside? I don't see an outside living area with chairs where he could enjoy watching the birds and enjoy looking at a flower garden. His backyard is screaming for a patio area.

The back door to the house is actually not in the back but on the side of the house toward the back. It shows up in the photo that has the garden hose in it. So the "back door" is actually on the south side of the house.

He parks in the garage. There is a door on the side of the garage that he walks out of and he then walks across this area of concrete patio where you can see his grill and some lawn chairs and he goes into his house throught the "back door".

It's hard to see in the photo but he does have two grills. He likes to grill. I guess I didn't photograph it well but there is a concrete patio area running the length of the east/rear of his house.

He's not a bird watcher per se. I've pointed out birds to him and he's glanced the direction I was pointing and commented uhhuh. He's probably been patronizing me. He wouldn't be the type to ever go to an Audubon meeting unless there were going to be women his age there. Then he'd make an exception. He likes his wildlife on two legs.

You got that right, his backyard is screaming allrightie. It's screaming for a lot more than just a patio though ;)

I forgot to mention that I bought him one plant so far. I bought him a Callicarpa americana (American beautyberry). Ha ha ha, it's a native. Not to this area but it's a native and he absolutely loved it for the berries on it. I know he loved the plant. I could tell. So, I slipped one in on him and "Mikey liked it".
Here are photos of that shrub-
http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook/trees/caam.html
I think he planted near the door to the garage by the patio where that little dog house was.

He did say he'd go plant shopping. I plan on taking him to this nursery-
http://www.possibilityplace.com/

He knows a few other DG members so another one of them might drive down with us to go plant shopping this coming spring.

I have an attachment to my drill that is a bulb auger and am going to mention to him how easy it would be to drop tulips in the ground as suggested by psychw2. I can drill and he can stand there and supervise. Van Engelens has good prices in bulk too.
http://www.vanengelen.com/

Gazing with admiration, at Eq...you are slick. Could you invite DIL as well, introduce her to some new concepts...there's a potential gardener there. And maybe if you could find some lovely mature lady who gardens this could all be a moot point. LOL

Truthfully, since he lost his wife he's really not all that interested in women but every once in a while a lady attracts his attention and he may date her a little bit. He goes through the motions. He might be dating the same one he's been dating on and off for a while now and she's into silk flowers. Lovely woman but not a gardener. He's easy going and respectful and very attractive (inside and out) so he's very popular at the senior center with all the ladies. His one daughter in law (We can just call her Petunia Lover) is a teacher at a HS and she works full time, is in the process of completing her master's degree, takes care of his son, and takes care of his grandchildren. She lives up in WI about an hour away or so. Her plate's pretty full but she plants a lot of petunias and sedum at his house.

I talked to him on the phone this morning and told him I had started looking for help for him. All of the photos above were taken the end of September. Thought I'd toss that in since I bought the Beautyberry around that time and it's not showing in the picture. I just confirmed where he planted it. We had originally discussed another location but he wanted it by the door to the garage so he could see it. While on the phone, I asked him what colors he had in mind. Surprisingly he had distinct color preferences with yellow topping the list followed by purple. I asked him for a third color choice to go with the yellows and purples and he said red. He's into bold colors where I'm more into pastels. Glad he voiced color preferences. Makes it a lot easier.

I'm supposed to remind everybody that this curb appeal design is to be as little work as possible.

Another thing I asked him about was exactly how attached he was to that butchered nekkid looking "pruned overgrown everygreen against the house". He was silent for a moment but said it could go. As far as I'm concerned, getting him to allow that thing to go to plant heaven is progress.

Forgot to mention he lives close to a Home Depot and they have the white vinyl railings with nicely proportioned finial balls on the posts. He's ok with that. Wish someone could use one of my photos and draw that for him to give him the visual. I tried to draw it and failed miserably.

Speaking of bad drawings. This is one of the few ideas I had. Thought was to eliminate him having to use a weed wacker around his stoops and patio. Poor drawing but his stoops are about 4" above grade. Concrete patio is about 4" above grade too. My thoughts were to recess a soldier row of bricks that are the color he painted the foundation (red common bricks?) into the ground flush with the grade. Might finish off those areas a little bit and would look nice if it was followed through to around the back too by the door to the garage. Just a thought.

This here I can't think of much to do with it other than to entirely rip it out.

Talked to him again. We were talking about the white rails and lattice and he's changing his color preferences to yellow, purple, and white.

I got to thinking about the white vinyl railings with the finials and thought it might be nice to add a few white shutters here and there. The other thought that came to me since lattice was suggested would be cutting a lattice panel to the shape of his concrete steps going up to his front door. Can that be done? I think it might look nice. I tried my best to draw it in.

He'd like another small ornamental tree where the plant that is going to heaven is.

Poor photo of my new idea adding to psych2's ideas-

I like that idea, how about an emerald arborvitae to replace the "heaven directed" tree? That conical shape would add nice balance and their pretty tough as far as street pollution. Maybe replace those borders with something more attractive? I spotted several scalloped borders in both box stores that would look great there.

Believe it or not I was thinking of a few of those as being a possibility for the way back area of his backyard behind the garage backed up along the chain link fence to the alley. A little bit of privacy would be nice for that area. They're quite narrow and don't get much taller than 15' or so which would be ideal. I hadn't thought much about what to mix in with them to create a mixed border for that area though.

Here's a link to 'Green Emerald'-
http://landscaping.about.com/od/evergreentrees/p/arborvitae.htm

It would be nice to carry the visual of that plant up front and they are low maintenance which would be an added bonus to him.

Putting some along that fence line would be great! Maybe stagger them with another low maintenance evergreen for some contrast in color and texture? If he changes the borders in the front , he could also use the same border in front of those shrubs to help pull it together. Easier to add some mulch and maintain. Mow right up to the border. And of course add some petunias in the front (wink, evil grin)

Watch it guys I LIKE petunias!! It's the ONLY annual I plant EVERY year! I'm especially fond of "Wave" in bright pink.

I've got some idea's down on my computer and I'm going to spend some time later today getting links to all the flowers I listed.

I think he would like this idea... particularly if space is left for the petunias. Soooo, the petunias stay. We'll just refer to them as a staple over there and work around them.

There there there psychw2, I like petunias myself but some people are in need of broadening their horizons just a tad and you must admit that he is chalk full of sedums and petunias which doesn't exactly provide that curb appeal he is looking for. I do petunias every year but I also do geraniums as annuals, pansies, and snap dragons. I was thinking the snap dragons might be fun for him to consider adding as an annual because of his grand children. He does have some young grand children. I remember as a kid squishing their little cheeks in to make them talk. What kid out there hasn't squished the cheeks of snap dragons? It's fun squishing their cheeks.

Lauren,
There is a WONDERFUL deep purple elderberry tree that looks similar to Japanese Maple but is much hardier. There is also a purple sedum that is gorgeous. I'm REALLY glad to hear that "nekked THING" is going to plant heaven, it is U-G-L-Y!!! LOL

From the look of your pictures, I'd say his house is kind of taupe colored with more purplish/mauve color on the foundation. Is that about right? I thought white shutters would be nice too but wasn't sure there was room at the front window.

There is landscaping in a little town called Stateline, Oregon that is all purple, yellow and chartreuse green, it is STUNNING! Later today I'll get the list of plants ready with links to all of them. Later!

The chain link fence is a problem; it would be wonderful if it could be replaced with cottage-y white picket fence (ideally with pink roses sprawling over it). If Pooch Containment is an issue, galvanized steel fencing (sold in rolls at HD and Lowes) can be nailed to the lower inside fence posts, and buried into the ground (to prevent digging paws from making headway).

I can't stress enough how great hostas are for creating a low-maintenance garden! MUCH lower maintenance than grass!!! They're perfect in the colder zones, too! Just remember not to plant many of the same type; mix the cultivars up in terms of size and leaf color for the most interest.

With the UGLY tree removed would shade be an issue for hostas? The whole yard appears to get a lot of sun, I know there are sun tolerant varities, but I'm not sure how hardy they are, nor how much sun they can take. Yeah, yeah, I dig you like tunias, however, you have discovered they come in COLORS!! besides white and varigated.....sheesh, this thing needs some spice to make it POP!

This house is so cute- it has the potential to look quite 'cottage-y' i think.
If his budget will allow, is it possible to extend the front stoop across house incorporating that support pole into a nice covered front porch? Put the vinyl railings all the way across the front of the new porch with a couple of steps leading straight onto the existing driveway.
Above the south side door, a small porch awning would be nice to shield from rain and snow while getting in and out.
I have smoke trees which a sort of a hazy purple. I wonder if they would make a good hedge? How about lilacs?

I agree, Jax, about the chain link and the need to incorporate Hostas. A Hosta bed could be planted on the fence side. There should be enough shade from both houses to make a quite beautiful foliage shade garden.

Here's some notes I've jotted down:

Front of the house:

Plant three street trees (TBD) inside the sidewalk island if it's not owned and maintained by the city. If so, plant the trees along the front but not to block the view of the front window and door.

Widen the flower bed (it should be deep enough to be seen from inside the house looking out the picture window.) starting at the driveway/front door running from the front of the house all the way to the east side of the house to the back door. I know the fence breaks this. Put a vined arbor & gate there, like an entrance to a secret room.
Put in anchor shrubs like Japanese Pieris 'Brouwer's Beauty, Knock-out Roses, Hydregnas (zone?) then daylilies, iries and asters, then, the existing sedums and his dil's can still plant annual pentunias for pops of color.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/63829/
Redirect the front steps so that a walkway (Flush with the bed) can meander around the house to the east back door .(thinking 'bout the saying "back-door guests are best")


Deborah

The house is a light yellow and the paint used on the foundation is sort of brick red for lack of a better description. While the yellow didn't exactly turn out in the photo true to color, the color of the foundation is pretty darn close.

I like the idea of an elderberry. Many are multi stemmed. A purple one would probably be a hit with him since that's one of the colors he'd like to go with in his yard. Where do you get them from?

I love chartreuse green. Wonder if he does?

The chain link fence stays. His dog is a runner and it would take off into 4 lanes of traffic not even a tenth of a block away from his home and would end up a dobie pancake. We can't have his dog reduced to postage stamp thickness on the road. It's a sweet dog anyway although it barks a lot which some people find annoying. Me, I don't even hear excessive barking any longer because I'm desensitized I guess.

Hostas are a great idea. I've got about 20 I can divide and give to him. Where would you like to see them planted on his property?

I think we all like petunias, just not so many of them all in the same color intermixed with ho hum Caucasian flesh colored sedums. Sedums are so over planted as it is but those stay too. I can move them around and was sort of thinking of moving them to the east side of the house where he has his garden hose. At least they won't be so highly visible there and other plants could be planted in and around them that might camoflauge them somewhat. Remember, those sedums and petunias were a gift from one of his daughters in law.

One thing I'd like to see him consider at some point in time would be a new patio set but with him being gone so much, I don't know that what he already has won't suffice. Another thought would be two lawn chairs somewhere out back as an area to sit and look around or to just chat. He probably wouldn't use the chairs himself but his kids and grandchildren might and there's nothing more inviting than a few chairs set up in a quiet corner of a yard.

Oh, like those ideas, but since he likes purple I'd suggest MIDNIGHT BLUE™ PPAF, rose; its a multiflora, shrub rose and they require little care. This rose is a deep purple with yellow stamens and very fragrant.
I have got to quit looking at these darned rose catalogs! I want a purple themed rose bed and I'm gonna have to have a couple of those. Yummy!

Hey Cordeledawg, typing when you were typing and posting.

I am pretty sure he will like the idea of hostas because I can start him out with about 20.

Sidewalk island is owned by the city.

Can you please make a line drawing of all of this and take a picture of it with a digital camera to post? I'm sort of following along but you're going to lose him.