I’m brainstorming and drafting ideas for the front of my home. I’d love to read what you wish you’d known before tackling a front yard landscaping project. I’m also open to general advice if you have anything to share.
Info:
I’m new to landscaping. This is my first house. I love outdoor projects and I’m willing to put work into it. Zone 6b Clay soil Single story black house I own two nosy dogs
Ahh, that’s a good reminder. I’ll definitely check and measure before buying.
And don’t just read the tags, do real research and find extension or botanical garden education pages that will tell you exactly what specific species will need and how large they will be- tags on plants are significantly lacking in information and they are often incorrect. Especially when it comes to telling people where the plants can be placed and how much sun they need- so many acid loving plants are listed as foundation plants for example and concrete foundations create alkaline conditions, it’s a recipe for stressed plants due to poor placement. So don’t base your decisions on tags alone, learn about the plants you plan to use first. Make it a two trip project for plant selection. Take pictures at the nursery of the tags on plants that interest you and go home and find out more before making your design choices.
This is the real advice. If you can, look up a plant on the RHS website. Even if you’re outside the UK the info will be accurate for size, soil, light.
I didn’t know that about foundations. I’ll definitely note that. Thank you!
Well that method certainly prevents weeds from growing in between plants you intentionally plant.
I also like the dense, wild look 🤷🏼♂️
Yea gardeners from outside US joke about how USians don't like our plants to touch in our gardens. And it's true! I also enjoy a denser, wilder, look.
IM DROWNING IN HOSTAS OVER HERE, DO YOU WANT A SPLIT? PLEASE? ILL PAY YOU COME ON!
Most of the tags on the shrubs we purchased were wrong. Some are nearly twice the size they were supposed to be. It still looks okay and I just laugh and shake my head every time I see them.
Know that the tags are for 7-8 year growth, NOT maturity. They figure people will change their mind and relandscape at the 7-8 year marker.
A lot of old gardening adages are true.
Right plant, right place - Consider the amount of sun/shade each location receives, the soil/watering needs of each plant and the maximum size at maturity.
1st year sleeping, 2nd year creeping, 3rd year leaping - Basically, be patient and don't over plant an area. Use annuals to fill in sparse areas while you wait for perennials/shrubs to increase in size.
Tallest in back, medium in middle, shortest in front
It's better to put a $5 plant in a $50 hole than a $50 plant in a $5 hole - Clay soil is great because it's nutrient rich and holds moisture, but it doesn't drain well. Continually amending with compost and other organic material will loosen it up over time.
If you're in the U.S., your state university's cooperative education program website will have lots of great info for your particular area. You can probably also call/email a local volunteer Master Gardener with your questions.
I try to choose plants I only have to touch a maximum of once or twice per year. The previous owner of my house planted tons of shrubs that need pruning 5 or 6 times per year. I curse him every time I'm doing it and celebrate when one of them dies and I can replace it with something lower maintenance. I've also learned to appreciate the natural shapes of plants and not try to prune them into perfect spheres or cubes like the previous owner had them.
Check out local plant sharing groups on FB or Nextdoor. Sometimes people are splitting/giving away exactly what you're looking for.
There are also free garden planning websites available. I like My Garden Planner.
the city's road improvement plans that will require me to remove and relocate hundreds of native perennials i've spent half a decade establishing. learn from me and don't get too attached to anything you may choose to plant on the city side of the sidewalk
I never would have thought of that. Appreciate it!
The city side of the sidewalk? Like the boulevard?
Where I'm from, a boulevard is a landscaped median in a roadway. But if you mean it to describe the part of your yard that is between the sidewalk and the street, then yes!
Ok yes that's what I'm talking about, the strip of grass between the sidewalk and the street. I was under the impression that those plots belonged to the city and that you can't put plants there? I went to my city a few years ago about a snow emergency route sign they put on the boulevard in front of my house instead of 10' away on a full sized plot the city owns. The city told me that it owns all the boulevards and no modifications are to be made.
That might just be my area, but it makes sense because fire hydrants and road signs and whatnot.
Your city might forbid it? Mine doesn't, aside from keeping plants under 3 feet tall and under 12 inches within a certain distance of the roads for clear lines of sight for drivers. We need city permission to plant trees, but the city will then pay for the trees. I have four veggie garden beds in that area, as well. The city encourages us to plant there and to replace our lawns with native plants and rain gardens. Few people do, but I didn't want 8,000+ square feet of lawn.
That's called a hell strip
Boulevard is a type of street.
Research pests in your area. I am PLAGUED by lily leaf beetles.
I made a would be amazing bulb garden, spent over $800 on bulbs, and every spring im out there picking these little bastards off. If im too slow, I get to handle thousands of their larvae and their “fecal shields” that’s right, they wear their poop. Disgusting bugs.
When I first moved into my house 1.5 yrs ago. I took pics of my yard from sunrise to sunset every hour on the hour on Winter solstice and Summer Solstice (the darkest and lightest day of the year.). That way I knew exactly when and where the sun got to and just “how much” shadow a spot got.
Then 6 months ago I started my backyard garden.
If you have the time, I’d give your house a year to speak to you. That’ll give you time to research what you want, get your soil tested, and make plans without feeling like you’re under the gun, time wise.
Your photo idea is great! I’ve been using my Ring cameras to track the sunlight by the hour and changes by season for the past year.
There are AR apps on the App Store that'll use your location to plot the sun's position at whatever times you want throughout the day / year.
This. Zone 7a: In early Spring I planted a ‘shade garden’ on the north side of my house. Lots of shade loving plants that I knew would be OK in the dappled morning sun. However, in midsummer the blazing sun peeps around the house in the afternoon/evening to scorch the area for 4+ hours. Sun/shade plants did OK. True shade plants were burnt to a crisp (even with tons of water). I tried planting a wall of sunflowers to provide more shade but they didn’t get tall enough in the crappy clay, so now I need to rig up a shade sail (or move a lot of plants). Sun studies are the way!
Studies suggest that people who eat 1 ounce (30 grams) of sunflower seeds daily as part of a healthy diet may reduce fasting blood sugar by about 10% within six months, compared to a healthy diet alone. The blood-sugar-lowering effect of sunflower seeds may partially be due to the plant compound chlorogenic acid
My ultimate goal is to never plant anything that I will have to prune to fit the space. There are so many wonderful shrubs now that only get 2-3’ high and wide. I ripped out the boxwoods years ago, best decision ever! I’m all about low maintenance and perennial flowers. Like the first commenter said, space the shrubs for their MATURE size. And don’t scrimp on the mulch, it’s the ultimate work saver!
Why is everyone so afraid of maintenance on this sub? It's one of my favorite things to do.
Because it takes time and resources you might be at lack at some point of your life. Some people just like to have a nice view from their window and not to be constantly busy maintaining. it's OK if you have a spare few bucks to pay to your landscapers but not everybody has it.
And as you get older your deteriorating health could be a problem, because let's be frank: gardening is often physically demanding. I'm in my late thirties and got a nasty lumbago myself last week from moving 500 kg of topsoil in my garden, just as an example.
Personally I find gardening very relaxing but I definitely understand people who don't feel that way.
I don't think it's always afraid of maintenance. Sometimes, details in peoples lives require them to make decisions that will require little input post initial project. Example: they have special needs person at home, they have a degenerative condition and know that eventually they will not be able to maintain, they work long hours and have very little extra weekend time, they do not possess the skills nor the interest in pruning.
And probably 50,000 other scenarios. It's not all about not wanting to do the work... It is often a realistic view of their future time needs vs ability/desire.
It is very enjoyable for some, and it is unattainable for others. Just like anything really...
1.3 acres, a needy aged horse, aging parents who need constant check is, and taxing job.
There's no time for some needy plant. I plant it and tell it to live and fend for itself. I love my natives for being one of the few low maintenance beings in my life.
Let your horse free and you'll have more time for plants. It's not natural to keep animals in captivity anyway. Keeping animals prisoner is destroying our native ecosystems.
Setting my horse free would be killing him the worst way possible. He's got Cushing’s. That's a pituitary tumor which affects metabolism and effectively gives them horsey diabetes and makes sure they can't thermoregulate.
Without his $370 of meds a month his feet would literally rotate inside his hooves, giving him crippling pain every moment of every day.
You're a fucking idiot.
Treating animals for disease is unnatural and goes against natural selection. It's destroying the environment. Especially using meds. The manufacturing processes for medications are polluting the environment and killing pollinators in the billions.
Sometimes people are different. Novel concept, but it’s true!
Same here. It’s therapeutic
My experience is that maintenance is fine and dandy when you're hale and hearty, but serious illness can strike suddenly or one could find themselves getting older needing to replace their landscape without the means, financially/physically.
I love pruning stuff lol. It's one of the things I look forward to every year.
Boxwoods are among the easiest to maintain shrubs. I only trim mine once in early summer, so they grow very slowly. They can be beautifully shaped and are probably the best widely available shrub for manicured landscaping. Finally, they can withstand an absolute beating, winter and summer; I do nothing to protect them.
I have a shit ton of boxwoods and give them my highest recommendation to everyone who asks about my landscaping.
I am obsessed with boxwoods! The versatility is what makes it appealing. I’m about to plant a hedge of wintergreen boxwoods.
Which plants do you recommend that are 2-3 feet high? Need to replace boxwoods that died
There’s just so many drawf varieties of just about anything you can imagine. Hydrangeas, spireas, sweetspire, Summersweet, Holly, even boxwood. Lilacs, butterfly bush, azaleas, forsythia, viburnum, Crape Myrtle. And dwarf arborvitae, junipers, and hynoki. I can’t rattle off all the names of the varieties , but a quick internet search would give you tons of ideas. Search drawf shrubs or shrubs with a mature height of less than 3’. Happy Gardening!
Love with the property through a turn of the seasons.
Notice any interesting feature and treat it as an asset. It's there a damp spot that might be great for water living plants? A slope you can design around? A shaded spot where moss thrives that you could plant around to make a retreat?
Take the property as it is and work with that rather than reshape it into something that is not. It took me a long time to get that, but it makes maintaining my property a lot more joyful.
Oh, and things can happen slowly. You can build gardens and features over the course of years, not a weekend.
100%. Work with the natural beauty of your property. You don't need backhoes to have a lovely property.
Pea gravel is the devil.
So many regrets.
I'm paying the hand sifting price of the previous owners this year. They mulched over the gravel during the sale. Rip my arms and lower back.
That’s just demonic. Hope they sleep poorly.
500 billion little window breakers. Used to run a landscape business. The gravel walkway homes were the only lawns that we would sometimes refuse to do. It doesn't matter if you can open a bottle of wine with your precision string trimming, the law of averages say one of those little buggers has it out for your window. It's only a matter of time before you find each other. Also, I've noticed there's a direct correlation between the use of gavel walkways and window cost. The more gravel used the more expensive the window. Karens would be so offended when we refused to do their lawns. Sure, Karen, we'll do your yard. We just need you to sign this form stating that you understand that we aren't responsible for replacing your 2 story, 100 year old, stained glass bay window when it gets obliterated by a rock the size of a pencil led. What? You're not interested in signing our form? No problem. We're not interested in mowing your lawn. The risk of having to lose a summer's worth of profit because your best friend's cousin's kid who dated a landscaper in college said pea gravel was just the thing to highlight all the giant windows in your house is just not worth it. In that business, you expect to have to replace windows on occasion but you do your best to limit those to the least expensive ones wherever possible. I've yet to come across a good solid reason to use tiny rocks in any home landscaping project. If it seems like the best solution for your project, you haven't researched enough.
Is it equally problematic for a driveway? We just bought a house (first time owner) and our driveway is pea gravel
Are you sure it’s pea gravel and not crushed stone? Pea gravel doesn’t interlock, so it just moves around when you walk or drive on it. Definitely not ideal for a driveway
Yeah it is definitely pea gravel, it moves around when you walk or drive on it.
Having a real issue fighting weeds growing through it
Honestly probably best to remove and replace with crushed rock or pavers.
Pea gravel is great in contained areas, but not wide application.
You might be able to sell it though!
WEEDS
1.) Plant some evergreens for some winter interest and as foundation plants, or else everything will look dreary in the winter.
2.) Make sure you know how much sunlight that side of the house gets, and plant things that can handle the brightness or the shade appropriately.
3.) I used to think that annuals were a waste of money (they kinda are still), but they offer so much color to any landscape. They bloom and bloom endlessly, and it makes any garden look much nicer. It's also nice cause you can just rip it out after the season passes easily.
4.) Clay soil...Oh dear. I have clay soil and it's very DIFFICULT to work with. It soaks up so much water and becomes a muddy mess when wet, but dry AF when dry. Make sure your plants aren't fussy with soil conditions.
5.) Don't just plant things to fill it in and get instant gratification. Make sure you think about the mature size of your plants, or you're spend a lot of time digging stuff out once the plants overwhelm each other.
6.) Since you have dogs, make sure the plants aren't poisonous towards dogs. Also, some plants attract neighborhood cats (ie. catmint) so take that in consideration if you don't want em.
Happy landscaping!
edit: spelling
Oooh good point about plants that attract cats. I’ll definitely consider that and prey animals.
Yeah if deer are in your area, do a search before planting. I’ve heard they will eat a lot of freshly planted stuff
I have a lot of wildlife. It’s a new subdivision in a rural area with a lot of birds, deer, and rabbits for sure. I’ve seen butterflies, dragonflies, fireflies, and frogs as well. I’d like to support creatures as much as I can without being destructive.
There are definitely plants that are less attractive to wildlife.
Most important things
Mature size and spacing
Soil conditions, how to properly amend if needed
How much sun the area gets
Plant native
Year round blooms, don’t get all plants that bloom in the spring/summer/fall. Something for every season.
Perennials as your main focus, annuals as accents you can change each year if you want. (We do ours right in the front row of the garden bed, easy to access)
Have fun!!
Live in zone 6, Canada. - I didn’t look at my roofline when i planted small round evergreens in my front yard. Winter came and snow was heavy, we salted the pathway a lot, the evergreens were exactly at the roofline and beside pathway so it got dumped with all the heavy snow from the roof. Evergreens didn’t make it. So now I am mindful of pathways and roofline. - seasonal interest. I realized after a full year that my front yard looks bare during certain seasons. So now i try to plant for enjoying blooms in succession plus evergreens for winter. Happy gardening!
I wish I'd known that it's crucial to consider the specific needs of my dogs when designing the front yard. As a dog owner, I didn't realize how much they would impact the space. For instance, I didn't plan for the constant traffic they create, which has damaged the lawn. Now, I'm considering using pavers or mulch to cover the soil in those areas. It's been a learning experience, but I'm excited to adapt and make it work for both my home and my furry friends.
So, it’s 50/50 if they’ll use the pavers. I promise. Dogs are weird. Their little lawn trails are usually pretty neat though. Mine have one on each side of the paver path. Also, they don’t really like to walk on grass? Dogs are weird.
This is all plant related.
If the same shrub is available in 3 gallon or a trade gallon pot, get the 3 gallon if you can afford it. The smaller ones take longer than you'd expect to get as big as the 3 gallon plants.
Also try to find some locally owned nurseries and garden centers. They usually have a better selection and healthier plants than Lowe's/Home Depot.
When you plant shrubs and trees, expose the root flare, and if your clay soil doesn't drain well, don't plant them flush with the grade, use the dirt from the hole to cover the sides of the root ball and gently slope down.
Interesting. There's research that planting a smaller tree will give you better growth over time than buying the bigger tree because the bigger tree had its roots cut and destroyed. The small tree had less of an injury to heal, so it grows bigger at something like the 8-15 year mark. I don't remember exact years.
I have heard that too, but I think a 3 gallon pots still counts as a pretty small plant. For shrubs (i.e. azaleas, hydrangeas, junipers, dwarf yaupon) I have always had the best luck with 3 gallon pots. We get really hot summers here and my current and previous front yards were both full sun, so that could be part of it.
One other thing I have noticed is that a LOT of the trade gallon shrubs I have bought should have been repotted way before they came home with me, with a lot of circling roots or crowded roots formed to the pot. Most of the 3 gallon shrubs have had healthier root balls.
Also, I don't mind waiting for stuff to grow in, but my personal preference is for any shrubs in the back of beds to start out taller than the annuals and perennials in front of them. I've got two trade gallon azaleas that I planted last year which are now hidden behind clumps of liriope. Bad planning on my part, but still. They grew maybe 4 inches taller and 6 inches wider, the 3 gallon azaleas I planted the same weekend are about twice as wide as when they went in and 5-6 inches taller.
I did plant some 12 gallon wax myrtles and really wish I had been able to find some smaller ones. They are not establishing well and I have a feeling one of them is going to have to be taken back out.
Where on earth did you find 12 gal wax myrtles? I have found a handful of 1 gal only.
I called every nursery in my area, the only place that had any was like "we've got three, they are in 12 gallon pots and are $40 each" - I think they were old stock that wasn't moving. It was an awkward fit in my crv lol. Literally all I see get planted new around here are loropetalum (soooo much freaking loropetalum), black leaf crape myrtle, knockout roses, encore azaleas, limelight hydrangea, the various dead Christmas trees, sky pencil holly, and little gem magnolia. So I'm guessing nobody wanted these.
I see. The recommendations to plant them>the actual availability, for me at least. I’m still looking. Guess I should call lol
If it's not too late, don't plant a Bermuda lawn. The stuff invades everything (by growing underground, on the surface, and by blown seeds), and you will spend all your time digging it out of your beds. It will take control of your free time. Not exaggerating.
weed barrier fabric is terrible. it doesnt work and makes weeds harder to pull
YES!!! Weed barrier fabric does not stop weeds -- not even in the first season. A thick layer of mulch that you replenish every few years is so much more effective, and it will break down and improve your soil over time.
Find a local, native garden store/nursery. The plants tend to the healthier and the staff tend to actually know and care about what they are selling. Plan big if you want but start with foundation plants and fill in. Keep an eye on the time commitments you are making. Some landscaping requires very little maintenance and some requires a lot. I love it and would gladly spend a couple of hours a day outside if I could. Some people can only spend a couple odd hours a month or a quarter. Join local FB/reddit groups- there is a wealth of knowledge.
Best advice I got when we moved into a new home was to take a chill pill with landscape decisions. Live there a year, see what grows and what you like. Surely your new home has plenty of projects for you to tackle now.
We used those bamboo “canes” for plants to grow up to map out different paths and borders to “practice” walking places and see how it felt. Look up ‘desire paths’ if you don’t know them. That was helpful in planning.
Edit: I meant to do a regular reply. I’ll just keep this here anyway.
Thanks! That’s a really smart idea, I’ll look into that.
In case it wasn’t clear, we laid the canes down to “draw lines” we didn’t put them up right like a driving test course.
Ok but a go kart driving test course would be fun!
But I did understand what you meant. 😊
Clay soil means plant everything high. Wide, shallow holes. Clay holds water, so if you plant level or low, water will sit in the bottom of the hole and kill nearly everything. The top 1” of every root ball should be above ground level. Then backfill soil/ topsoil mixture and tamp. Finish by pushing soil around 1” of exposed rootball, not on top. Only mulch goes on top, and not piled against trunk. You also don’t want to use more than 20% topsoil in your backfill mix.
Oooh thank you!!!
Have good soil trucked in.
If only it was that easy. ;-)
My soul is kind of worn out. Wouldn't mind a new one, LOL.
That my main was gonna break 3 months after a full lawn tear-out ie killed the weeds and 2 pieces of crabgrass, rototilled, graded. 😒😒 as soon as the lawn was nice and full I had to bring the mini home and dig through the entire fucking length 😒😒 but hey at least we have good pressure now, fucking morons had a 1/2 main at 2’…at 4’ we found the old old main, needless to say it’s at 4.5’ now where it’s supposed to be 😂
I'm currently in the process of deconstructing my front yard. Previous person had it beautifully decorated but filled the problem areas so you couldn't see them.
What I've learned is location matters. There was a big beautiful bush by the corner of my sunroom that provided important shade so that room didn't get too hot (100 year old house with 10 100 year old windows). The last 2 winters, we've had a few very heavy snowfalls and it damaged the bush beyond saving so I just had to cut it down. Had it just been a foot or 2 further away from the house, it would have saved my shade/privacy providing bush. My gas meter is now in front too and they made us remove one of our hedges. I have no idea what they're called but they look like our hedges but are tree sized and we have 1 on each side of our front door. They were planted too close to the house and are now damaging our gutters.
I don't have a really large front yard but my biggest job has been to clear out the mulch. I love mulch and am going to replace it but the previous person just threw new mulch down year after year and a ton of garbage started to float up. When I started to clean it up, I realized there were layers of that thick weed barrier cloth. I may get hate for this but I cannot stand it. Plants and weeds still grow through it. I've got half a dozen healthy hosts that have fully grown through it and and only a couple survived being moved because I'm on my hands and knees with a box cutter trying to get them out. I've been working on it a little bit almost every day for about a month and I finally just gave up and am paying someone to come remove it for me so I can move on with the rest of my landscaping projects.
And edging is important. If you plan on using it, it makes a huge difference. Do your research. The first one I used was like a little fence to keep the mulch in its area. Mowing near it was not fun and it collapsed after a year because I went cheap. It was also a weird shape in the yard so to make mowing easier, I'm switching to the long flat bricks that'll be flush in the grass but enough to keep the mulch in, in cleaner lines that will make mowing easier and look better.
One thing I wish I knew before landscaping was to consider maintenance. Pick plants that won't drive you crazy with upkeep. Also, think about your dogs - they might mess with delicate plants. Maybe go for sturdy ones.
I probably should have just tore out the garden beds and added new soil to start my own with and then maybe I’d be dealing with less weeds.
I wish I had known that the person who bought my house would rip up the gardenias and azaleas and also cut down the live oak tree to have nothing but grass in the whole yard. I would have taken the gardenias and azaleas with me....
Oh no!!! I’d be devastated.
I have promised myself never to go by that house again, even though it was my childhood home that my parents sold to me. It's so sad to see things change so much in a short amount of time.
I'm a redneck so this might not applyh to all but its really easy to park shit in the front yard. Its harder to move it afterwards.
I have the toy parked in the front driveway, the old block next to it almost to the curb and the new trans case next to the back tires 🤙🏻
I didn't put in electricity in advance. I would still like some lights, but unwilling to dig out permanent stuff to hide any wires.
Solar lights are your friends. They come in lots of sizes and designs now.
Home Depot “demands” that I pay for plants before I load them in my truck and take them To my house
Do what you want with design, but is the soil wet or dry? Sun Full partial or shade. Pick appropriate plants. Like in my back yard theres a corner by my patio that gets gutter and surface run off. Not a swamp but the dirt is usually wet. 80% sun. Put a japanese willow bush there and i can barely control it. Its perfect conditions. Pretty but its insane growth.
you'll have a much easier time planting things that are native to your area.. or at least are happy with your soil/temp/rain. Check your soils pH levels if you are going to go big into planting! Make sure you know what areas of your yard are full sun, partial, and full shade after you build whatever it is you wish to build! (fences, sheds, hedges all change your sun situation! Anywho.. I wish you luck!
On clay soil… don’t pretend that you can undo what Mother Nature did over hundreds of thousands of years. You cannot turn clay soil into loam. Garden soils and mulches are great on top of clay soil, do not try to till them into the clay. It’s a waste of time, money, and effort with zero benefit and potential negative impacts.
Like diamonds, clay soils are forever.
Someone already mentioned it but definitely look for a local nursery that focuses on native plants. They’ll be best equipped to help you with finding the right plants for your soil type and ways to provide them with the nutrients they need.
You definitely can’t transform it entirely, but you can make it much much easier to work with. When I started my soil was like concrete in the summer, and 3 years of heavy top-mulch + bulb planting + regular planting later there are still bug chunks of clay, but they’re smaller and there’s looser soil in between. Definitely still clay, but much kinder to my back
You definitely took the right approach.
Dwarf is better than regular.
Spend time walking / biking around your neighborhood / area and looking at other folk's yards. What plants and landscaping appeals to you? Pay particular attention to yards that have the same aspect.
Consider watering and irrigation. There are great native, xeric, and pollinator plants that don't require much water.
This is great advice -- see what is thriving in your neighborhood already, you'll know it can withstand your clay soil! You might even be able to get friendly with your neighbors and get some free plant divisions from them.
Do your homework on native and pollinator friendly plants. Look around you at neighbor’s yard to see what is thriving. Do not plant too close to each other or house or fences.
If you want easy care do not plant a lot of things that need tying up, deadheading, or treating for diseases. Use a natural mulch, not dyed or full of chemicals.
Also I like to plant early season, mid season, and late season plant that flower so there is always something standing out.
Put in trees first. They are the bones of your landscape and take longer to mature than anything else. They also affect whether you have a shady yard or sunny yard, which in turn dictates what type of plants are going to thrive.
If you already have trees, it’s getting a bit late to prune, but that’s one of the first things I do.
Please consider native plants and check to make sure you are not planting invasives.
Don't be afraid of plant that attract bees. It's great to have a bunch of pollinators around to help your garden. I have a bunch of lavender scattered around my clay soiled yard. They are evergreen, low maintenance, drought tolerant & I love purple!
When we bought our house I was advised to drive around the neighborhood (new development) and see what the city was planting. Call it copying/cheating off someone's work, but cities will often plant shrubs that are low maintenance & made for their climate.
I didn’t realize lavender would do well in clay. I have a black house and really love how lavender looks against it.
Whenever I plant anything here I always make the hole bigger than it needs to be to amend the soil beneath & around what's being planted. Tossing a little gravel/sand/compost at the bottom of any hole has worked well for me. Good luck & congrats on the house!
Lavender works beautifully for me in a super sunny spot or on a slight slope, but if it’s shady or even a little soggy in the winter they instantly die
Not sure if this was mentioned but look into using native plants for your area. This will attract pollinators and is overall beneficial to the environment.
And my personal opinion, less is more. I think things can look a little chaotic when people try to fill every space with something.
Know where your overhead power lines are and don't plant anything under them that will grow that high.
Not a professional, just someone who has owned my home for 13 years and likes to garden.
Be realistic about the time you are going to spend taking care of your landscaping and choose plants with the corresponding maintenance requirements. Assume that you will be busier than you think and consider that there will be times you may not be able to be in the garden as much as you'd like. Are all your plants going to die because you didn't baby them?
I prefer natives. I'm in a hot, dry area and the natives just do so much better than anything else and they help support the native wildlife.
Be aware of your water needs. Living in an area where there are water restrictions, we can only run in-ground sprinklers 1 day per week if water levels are good. If water levels are bad, we are not allowed to run automatic sprinklers at all. Hand watering only. Water usage for landscaping is becoming a bigger issue in more places, so just be aware of how much water your landscaping needs and if you're willing to pay for it in time and money.
Do not trust the plant tags at the big box garden centers. Many of them are inaccurate. Google the plant and the specific variety and see if it is actually well suited to the area you want to plant it in.
Depending on your needs, consider drip irrigation. My plants have been so much more successful using a drip irrigation system than the in-ground sprinklers. A lot of plants like to be watered from the roots and may end up with mold, mildew and other issues if watered regularly with sprinklers (looking at you, rose bushes). Drip also saves a lot on water usage and water bills because it's precise and you don't loose as much to evaporation.
Electric and irrigation first.
Plant at least a foot away from the building.
Large perennials can be divided and turn one big plant in to three smaller plants very easily.
Plant something hearty re: dog pee near the sidewalk (eg catmint, not catnip—it won’t attract cats in any significant way).
I wish I had known that the classification "dwarf conifer" is really about the growth rate and not the mature size of the tree. I wish I had known that a Japanese maple was never going to survive in my yard. I wish I had known that some perennials have a very short lifespan.
Consider “rewilding”sections of your yard. I wish we had done this for our back yard when we cleared the back portion of our lot.
You don’t have to do this to the entire yard, of course. Have patches of grass with flowerbeds planted in native plants.
Congratulations on your home!
Sleep (Year 1), Creep (2) and Leap (3); believe the plant tags on height/width.
natives only please
Installed lawn but a side of it doesn’t get enough sun to properly grow due to my house location. The old owners had a brick patio there and now we know why.
Personally in the process of doing this! A few tips from someone who started from scratch (front yard was literally just wood chips) and now gets compliments regularly from neighbors: - Incremental is your friend: do some test planting, let your paths develop organically, don’t be afraid to move things around. This isn’t a one-and-done thing - Learn how to irrigate: drip irrigation is easy to install yourself, and depending on your climate you’ll probably want it for new plantings at least. Don’t let your hard work get erased because you got too busy to water - Look at nearby houses: see which plants are thriving in your environment, and the contexts where they’re doing well - Check if the things you’re planting are toxic to dogs: a lot of things you wouldn’t expect are problematic if dogs eat them - For clay soil specifically: mulch, mulch, mulch with something biodegradable to improve the soil quality and make it more workable. You can also plant bulbs (esp tulips/daffodils - but don’t let your dogs get the bulbs, they’re really bad for them) to help break up the soil the first year
So excited for you! Lmk if I can help
Thank you! I’ve been afraid of judgment if I did it incrementally. I was worried about people thinking it was messy so I’ve been pressuring myself to have a plan and do it all at once. It’s intimidating.
The judgement is only there if you let weeds dominate in my experience. My neighbors started paying complements as soon as they saw me outside working on it regularly - people just want to know you’re working on it, and they’ll often have patience if they see you doing it yourself! Do consider some impactful annuals to make it pretty in the meantime!
Thanks!
Best of luck, it’s really fun!
Make sure you leave a nice open space between the bottom of your siding and the top of your mulch, especially if the siding is closer to the ground, this will help keep termites and ants from becoming a problem
Excellent tip. Thank you!
I'm no expert, but planted tiny trees (no idea what kind) that were 6" tall. After 20 years (which went by surprisingly quick), the were window blocking 7' monsters.
Getting the roots out of them and other bushes from the previous home owner was a chore and a half. Ripped it all out and built paver stone raised garden beds, filled them with dirt, covered that with landscaping fabric, then 3/4" bluestone for mulch. I use small, slow growing plants for 1/2 of it and annuals in the rest to give it some color. So springtime I'll spend ~$40 on some annuals and stick them in.
I also ran my sprinkler to them and converted that to 3/4" PVC. I drilled 1/16" holes where the plants are and now they are automatically watered. Very low maintenance.
This year I took composite landscaping edging and made circles for the annuals so I can keep the bluetstone separated
What I learned:
Good not to have organic mulch near your house - bugs. I used river rocks (which are $$$ but I like them) and it has cut down a lot on bugs.
Dirt settles. I didn't realize by how much so I wish I overfilled the dirt in the raised garden beds and gave it a few weeks of rain to settle before I put plants/bluestone in.
Where you can, get bulk delivery of materials. It is WAY cheaper than buying by the bag (reference expensive river rocks above).
Get a Gorilla Cart if you are moving materials - it is much better on your back than a wheelbarrow.
I was intending to post a pic but doesn't look like I can in this sub.
Pampas looks cool at first. Then it looks like a ratty child’s hair that hasn’t been brushed in a month.
I wish I knew and had considered the cost of water going up in the future. I live in Southern California and over the years there have been periods of drought. This caused state impose water rates. Even if you're in areas that have plenty of water and regularly dumping off to the ocean. If I had known I would have got more drop tolerant landscape design. Removing and moving to a drought tolerant, low maintenance landscape
Honestly, consider what is native to your region. Those plants will be already well adapted to your soil type, annual rainfall, and overall climate.
Definitely. I’ve seen that a few times so that’s my next step. Research native plants and design off of my choices from those. I have no desire to fight against nature.
When we bought our house a few (37 lol) years ago, we wanted to hide our very prominent foundation. There were large arborvitae all along the front and I hated them. We removed the shrubs and installed a 3' stone retaining wall. I proceeded to go to a local garden center to get advice on what to plant. I followed their advice and purchased rhododendron, boxwood, holly, azalea, and mountain laurel. Then I ignored them for about 20 years.
Don't be me. Follow the great advice of everyone on this sub. Research the plants you're interested in and pay attention to the maximum size of the plant. Most of my shrubs got way too big and completely unshaped. The soil also settled a lot. So now I am attempting to do remediation by pruning hard everything that I can't remove. I have to add 3 yards of topsoil and then mulch. I am going to have to fill in with new dwarf shrubs.
Also, make sure to plant several feet away from the foundation. I have been stabbed by branches so many times and it is really hard to get to my window boxes.
Anyway, you are way ahead of the game by asking questions before you make any moves. Careful planning will save you a lot of time, money, and frustration.
Good luck!
Thank you! I appreciate all of the advice here. A lot to take in before starting anything.
Hire a local designer to.give you a plan.
I wish I'd known that we were going to have issues with flooding and lack of drainage. If I had taken the time to look at how and where the water moved (and why), I could have come up with a better plan for the whole property and just done that from the beginning. Instead, we made multiple changes without realizing that they would create problems elsewhere.
For example, it turned out that the shrubs we removed because they were damaging the sewer line had also been sucking up the rainwater runoff from our neighbors. Without them, our yard started to flood. We solved that issue, only for the driveway to start flooding instead. In another example, we moved the piled-up dirt that was ruining the stucco on one wall and accidentally created a path for water to get into our crawlspace. Even installing new gutters is going to be more complicated now, because I've already planted things in spots that are in the way.
Philips Hue has been a game changer.
No water, no lawn, no maintenance, no worries
I wish I had realized that beneath the overgrown, weirdly placed wall of bushes that I happily ripped out, were nothing but giant stumps and roots from trees cut down before us. I cannot dig or plant anything there now because of it. Now I know why there was a weirdly placed wall of bushes in the only space you can get into the dirt.
Do what you want with design, but is the soil wet or dry? Sun Full partial or shade. Pick appropriate plants. Like in my back yard theres a corner by my patio that gets gutter and surface run off. Not a swamp but the dirt is usually wet. 80% sun. Put a japanese willow bush there and i can barely control it. Its perfect conditions. Pretty but its insane growth.
How important it is to begin the project with a final design drawing that Im going to stick to, making changes get costly, and always creates double work. Example planting a palm tree were there wasn't supposed to be one, but in that spot you ran drain pipe, irrigation lines, and low voltage lighting wires. Huge cost moving all that underground to make room for your palm tree.
Make sure you leave space for ladders/scaffolding if your house needs painting(window frames etc) otherwise you’ll have to squash all you plants when you need to paint the outside of your house in a few years time.
Ohhhhhh that’s smart! Thanks for that tip.
I put little limes along the front of my house and they’ve become really messy and loose looking, wish I would have gone with tight little shrubs instead. Also wish I would have picked mulch without dye in it instead of red, the stuff without dye holds up much better.
You're gonna want more evergreens than you think.
That 4" underground tubing that my downspouts dump into is clogged and full of roots. I need to run new lines (will use PVC), but my lawn looks great-- Will probably wait for late fall.
That my wife would lose interest. She was all excited and we bought a shitload of plants that I can’t discern from weeds. Now I’m ripping them out and putting down bark because I can’t keep up with maintaining it all myself.
If you have to remove grass rent a sod cutter.
Or use the lasagna method!
I removed grass with a cutter then used cardboard and grass still survived the next year so I dont think just the lasanga method will get everything.
Wow, that was some strong grass! I've used the lasagna method to successfully kill off two lawns, but I LOADED on the mulch (like 6 inches), so I guess it can go either way.
Foot traffic and people coming over. How people will walk through the pebble rocks and kick them everywhere and now I’m constantly sweeping them up
There are a few things you could consider.
Dogs: If the front yard is their permanent whereabouts: forget a special design (speaking from own experience). Make a dogs playground instead ;-) Otherwise the following thoughts.
Poison: Will the dogs be allowed to stay in your front yard? Well - there is a number of poisonous plant you should avoid.
Style: The whole design would benefit from clinging to just 1 style (as “asian” “formal” “rural” a.s.o.) Houzz website provides a great inspirational source.
Plant Size: how big will the plants grow? (My rule of thumb: after 10yrs for trees 5yrs for shrubs 3yrs for perennials). They should have enough space (think of people in an elevator - it’s ok for a short time but nobody likes it permanently)
Beauty, benefits: a) what room/window should be blocked from the street (or “special” neighbours)? That’s a place for a larger sized shrub. b) what’s your favourite street facing room? You could plant the most special plants in front of it as an eye catcher and source of joy from inside. c) facade colour: I’d try to create contrast (your dark facade - whitish/yellow/pinkish, as for grey - yellow/pinkish; red - green/yellow; whitish - blue/red colours…) d) summer/winter: do you prefer evergreens? Easy maintenance but often a bit bleak. Deciduous? Much greater variety but could be a bit naked throughout winter. (pro tip: search for fall/winter aspects when looking for plants.) e) every plant has its own growing habit (conical/oval/column…) what would be useful to have in mind
Maintenance: a) it’s ok for me by experience to prune trees/shrubs by 10-20% per year comparing to their unpruned size. More = too much effort. b) combining plants & lawn: I’d try to avoid too small/scattered/narrow lawn strips (mower width is a good measure). I’d always combine smaller shrubs into one bigger bed.
Lawn: a) clayish soil benefits greatly from incorporating sand! (Not deep, just a hand's width) 20-30% sand as a rule of thumb b) there are special lawn varieties for sun/shade and so on
Careful planting anything in the mint family. I made the mistake my first season, and now each year I tear large heads of it out so my other plants can fill the space instead
I live in a neighbourhood that was developed in the spirit of a forested enclave. Each home is on a circular plot of land with a minimum 30 feet of forest between each landowner. It’s wonderful, but we didn’t have wildfires in our area (Eastern Canada) until last summer. If I could go back in time, I would have landscaped with fire safety in mind. I’ll be transplanting most of our landscaping plants and trees away from the house this summer to minimize the opportunity for fire to spread directly to our home from any surrounding vegetation.
Whether you’re in a suburban or rural area, it’s worth looking into some of the fire safety suggestions recommended for landscaping. There are suggestions for things like choosing plants and trees with minimal oils and resin content (lavender plants are beautiful but full of oil for example, and birch bark is full of resin that makes it an easy fire starter for anyone with a wood stove.)
Here’s a link to Fire Smart Canada’s landscaping suggestions if you’re interested. Depending on your local climate and environment, some of these guidelines may be more useful than others.
Spend money on mature plants from a reputable local nursery on plants that grow well in your zone and soil. Don’t waste money on or wait 20 years for the cheap tiny plants from Home Depot. It looks terrible. For year round curb appeal, plant coniferous trees and shrubs in front of your home. Add some deciduous trees for additional shade and texture. Too many people go way to heavy on deciduous trees/plants and their plantings look like shit 5-6 months out of the year. Add some perennials based on season (early spring, spring, early summer, mid summer, late summer, early fall) to give you color and additional texture and visual interest throughout the growing season.
We bought a new build. If I had known how uneven the soil was in both front and back yards and how many rocks were in the soil, I would have dug down two feet and hauled off the original soil and brought in yards and yards of topsoil. I did a soil test before planting anything and found out I live in Alkaline Not-so-Flats. The native plants are doing well, but nearly everything else (like my veggie garden) is a near failure. I can only grown veggies in raised beds.
Deer resistant doesn’t mean they won’t try to eat it or at least jerk it out of the ground.
Less is more.
You need less plants and further spaced than you think. While more plants will look good in years 1-2; by years 3+ they will expand. People doing landscaping for homes they are trying to sell plant more than is needed, and will need to be thinned as they mature.
Getting drainage right makes all plants happier. Before doing any "final" work— get drainage dialed in
Use weed barrier everywhere. And not the cheap thin stuff from Home depot— find the landscaping supply store locally that the landscapers use. If you're installing it on a slope, start with the lowest piece and work up so that the overlap is like tiles on a roof.
Before you start planting, moving, digging anything— get your order of operations figured out. You can save tons and tons of time if you have the order to doing things right.
I have one tip. Don't put any type of ground cover in full sun. It's a weed nightmare.
Once you shave it all you need to keep shaving or the tiny stubs really hurt
Read the tags of anything you plant!! One of the biggest problems I see is people putting in way too much stuff that gets too big and then it just becomes a mess. Make sure you know how big the plants will be when they are fully mature that will help with your spacing and design