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myer_rodriguez

9a front yard landscaping advice

Myer R.
il y a 6 ans
Hello, long time lurker first time poster. Moved into my humble abode about a year ago. I have always desired a beautiful lush garden but have just now gotten around to making it a priority (this current beautiful Houston weather will do that to ya). I’m sure what currently is in place is builder’s original and while it is functional to an extent, I’m craving a full and colorful front yard and porch area. Unfortunately my budget is not unlimited, however I would still very much appreciate any and all ideas for present and future inspiration. Minimal maintenance would be ideal with a busy schedule, but I do enjoy working in the yard so definitely would not be opposed to anything that requires tending to a few times a week. I know this is the landscaping forum but if any house exterior advice could be offered I’d really appreciate that too. My backyard could also use some help but I’m the kind that has to focus solely on one thing at a time! I love the idea of keeping everything native and year long lasting but also realize that I’m new to this and the possibilities are endless. I’m neighbors with a thriving creek so I’ve included a picture just to give a feel for it; it doesn’t show the whole creek but will take pictures once suns back up if need be. Once again, any and all anything is greatly appreciated!!
Réponse sélectionnée
  • groveraxle
    il y a 6 ans

    Open up your front porch. Grover and I are big fans of rock gardens.


    Commentaires (28)

    • Myer R.
      Auteur d'origine
      il y a 6 ans
      Thank you for the helpful words!! The shrubs are overgrown and I completely agree they should be removed and replaced. In between the driveway and walkway are just two pots and planters, one with mums I’m attempting to revive and the other with some cheap pretty annuals I picked up at store. My grass has been a whole other issue on it’s own; I fed and weeded last year but seems like it only helped to weed and did not feed. This year the weeds have come back with a vengeance, but while they are green, I have not yet attempted to get rid of them altogether. I’m probably in need of a different formula than the scotts I used and my poor grass probably would benefit from a whole new seeding on its own. Very helpful, thank you once again!
    • ptreckel
      il y a 6 ans
      Congratulations on your new home! I love the color of your front door! Like an earlier poster, I am not a fan of your edging stones. A crisp, defined edge around your beds can be established using a square edged shovel and nice dark mulch. (Not red!) I suggest that you extend your foundation bed in the front of your house around and forward to encompass your nice tree. Then, swing the edge back to your sidewalk. This will give you a much larger planting area to the right of your entrance sidewalk to plant perennials and annuals as well as shrubs. A few stepping stones across it to get to the lawn on the right side of your front yard would be appropriate, too. (And there will be less grass to maintain!) Use a garden hose to experiment with the size and shape of your beds before doing anything.... Good luck!
    • Myer R.
      Auteur d'origine
      il y a 6 ans
      Wow thank you for that perspective! I would have never thought to extend the front bed back to the tree but I love that idea! I actually hate the bricks that are currently edging the beds but have not removed anything just yet because I do not want a bare lawn either. Great advice, much appreciated
    • Myer R.
      Auteur d'origine
      il y a 6 ans
      Oh wow I love it, especially Grover! I hadn’t considered a rock garden but it does look pretty. May I ask, do y’all like rock garden solely for the aesthetics or is there another function that they serve?? Thanks for the reply!!
    • PRO
      Dig Doug's Designs
      il y a 6 ans
      Dernière modification :il y a 6 ans

      some ideas

    • gustaviatex
      il y a 6 ans

      Oh. I am afraid the well-meaning posters with the above ideas don't live in Houston (Sugar Land, here same difference) where almost anything can and will grow to alarming sizes. Those grasses shown in the mock up above are planted along freeways here. I am surmising you live on a cul-de-sac so your front yard is small and widens out at the back? If you are wanting low-maintenance, then enlarging the front bed to include the tree is not advised. All that has to be weeded and pruned and your HOA might have a thing or two to say about any drastic changes.

      I agree in taking out the hedge in front of the porch. Plant something that does not have to be regularly hedged and has the word "dwarf" in its name, and probably will grow in shade. In fact, I would make the front bed smaller and use your string edger to keep the line; those white rocks are not that attractive. Once the tree leafs out look around in the shaded areas at Houston Garden Center and see what kind of ferns, fatsia japonica and ground covers you can find. You can always put pots of bright colored annuals on the newly-exposed front porch.

      ps. Do not plant Cannas or Gingers, or bananas here in the ground. Pots only.

    • PRO
      Dig Doug's Designs
      il y a 6 ans
      Dernière modification :il y a 6 ans

      The grasses & cannas shown in the mockup are dwarfs varieties. They are set outside an entry courtyard. The lantana is also a low grower. There are fatsias flanking a bench in the courtyard. The tree shading them is a tree form Ligustrum japonica. All are suited for Houston.

    • gustaviatex
      il y a 6 ans
      Dernière modification :il y a 6 ans

      Yes, all will grow in Houston area. They will grow exceedingly well since we have a hard freeze about every decade.

    • Myer R.
      Auteur d'origine
      il y a 6 ans
      Dig doug that is absolutely gorgeous! I would love to have something as lively as your mock-up in my front (and hopefully soon) back areas! Although I’m a newb I think I can see where gustaviatex is coming from when she says some items may grow too well!! Continuous growth and beauty is definitely what I want but will likely be solo when doing the upkeep so I have to keep that in mind too. But geez that looks amazing! Your mock up definitely helps to put things in perspective and already has so many more ideas and layouts running through my head
    • PRO
      Dig Doug's Designs
      il y a 6 ans

      Myer, she is absolutely correct if you do not use dwarf species of grasses. There are also many other plants you can use.

    • Myer R.
      Auteur d'origine
      il y a 6 ans
      Gustaviatex, yes I am in a cul de sac but while the front isn’t very big the back isn’t much bigger either (at least when compared to other backyards in my neighborhood). Are you also in the Houston area?? I’m desperately looking for fellow successful Houstonians as mentors :D and while “low” maintenance wasn’t necessarily on the original requirement list, if the only choices I really have are high or low then low is definitely the route I need to go. Granted, I am also saying all these things while we’re experiencing some of the most perfect weather so I hope I don’t end up kicking myself in the butt come July/August!! Seriously, all of you have provided me with such great inspiration ideas I feel I almost owe you guys a consult fee!! I hope one day I am able to provide you with some helpful advice
    • Myer R.
      Auteur d'origine
      il y a 6 ans
      Thank you dig Doug, I appreciate the response! I have a question however. So the tree I currently have in place I believe is a silk floss tree (ID will require a whole other thread in the ID forum), does that change any of your originally suggested species or anything else that may be significant??
    • PRO
      Dig Doug's Designs
      il y a 6 ans

      No, that is a beautiful tree when blooming. It gets very large, though.

    • groveraxle
      il y a 6 ans

      The advantage to rock gardens is that they're low maintenance; rocks never need pruning.

    • Myer R.
      Auteur d'origine
      il y a 6 ans
      Haha groveraxle I knew that, guess just needed the confirmation! So many great ideas, so little time patience and days off from work :’(
    • gustaviatex
      il y a 6 ans

      Yes, Meyer R. I am in Sugar Land and have lived in the Houston area for a long time. When I first had a yard to care for (in Garden Oaks) I learned from an earlier edition of A Garden Book for Houston which is the classic guide published by the River Oaks Garden Club. All you need to know about soil and suitable plants. There is also a section for each month of the year on what to plant or prune and what blooms. Indispensable for learning how to garden in this part of the state. I still refer my my book now and then.

      March is rather mild, but come August and September you will be considering the expense of a sprinkler system to keep all that you planted alive. Go slowly and enjoy the journey :-)

    • Myer R.
      Auteur d'origine
      il y a 6 ans
      Great advice, thank you!! Going slowly is probably what will be my greatest struggle, as I want results and I want them now!! Lol. But I’m learning fairly quickly that I’ve got only about 30% control over things while Mother Nature carries the load!!
    • Kaillean (zone 8, Vancouver)
      il y a 6 ans

      I would lose the square edged bed and make something more free flowing for sure, like the mockups. You might be interested in checking out Pam Pennick's blog, Digging. She's in Austin and has amazing gardens and an excellent blog.


      Pam Pennick's blog

    • Myer R.
      Auteur d'origine
      il y a 6 ans
      Thank you kaillean! Now that the idea of extending the main bed further to include the tree bed has suggested, I feel that’s most likely what I will do because that gives more space for color and less space to have to mow!!
    • Myer R.
      Auteur d'origine
      il y a 6 ans
      And ps kaillean I had no idea Vancouver was a zone 8, for some reason I would have assumed 5-6, 7 most!
    • Myer R.
      Auteur d'origine
      il y a 6 ans
      You all have provided so much information already, but I’ve got another head scratcher for all of you creative minds! Everyone has made great suggestions for the main part of my yard to the right of my driveway, but should I do anything much different to the left?? Right now it has a small bush growing with some of the white stones in front of it but I assume that if the right side gets drastically changed then the left will deserve the same treatment??
    • PRO
      American Beauty Landscape Design
      il y a 6 ans

      I just saw your post and thought Id give you a different idea. I would remove the everything from the front yard, tree, shrubs , boarder stones and the concrete path leading to the door. I would install a new serpentine path that would twist away from the garage wall and around to the driveway. This will create a larger planting bed to soften the corner by the garage door, and make your entrance path more interesting. Id would suggest tech bloc blu 60 for the path. Then the bed in front of your porch should wrap around the corner and extend along the right property line half way to the street. This will allow you to block off your neighbors utility area and help define the property line. Fill the beds with boxwood, hydrangea, perennials Wish i was closer id swing by and lay it out for you. Oh never by plants at a big box store, go to a local nursery, they will be much more knowledgeable and care more about the success for your planting.

    • Kaillean (zone 8, Vancouver)
      il y a 6 ans
      Dernière modification :il y a 6 ans

      Vancouver is only 150 miles north of Seattle so our climates are very similar. Very temperate. Bulbs blooming already.

      You can use a garden hose or an electrical cord to experiment with different bed shapes.

      The left side of your yard looks like a great place for some privacy screening. Can you post a wider shot so we can see your neighbor’s house. And maybe one looking out at the view from your front door to see if there are viewpoints to emphasize or downplay.

    • Olga Kramar
      il y a 6 ans
      Rock gardens provide excellent drainage, so in theory would allow you to grow plants that can’t make it in Houston’s heavy, mucky, clay soil. However, rock gardens in Houston are tough, mainly because of the torrential and violent rainfall. Any soil you pile up, and any mulch you place will get washed away. Large decorative rocks are pretty in most parts of the country, but in Houston they grow mold and mildew, so pick dark colored ones or you’ll be power washing them along with your driveway. Add some searing heat and deep freezes, and you’ll see why you can’t design a California landscape and succeed with it in Houston. So, I’d look around at what succeeds in the Houston climate. Holly ferns, azaleas, camellias, crape myrtles, and mondo grass. You can make an attractive and easy-care landscape, but stick with the few stalwarts that thrive in this climate. I’ve lived and gardened for decades in many parts of the country and the best advice is generous planting beds with lots of mulch populated with plant species that thrive in the local climate.
    • Myer R.
      Auteur d'origine
      il y a 6 ans
      Wow American beauty, my mind is blown again!! I never in a million years would have thought on my own all the ways my front yard is capable of being scaped. I really love the idea of the “property line”. That’s definitely gonna stay in mind when (and if at this point!!) I’m ever able to finally put a real plan together with all the beautiful ideas that have been thrown at me the past few days! I know I will eventually get one made, it’s just gonna take some real sitting down and drawing out and thinking most importantly to figure out what will be the best for me in my area while bringing the most serenity! Kaillean these are more pics. I hope they provide what you were really asking for, if not I’ll gladly add more when I get the chance to. Seriously all of you are so awesome! Just when I thought the world of gardening and landscape couldn’t get any better, I’m given some of the most useful information ever for free of charge!
    • gustaviatex
      il y a 6 ans
      Dernière modification :il y a 6 ans

      Myer R, Here is the story of my front landscaping project that I wrote up for my blog. Yes, I spent a long time thinking about how I wanted the front to look and function. Three years later I am still refining the plants as some did well and some did not. Maybe this will give you some ideas as you work on your plans.
      Before and After

    • tatts
      il y a 6 ans

      Vancouver is made temperate by the ocean, in much the same way that Great Britain is along its coast. There are plenty of palm trees growing along the western coast all the way up into Scotland. Cape Cod is the same zone as upstate South Carolina.

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