Front Landscaping: Bottom Terrace Shrubs & Plants

The Plan:

 

1. Complement but not compete with the blossoms in the middle terrace.

2. Add evergreens for winter/early spring interest.

3. Fill in & help soften all that rock, but not get taller than the next wall up!

(No pruning to see the flowers, please!)

 

So, here's what we've got:

 

Starting at the driveway.

 

Some of my gift plants!

hardy geranium, liriope, and purple bellflower 

 

Potentilla 'Primrose Beauty', moved from the back flowerbed. Why the move?

 

Its gray foliage against the strong blue of the house made it practically invisible back there.

Plus, it was fighting with tulips for space in the spring, and probably would be too close to the flowering almond when they both grew to full-size.

 

But mostly, it was invisible!

You could hardly see it from 5 feet away.

 

So, anyway, I'm liking it up front here much better.

I can actually see it, for one.

Also, it should be just the right size for this spot.

As a bonus, its wiry stems don't mind getting snow thrown on them in the winter, so it's perfect for right next to the driveway.

 

Moving down front more:

English Laurel 'Otto Luyken'

Prunus laurocerasus

3' tall, 6' wide

Cold hardy to -10 (zone 6)

Dwarf form, with showy white flower spikes and small black fruit.

 

1-2 more each of the bellflower, liriope, and hardy geranium.

Surrounding the water meter are purple bearded irises, transplanted from the back flowerbed.

I plan to tuck some bulbs in here as well.

I'm thinking mini-daffodils and crocuses would be charming.

Another 'Otto Luyken' Laurel

 

As these laurels grow to fill in the space, the irises will be easy to transplant elsewhere. In the meantime, I'm really hoping the foliage of the irises will cover most of that lovely water meter, while still providing access when needed.

Nothing like a big slab of cement in the middle of a flowerbed to improve aesthetics.

Moving left:

blue Siberian Iris (from VWGarden)

purple bearded iris (transplanted from back flowerbed)

pink daylily (in front--also from VWGarden)

 

There's at least 2-3 or each type here.

I hope they play nicely and look good together!

It will be interesting to see how bloom times coincide...or not.

After that they're supposed to provide some height, leaf shape contrast, and greenery the rest of the summer.

At least, that's the idea.

2 Boxwoods 'Green Velvet', 3-4' tall & wide

'Rosy Glow' Red Barberry (Berberis t atro), 3-4' tall, 2-3' wide

 

I'm hoping the barberry will echo the purple coneflowers planted above it, without competing.

 

This little section is very similar to the first one.

Siberian iris, bearded iris, and pink daylily.

 

I can't remember what kind of hydrangea this was and I've lost the tag.

If I find it, I'll come back and add the info.

I know it was not Endless Summer or Incredi-Ball.

Hmmm... ? ? ?

  

 2 'Green Gem' Boxwoods, 2-3' tall and wide

'Golden Ruby' Barberry, 2' tall and wide 

Closeup of the 'Golden Ruby' Barberry

 

The wall gets shorter on this end, hence the smaller shrub varieties.

 

 

Oregon Grape, or Grape Holly

Mahonia aquifolium

3-6' tall and wide

Evergreen.

Bright yellow flowers in spring, followed by edible blue-black berries.

This corner of the terrace gets a bit more shade, which should be fine for this shrub.

 

The only problem is it's small size (this was the only one the nursery had left!) Right now it's got a whole lot of empty space around it, but I figure I can always put some annuals to fill in until it grows up a little.

All this rain we've gotten the last 2 weeks has been great for all my new transplants.
I hope they get all settled in just in time for frost.

Front Landscaping Renovations: Overview

We have really been working hard on our front flowerbeds the past few weeks.

 

Thanks so much to VaLynn from VW Garden! She's another East-side gardener like me, and offered to share some plants with me.

Well, I was like a kid in a candy shop!

It was such fun to talk plants and gardens with another like-minded person for most of an afternoon! And I could hardly believe the bounty she loaded me up with!

It was the most fun I've had in ages. :)

 

I can't believe I didn't get one single picture with her, or of the plants.

[sigh] And I call myself a garden blogger!

Next time. For sure.

 

My husband, meanwhile, got the low wall closest to the road finished, as well as filling it and the new top bed with dirt and rototilling everything.

I also bought several shrubs to fill in the space with, as well.

Cue the planting marathon!

 

Top Bed, Before:

 

 

Top Bed, After:

I'll do a separate post detailing the shrubs and what plants went where.

 

Lower Terrace, Driveway Side

Before:

 

 

Lower Terrace, After:

 



Again, the details of what I planted will be the next post!

 

Front Landscaping

Terraces Filled in!

 

Left-side corner

The plank terraces, trees, and corn you see in the background all belong to our awesome next-door neighbors.

Middle

Right-side

Thoughts and Plans:

 

My idea here overall was to have most of the color and blooming perennials in the middle terrace, with the top and bottom being more evergreen, non-competing, background-type plants.

 

The top is all shrubs: taller-growing varieties that will help bridge the gap between the flat ground and our very tall house, and also give us some privacy in the basement.

(The window in these pictures is our basement window. I should include a shot of the whole house sometime, so you can see what I mean by the height difference. It's significant.)

I may add a few crocuses to this bed, or I may just leave it as is.

 

The bottom is a mix of shrubs and perennials. I chose varieties that should get almost to the top of the wall behind them, but not cover it completely. I used a lot of repetition in this terrace, to avoid competing with the busyness up above, so I've got a couple of sections of shrubs, with similar plantings between them.

 

We keep waffling between putting in a sidewalk in the very front vs. planting grass.

My husband made sure the wall left room for either.

Now I just have to keep everything alive through this heat wave!

Nearly everything I planted should do fine without much water, once established.

Here's hoping our water bill isn't sky-high! 



Goodbye big bush

We yanked this bush out by the front steps.

Even though it was healthy.

Ever since I saw it from across the street and realized how overbalanced it looked, I have thought about pulling it.

I'm glad we did. 

It has really opened up the front of the house to some new possibilities. 

Before:

After:

Now to work on putting some shrubs in on top of the wall.

Landscaping Progress

 Line of scraggly trees down--really opens up the view.

(west-side of house)

 Huge pile of brush. Guess it's time to rent a dumpster!

Plus one more tree to take down, once the huge pile of brush goes away.

 Looking into our backyard with newly cleared side-view.

East side of house. Actually those dead junipers have joined the brush pile now, and he tore out the azaleas next to the fence, as well.

I was thinking of trying to save them and transplant them elsewhere, but I just don't know where I would put them at this point, so I guess it's just as well.

Rock for retaining wall should be delivered next week.

Goodbye

Goodbye 3 trees!

Goodbye junipers!

Goodbye cottoneasters!

Wow, that felt good, and I wasn't the one driving the tractor!  Without all this superfluous greenery there is now mental and physical space to contemplate change. Our current thoughts are one retaining wall all the way around in front, with grassy slope leading down to it and flowers/small shrubs planted in front.

Part of flower bed possibilities will depend on how far back from the street the wall is placed.  We had the utility companies come out and mark lines, and we've got electric and tv lines all along in front, parallel to the street.  So I wouldn't be able to plant anything right there, unless the wall was back far enough that roots wouldn't interfere with the lines. Not sure what else we would put right there, though.  Junipers?