We have totally renovated the front yard; new sod, relocated walkway, and replaced retaining wall which is divided by 8ft concrete porch with black wrought iron railings, leading down 4 steps to the walkway. My 50 year old yews on either side of my porch where sacrificed in the process as they had grown thru the old wall. Previously there were 3 on each side of the house with euyonamous in between each. ..quite boring. Our old angel stone house is in beige tones and needs some colour. I thought this would be easy but I am now just beside myself with indecision. I have read every landscape and design book and have been at every garden center within 35 miles...I think it is me, I have "gardener's block" I have lists of suitable plants as I must consider a large shade tree in front of the shorter (12 ft ) bed and full afternoon sun on the longer (15 ft), the roof overhang (rainshadow) keeps it fairly dry and altho I have added peat moss, bags of manure and garden loam, the soil bed is clay. I did want to keep it simple but not boring...should I stick to evergreens? My garden measures about 4 ft from wall to house I have been looking at dwarf or compact types of shrubs. I love annuals and usually have several large baskets hanging from my tree and potted plants on the porch. I use red, lilac or blue and a little pale yellow or white which used to stand out well against the old evergreens...so what now? Where do you start? I would like to keep a sense of balance and a semi traditonal look at the entrance ...in contrast with the back yard. This little bungalow is on a ravine and altho bordered with some old cedars and an arbour overlooking the steep slope, the garden beds are very natural, with flowering shrubs, irises and lots of hosta and periwinkle. I am desperate for some ideas and opinions for inspiration. This is a new problem for me as I have been an avid gardener for 25 years! I hope I have come to the right place...my daughter thinks I should be contacting Dr. Phil. Norm
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like decorgirl suggested once you browse to find your file to attach, highlight the file and press the 'done' button. If it says your file is too big you need to resize your image. I believe the acceptable size is 350x600 pixels. You can use any photo software to resize. There are also instructions posted on how to post pics under the Tech Support forum i believe.
Hope that helps. :)
This pic is about 10 years old but gives you some idea I hope. The shade tree is so much bigger now that we have taken some ot the lower branches to let more light in. The walkway now leads straight towards to street rather than towards the driveway and our new wall now looks more like giant planter boxes on each side of the porch -a little more refined looking. The large yews were almost touching when we took them out in April (the roots were bigger than my end tables) I am thinking of a climbing hydrangea. We are facing north west with a more western exposure in the summer. The unshaded side of the raised bed is much more exposed to the extreme heat wind etc. I will try to send a more up to date pic of our work in progress. Looking forward to any suggestions, advice you may have. Norm
Can you or will you post a picture of the front of your house? I am having a hard time drawing the image in my mind.