Landscaping: Help me see the big picture

Replies: 13 Views: 222

Author	Comment
wickedelph Naperville, IL (Zone 5a) April 17, 2007 04:24 PM	I'm trying to come up with the "big picture" for my backyard. I'm not delving into picking actual plants yet, just want to lay out the different areas/uses, trees/shrubs, and hardscaping. I would love to hear any and all suggestions! I've been lurking on this board for a while and know you all have some great ideas. My backyard is currently mostly lawn. I would like a cottage garden feel, if a bit on the manicured side, with areas for entertaining and relaxing. I'm envisioning a flagstone pathway with groundcover between the stones (or even using the concrete forms, any experience with those?). I'd like to incorporate an area for a firepit where I'll plant a moonlight garden, some lawn for games and such, sitting areas for benches, arbors with climbing vines, and utility areas for the wood pile and future combost bins. Access from the house is primarily from the sliders in the kitchen to the deck, the back door is only used minimally, and the side door is for more utilitarian uses. So, looking at the mock up of my yard, what comes to mind? Thanks for sharing! View Larger
bigcityal Menasha, WI (Zone 5a) April 17, 2007 11:01 PM	I took your nice plan and hand wrote some things. It's a starting point to see if anything looks good or bad. View Larger
tcs1366 Itasca,IL&Lk Delton, WI (Zone 5a) April 17, 2007 11:10 PM	Al, i love where you put the compost pile. great design. fantastic!! This message was edited Apr 18, 2007 9:04 AM
wickedelph Naperville, IL (Zone 5a) April 18, 2007 09:41 AM	Thanks Al! That is actually very similar to what I was thinking of. I like the way you brought in the lawn area even more and had a more private sitting area by the crapapple. I will have to keep that in mind. Here is the plan I was thinking of. My DH thinks there will be too much paving, but I don't think it will be too much visually because I want groundcover between the stones. At least I'm hoping, any opinions on that? Around the firepit, I'm envisioning a moonlight garden with a vine covered arbor path to it so I secluded it a bit. I'm wondering if it cuts the size of the yard too much? Under the silver maple, I see a woodland/shady garden with some casual seating here and there. And the very eastern border utility access to the shed and compost areas. So what do you think? Please don't hold back with your constructive criticism and suggestions, I can take it. :) View Larger
tcs1366 Itasca,IL&Lk Delton, WI (Zone 5a) April 18, 2007 10:03 AM	for your fire pit area, are you leaving it "grassy" or paving it in? for ground cover between the stones... that will look great... find one that stays low (obviously) and that will handle foot traffic... and possible mowing. i've been browsing the jeepers creepers site.... they have a lot of retailers in DuPage, including COD. http://www.jeeperscreepers.info/ will your arbor be shaded? for sun - clematis or morning glories would look nice. or climbing roses. for shade... i'm not sure. I see you have trumpet vines? How are your doing... are they really established? Invasive? Mine are a very slow go, and i'm growing some by seed - they started well but seem to be fading. your yard is going to look fabulous -- very nice sized lot. they don't "make'em like that anymore" especially here in our county.
wickedelph Naperville, IL (Zone 5a) April 18, 2007 11:17 AM	Tcs, thanks for your comments. It sure is nice to just get out my ideas and get some feedback. DH's response is always, sure that sounds nice, or whatever you want is fine by me. hrmph! The firepit area will be paved. It will most likely be flagstone, although I am contemplating using the Quikrete concrete molds that look like stones. I wonder if anyone has comments on those? For the groundcover, I'm thinking of creeping or wooly thyme although I haven't really done all my research on what will withstand foot traffic. I'll check out jeepers creepers and stepables, which are supposed to be pretty tolerant of foot traffic. I'm getting addicted to clematis, so I will probably cover the arbors with them. The arbors over the path will be sunny on one side and shady on the other, the arbor with the bench should be mostly shady once that tree matures and I may not put vines on it. We'll see. I found this arbor that I think looks nice on its own, I'd like to find one similar at a salvage sale or antique shop for less though. http://www.gidesigns.net/garden-decor/customer/product.php?p... As for the trumpet vines, they are very established. We're guessing they've been here almost 20 years. The base of the trunk is about 6" in diameter and they are a pain to deal with, frankly. They send out shoots in the lawn about 5 feet from where they are planted and at the end of the season they are growing into the shed, tearing the trellises apart, weaving themselves around the shed's roof shingles, and basically look like they are going to tear the roof off. It also gets long seed pods in the fall, but so far I haven't found any seedlings. The shoots in the lawn are also a pain because they break off at the base so easily they can't be pulled out fully, so we just have to deal with mowing over them and avoid walking on the thick little stumps with bare feet. When we moved in, it was quite overgrown so we cut it down to the ground last winter/spring. It grew back like gangbusters! It didn't flower but it did cover the side of the shed as much as it did before cutting it down. Sigh. If I have to cut it down every season just so it doesn't ruin the shed, I think I will try to get rid of it. I still wouldn't call it invasive, because it still is contained to that one area, but it is definitely high mainenance. They get a lot of sun and no soil amendments or extra watering whatsoever and are thriving, maybe you just need to neglect yours a bit? This year, I will try keeping up with pruning the shoots and see how I like it.
tcs1366 Itasca,IL&Lk Delton, WI (Zone 5a) April 18, 2007 11:28 AM	>>DH's response is always, sure that sounds nice, or whatever you want is fine by me. hrmph! OH my... i have one of those too!! he always says "do what you want" then when i actually start then he pipes in with what he wants... my guess is he was assuming i wasn't going to get around to do what i started..... teehee... or when he sees the price tag. my trumpet is new (this will be it's 3rd summer) ..... i'm HOPING one day (year) it will partly fill in the I290 wall (big ugly fence) behind my house.
tcs1366 Itasca,IL&Lk Delton, WI (Zone 5a) April 18, 2007 07:40 PM	I got another BlueStone Perennial's catalog today... and i was looking at the "groundcover" page. one i had forgotten about.... Carpet Bugle. AJUGA Quoting:Extremely hardy ground cover. Lush waxy foliage hugs the soil with flowers appearing in May and June. Can be walked on, mowed over, and generally abused. In fall, blowing autumn leaves are easily reaked off its dense foliage. i was interested in Chocolate Chip, as it's only 3" high, with blue flowers
Pinger42 Mooresville, NC (Zone 7b) April 18, 2007 10:00 PM	Wicked...what type of program did you use to make your drawing? I want to be able to do that and thought I could just find something online for free...but haven't yet. Thanks, Pinger
wickedelph Naperville, IL (Zone 5a) April 19, 2007 09:06 AM	Pinger, I used Complete 3D LandDesigner by Sierra/Valusoft. It also came with a home designer CD and only cost about $30 on Amazon. The name of the current version might have changed though. Here's a link to the land designer on Valusoft's site. I bought it bundled with the home designer from amazon. http://www.valusoft.com/products/yourcmpltland.html This message was edited Apr 19, 2007 8:08 AM
zenpotter Minneapolis, MN (Zone 4b) April 19, 2007 12:04 PM	I guess it is time to switch to this thread the one in Garden Design doesn't have nearly as many responses. You should put the lawn photos here as well. Since you are going to start a family I would leave the lawn area more open like on your sketch. They will need lot's of space and they grow up all to soon, then you can move it out into the yard more. I still think you may want a larger spot for it. Since you like clematis make sure that when you are watching the shade/sun pattern you keep in mind the sun needs for them. There are some that do well in shade, but most like sun, with their feet in the cool shade. I have several of them and have planted short perennials at their feet to keep them shaded. Seeing your photos you will find it really helpful to make your sketch to scale. There isn't as much space as the drawing would suggest. It will help even more to lay them out using hoses or rope. You also may want to keep space in mind for a sand box and or swing set.
wickedelph Naperville, IL (Zone 5a) April 19, 2007 12:14 PM	Thanks zenpotter, but I feel better about having personal pictures in subscriber areas only. I guess I'm paranoid, but I will keep them there.
zenpotter Minneapolis, MN (Zone 4b) April 20, 2007 08:31 AM	I hadn't thought of that. Guess I will just need to jump from one to the other.
Pinger42 Mooresville, NC (Zone 7b) April 21, 2007 08:55 PM	Thanks for the info, Wicked on the software...