Landscaping: Looking for suggestions

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shuggins Houston, TX (Zone 9b) April 20, 2009 08:18 PM	Here is a pic of my front yard. The sago palms are coming out. Underneath the sagos are dwarf yaupons. The ligustrums at the back are also coming out. There is a black line coming from near the front door. That area is going to become a walkway to open up the front of the house. A flowerbed will run along the edge of the walkway. One person had suggested possibly putting a trellis in the center of the bed. it would cover the brick in between the windows and approximately one of the sections of grid on the screens on each window. It will be off of the house by a foot or so, so it will not be up against the house. If I were to use the lattice, I was thinking of growing morning glories and moonflowers on it. On each side of the trellis, I was thinking of putting a double knock rose. i was also planning on leaving one dwarf yaupon in front of the rose bushes. Immediately in front of the lattice, I was thinking of putting Louisiana iris, some large mums and some short daylilies, like stellas. So has anyone ever put a lattice in front of windows like that? I like the idea that it is original, but i am concerned that it will look like it doesn't fit well when it covers the windows. If that doesn't sound right, I would love suggestions on what to put in the front bed. This is a partial sun area. I would prefer that the bones of the bed be evergreen. I know that the morning glories are not, but I can plant something else to grow on it in the fall. thanks! View Larger
Smokey_SC Piedmont, SC (Zone 7b) April 20, 2009 08:28 PM	Somewhere I saw a trellis that was the same width at the top and the bottom (lowe's maybe?). I don't think it would look good to use one of those that are wide at the top and go down to a point at the bottom. That is going to look great.
shuggins Houston, TX (Zone 9b) April 20, 2009 09:00 PM	The trellis that I am looking at will be a piece of white lattice (although I could paint it any color I wanted) that is 4 foot wide and the height of the window. I have a friend who is giving me the lattice, so the price is certainly right, but since I don't get to re-do the front yard often, I really want to be sure that I will like what I pick out. I am very fortunate that I will be transplanting most of my plants from my backyard. That will really help me save money. Mostly I have to buy dirt and the knock-out roses. Here is a before and after from right side of the house.
shuggins Houston, TX (Zone 9b) April 20, 2009 09:01 PM	Here is the pic. View Larger
Smokey_SC Piedmont, SC (Zone 7b) April 21, 2009 09:29 AM	How wide is the area between the windows?
shuggins Houston, TX (Zone 9b) April 21, 2009 10:50 AM	It is about 18 inches.
Smokey_SC Piedmont, SC (Zone 7b) April 22, 2009 05:27 PM	I just don't care for the trellis over the windows. That is just my opinion though.
Lynnie6868 (Zone 5b) April 24, 2009 09:25 PM	you could cut the lattice so it's 18 inches wide, to cover only the brick and none of the windows, for a neater appearance.....I prefer to frame windows with plantings, too, rather than cover them. Like Smokey said, everybody is different. You could prop the lattice there & step back & see if you like it.
DBauer7998 Deltona, FL April 24, 2009 09:42 PM	If you are sold on a trellis, recommend an arch spanning both windows. I would either make one yourself or have one custom made that will span the two windows without blocking them. Place the arch so that it is perpendicular to the front of the house and about 18" wide. Morning glories and moonflowers will not be tall enough to span either an arch or a trellis, but you could interplant them with something else. Go to one of your local garden stores (not a big box store) and ask them for suggestions. I would also connect the bed in front of the house with the bed around the tree in the front yard for a more cohesive look. Di
shuggins Houston, TX (Zone 9b) April 25, 2009 07:51 AM	Funny, you should mention it, we have talked about connecting the tree to the front bed. I think I have decided against the trellis. My thought are to put Knock out roses in the back of the from bed. Leave a dwarf yapon on each side of the from bed. In between the yaupons put the purple Louisiana Iris, mums, and some heucheras. The heucheras could actually form the border for the entire bed. I have a rough draft, but will have to scan it. Then maybe you guys can give me an honest opinion. I really appreciate all the help.
DBauer7998 Deltona, FL April 25, 2009 02:18 PM	The knockout roses, purple Louisiana iris, mums, and heucheras will give you season-long interest, although there may be a few gaps in flowering. I would try and find the heucheras with burgungy leaves to add interest when they're not blooming. I'm in zone 9a/b, too, and I have a small tent-like trellis that I got at Lowe's that's about 4 1/2 to 5 feet tall. Right now I have 'Sweet Million' cherry tomatoes on it; in the winter I had 'Heavenly Blue' morning glories. (Moonflowers would bloom in the winter for you, too.) Something like that would be an alternative to the trellis to give you some height, but with more flexibility. It wouldn't have to be attached to the house, and you could even move it out of the way or to another part of the yard when nothing's blooming on it. Your basic design sounds fine, especially if you connect the two beds. Don't try and fill it all in this year - go with what you've suggested, but leave empty spots. Then when you end up with a few weeks without something in bloom, you can go to a local nursery and see what they have blooming at that specific time and mix them in with what you already have. Di
shuggins Houston, TX (Zone 9b) April 25, 2009 04:09 PM	The heucheras that I am thinking about have the burgundy leaves. I actually think I may still have a trellis like you are talking about (if I didn't get rid of it). I understand that I may have some gaps in the blooms (although the knockouts should bloom most of the year). What I should have is mostly evergreen, so no big holes. I am a little concerned about connecting the beds. I'm not sure what to put in the center. I don't want anything too tall because I don't want to block the view to the house.
DBauer7998 Deltona, FL April 27, 2009 10:14 PM	The landscape as is is not symetrical; I wouldn't try to make it semetrical, either. Keep the look informal, remember to plants in groups of 3 and 5, and don't plant in straight lines. If you connect the house bed with the tree bed, keep the shape irregular. I birdbath or fountain would be nice somewhere between the tree and the house, and you could add a birdfeeder. That would give you something to look at both from the driveway and from the house. A small weeping cherry or other small ornamental tree would look good off the corner of the house, and would anchor the current tree. I would try something that is small (and will stay fairly small) and flowers. Shrub like itea and false bamboo will add color both spring and fall. The roses could carry the summer, and you already have ideas for the rest. If you want any evergreen shrubs, get some dwarfs do that they don't outgrow the spave. Di
shuggins Houston, TX (Zone 9b) April 28, 2009 08:17 AM	Thanks for the suggestions. I will look into the weeping cherry. I had wanted a bird bath or something as a focal point in the front, but hadn't thought to add it to that area. I want to get the walkway installed and then I think the rest will start to fall into place. Hopefully, that will be done in about 2 weeks. Of course, DH reminded me last night that we need to send the plan to the HOA and get approval first, so that may delay the project a couple of weeks. I don't think it will be a problem, but it just takes them a little while to give approval.
plantladyhou Katy, TX (Zone 8b) April 28, 2009 08:35 AM	It looks like you have a Pulte home much like we had until last year. We lived there for 3 years in that 1 story house. Anything that you can do to make it different from the neighbors is going to be better. The dirt where we were in w Houston off Fry was really "dirt" over really solid clay. Before you could plant in it you had to really condition it w/amendments or build raised beds and the ground has to be wet enough to dig into. After last night's 7"+ rain and hail it should be wet enough now. The houses are so close together you have to be really careful to make your plantings light rather than dense if you get what I mean and not fussy w/too much. As it is you have those 2 trees that take all the view away and something light like the trellis would be nice to give an airy look. Ann
shuggins Houston, TX (Zone 9b) April 28, 2009 09:09 AM	Ann...Yes, it is a Pulte. There is very little top soil at all over the clay. The front beds have been amended some, but will have further amendments put in when we replant them. According to the TV, we got 11" last night (we are in Cypress). The only reason I am home today is that my daycare is closed, the school district is closed and oh yeah, I don't know if i could get there anyway. The houses are close together for sure. I really want my house to match the neighborhood without being exactly like everyone else's in the neighborhood. Believe it or not, we used to have three trees in that front yard, but took one of the trees out right after we moved in. So glad we did that because the two we have will be running together. If we had the third one, it would be completely overcrowded.
shuggins Houston, TX (Zone 9b) October 26, 2009 08:29 AM	Okay, I have tons still left to do and this is purely a temporary fix, but above is the before pic and here is one taken yesterday. I found the mums on a super sale. They will have to be thinned and some taken out, but for the instant effect I was looking for, they worked well. Evidently, the waxleafs in the back are coming out. The yaupons in front are gone and replaced with Lorepetulms (also had a great sale on those ($8.88 for healthy large 3 gal plants). Everything is still a work in progress. Evidently, I want to widen the bed down the path a little and actually reshape the path a little. Add some river rock along the sides to be the border, etc. This list goes on and on, but we had the path installed in June and the sagos removed and the yaupons before the sagos were mishapen and frankly it all looked very sad, so a temporary fix was better then no fix! Hope you like it. Oh yeah and I am still looking for suggestions if anyone has any! Thanks View Larger
themoonhowl Prairieville, LA (Zone 9a) October 26, 2009 09:02 AM	What a change. If you are still interested in something on a trellis, there is a lovely part shade tolerant, repeat blooming, thornless climbing rose called Zephirine Drouhin. The Zephirine would blend well with your Loropetalums . http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1203/ http://www.ph-rose-gardens.com/00603.htm

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