Front of house landscape suggestion

9 years ago

Hi,
I bought this house recently and am in the process of refining some landscaping.

I'm not looking to make any major changes, but need a suggestion on how to balance the left and right side of the house. Below is a full on picture, and then following is the left side which is Holly, Azalea and Azalea (with some Columbine flowers blooming in the front).

Right side are 3 azaleas.

The last azalea (at end of house) is throwing off the balance.

I'm not looking to change all the plantings - just the last one on the right side.

I was going to just replace it with a Holly so it's symmetrical, but wanted to see if anyone thought that perhaps something else would work there.

My only requirement is that it's evergreen. Thanks!

(and, yes, I understand the lawn is a mess! I'm in the middle of reseeding, etc).

Comments (7)

claudialina10
Original Author
9 years ago
Left side
claudialina10
Original Author
9 years ago
Right Side
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claudialina10
Original Author
9 years ago
Right Side

{{!gwi}}
PRO
Yardvaark
9 years ago
Just get a holly to match and make the whole business symmetrical.

Keep up with the trimming religiously so you don't develop one of those foundation plantings that everyone will say just to rip out and start over. Also, trim the plants LEVEL despite if there are grade imperfections. Use a line of siding as a guide. The hollies should be the same size, height and shape (ultimately) and the azaleas should be likewise a matched set. (Hopefully you will grow them as a hedge, not trim as individuals.)
stolenidentity
9 years ago
yep...ditto what Yardvaark said. Also I can't help but wonder what the rest of the left of the left side has going on. And your dog is beautiful :)
claudialina10
Original Author
9 years ago
Excellent, thank you. What I was thinking, but glad to have some experts weigh in!

So, when you say to trim the azaleas as a hedge, do you mean to keep the 2 the same shape and size so they are uniform?

As for the left side of the house, I will post pictures later on. Essentially, I have 3 more tiers that go down to the driveway. The front of the house is south facing so I used 2 tiers to do my veggie and herb gardens.

Third tier (floor level) is a perennial garden which will probably be updated with new plants in the future. Much of this is hidden by a big pine tree - I am in the process of redoing the landscape around this pine tree. We pulled up 30 years worth of non maintained creeping juniper and are going to regrade and then replant this space - with grass, myrtle and a shade perennial garden under the tree.

I'll share more pictures later for additional opinions on the remainder of the space. Thanks for feedback!
PRO
Yardvaark
9 years ago
"trim azaleas as a hedge" ... treat those plants which form a hedge as if they were a single plant. They are growing together as one and when achieved, no one could tell how many plants went into making the hedge. It is an architectural device. You are making a knee wall out of plants. It could have a rigid, squarish cross-section profile, or a rounded profile (as if being a giant 1/4 round molding on the wall of your house.) But always, the base of the hedge should be wider than the top which would give its sides a slanted face. OK, you could trim it pure vertical as many people do, but this is not as good. The worst: trimming it so that the sides slant inward as they descend (as many people also do!) This should never be done as it will make the plant lose the lower foliage.