What to plant in front of tall porch?

9 years ago

We have replaced our rotting porch with a new one, and in the process ripped out the overgrown yews growing in front of the porch. Now I don't know what to plant!

Some salient points:
* House faces east
* the rhododendron maximus in front of the bay was just pruned back severely - it was at least twice as large and came up over the window above it and was almost reaching the porch in width.
* The house is about 30 feet wide - once that rhody grows back, there isn't really much width. There is about 10 feet of porch to the left of the stairs, and 2.5 feet to the right of the stairs.
* I'm not into any sort of conifer

I've been thinking about hydrangeas, but think I probably also need something with some more height to balance the rhody.

Let me hear what you think!

Thanks!!

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Yardvaark

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

EXPLAINING art is always the difficult part! The simple answer is because it looks better.

There are two common ways of placing a shrub in front of a wall ... as a solitary object, or as a frame. In the latter, the shrubs are a hedge that completely surround the wall, wrapping the corners like a molding such as a baseboard. In the drawing I did above, it's how I handled the Rhody, and actually the the shrub at the right side of the porch, though the illustration isn't sufficient to confirm it. (Nor does the original picture give enough information to know it's possible as I can't see the side of the house.) At the left side of the porch, I placed the shrub(s) as a solitary object. It's just a matter of experience noticing which way looks better ... stopping the shrub short of the wall end, or running it beyond. Running it beyond usually looks like something doesn't fit. Imagine if you have a living room wall that ends at an open hallway. In front of that wall you place a couch so that its end extends beyond the wall and in front of the hallway. It could look like it a shorter piece of furniture -- a love seat or chair -- might have been a better selection. Back in the yard, I think it's better to stop short of the end and wrap the corner with a lower material. I don't usually try to hide corners -- thinking that they, themselves, are an important architectural features ... unless I am attempting to emphasize an even more important architectural feature, such as an octagonal faceted structure, depending on what's underneath and supporting it. Here, the Allium would be the lower material with which to wrap the porch corner. I'm not counting bloom height as it's temporary.

Hope that helps.

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Comments (8)

PRO
Yardvaark
9 years ago
Could be simple but easy to take care of.

This post was edited by Yardvaark on Thu, Jun 5, 14 at 7:26
Manda
8 years ago
I'm sorry that I never came back to thank you, Yardvaark! Your suggestion gave me some good ideas, and definitely made me realize that the design suggested by the landscape design consultant at the local nursery was way too busy. Thanks for your drawing! I wish that I could replace my neighbor's house at the back right of the photo with a large tree as you suggested! : )

I am always curious to know what people end up doing, so here is where I ended up. The drawing that I did with markers shows what I'm hoping this will look like once it is grown in.

My plants are:

* two hydrangeas to the left of the stairs (I had to ask the landscaper to come back and replant them further away from the porch, they are ok now - the bed is much deeper than it looks in the photo)

* "Baily Compact" viburnum to the right of the stairs

* Rudbeckia to the right and left of the stairs at the bottom

* Biokovo geraniums planted in two groupings of 3 in front of the hydrangeas

* two groupings of Alliums behind the hydrangeas - these did not grow as tall as I'd hoped - I put them there in anticipation of the hydrangeas being small for the next year or two and am prepared to remove them once the hydrangeas are larger

* a couple groupings of tulips in the front (I'll remove the leaves next weekend)

The pavers that you can see to the right of the rhody lead to a door to underneath the porch where my kids like to hang out.
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PRO
Yardvaark
8 years ago
One change I would make is to move the left hydrangea toward the right with the expectation that the two will grow together into s single mass. I'd place it about where the the left-most allium is, in line with the other hydrangea. It's still going to grow to overhang the porch. You could move all of the allium to where the hydrangea was.

If you want to draw on a picture, easier than marker is to open it up in MS Paint and use any of those tools.
Manda
8 years ago
Thanks you for the additional advice, Yardvaark! I think that I can see how that might look better, and looking back at my mock-up I see that I actually have the hydrangea on the left slightly more to the right.

Can you explain why you think that would be better? Is it so that the hydrangea mass is centered on the porch?
jyluks
8 years ago
Yardvaark, you are a bit of a genius with that design.
PRO
Yardvaark
8 years ago
Jyluks, you might be stretching your enthusiasm a bit. :-)
emmarene9
8 years ago
Thank you for remembering to return. It looks good.