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ontheairship

New house, new at landscaping, need help

ontheairship
12 years ago

After fixing up the interior of the new house, its time to tackle the front yard.

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Originally I had intended to shrink the flower bed so that it lined up with the walkway, but the more I think about it, the more I think I could make it look really great. The palm tree I could do without but it may prove more work than I care to do to remove it. There are two crape myrtles in that flower bed, the pink one you see and a purple one behind it that I would like to keep and really like. The buggest problem here is the flooding. I don't know what to do about it or what plants I could put here.

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There is another small bed from the driveway to the front door that also floods when it rains, and is mostly shaded. Right now the house does not have gutters (very strange for a FL house) but we will be installing them as the first step in the yard renovation.

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Lastly is this bed next to the garage. I don't really care for the rose bush and would like to remove it all together, but am interested in what ideas you all might have.

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I have never done anything like this before and really seeking ideas, opinions, and detailed explanations. I would like to stick to native plants or at least perennials so we don't have to re plant every year. I would like this ti be as low maintenance as possible but still nicer than bushes and mulch. Thanks in advanced to any and every comment.

Comments (5)

  • designshare
    12 years ago

    When you install new gutters,it will break some old flower bed.it is too a chance to design your garden structure again.old flower beds are the front of windows.high plants will block windows light.old bed shape isn't nice too.it is limited to improve your curb appeal with old bone style matching short shrub or flower.
    my suggests:add a small patio in front of window and door. a "S" line walkway link tween the patio and driveway.plant palm,maple,cedar as "L" curve shape bone.match some color bushes and flower.

  • missingtheobvious
    12 years ago

    Congratulations on the new house, ontheairship. I know nothing about gardening in your climate, so I won't try to suggest plants. However, since it will help other members to know your hardiness zone (there are five in Florida), please tell us (generally) where you live, or look up your zone here:
    http://www.garden.org/zipzone/index.php

    It will also help to know which direction the house faces, how much sun the beds get (on both sides of the front yard), and whether the lawn includes any of the invasive types of grass like Bermuda.

    The palm is directly in front of your front door. You want people to be able to see your front door (which is already difficult, because it's set at the corner of the house, and in a narrow recess to boot), so remove the palm. Remove it now, because it will only get larger. [The shrub closest to the front door is also trying to hide the door.]

    Most on this forum dislike that type of edger and consider them out-of-date. The white color makes them stand out from the landscaping, but the narrow white lines aren't to scale with your house. They don't lend themselves to curves, so you're either stuck with right angles (not necessarily a bad thing, but limiting) or awkward shapes (like the attempt to "curve" the front bed). Consider also the two beds in the foreground of the final photo: a rectangle and a tiny circle, just inches apart. If it weren't for those edgers, the beds could be combined.

    Obviously you already own the current edgers, and replacing them with another type of edger will involve an expense.

    Along the front walk, the edgers seem too close and too busy. For that and other reasons, I would eliminate the narrow bed alongside the garage. The front walk is already narrow, so replace the bed with cement (of course, the older and newer cement likely won't match). If you can afford it, replace the entire walkway: widen it to at least the outer edge of the doorway recess; round the outer corner where the walkway turns around the corner of the garage.

    The white rock collects weeds and doesn't stay white. Decide how you feel about that. Consider asking the Florida Gardening forum whether a clean rock bed is possible, and if so, the best way to go about it.

    If you decide to get rid of the edgers and rock, Craigslist is a possibility.

  • designshare
    12 years ago

    Here are part of ideas:
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  • designshare
    12 years ago

    {{gwi:42265}}

  • pam29011
    12 years ago

    In that narrow strip of white gravel between the house/garage & walkway, you could replace it with some attractive pavers or bricks. That would be cheaper than reworking the whole path, would stay nicer/neater than the gravel, and would still allow for a semi-permeable surface for water to pass through.

    Definitely remove the palm & put a light in that entryway so people can see the door. And if the budget does allow you to repour that walkway, I'd widen the part where it attaches to the driveway. In the second photo, draw an imaginary line between the rear tire of the car & the corner of the walk near the palm tree. Make all of that area part of the walkway as well, and that will help guide your eye toward the door.