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Posted: Mar/17/2008 6:53 PM PST
I just moved into this house in December. Well..it needs a lot of landscape help..lol I need suggestions please! I have never grown a plant in my life, and I know nothing about gardening! EEK. But I would love to make this pretty and I think I would really enjoy it once I get started. I've been doing some research online and I have a few ideas, but I'm really afraid that I'm just going to go buy a whole bunch of flowers and shrubs and then everything will just die.  I was thinking about getting some Shasta Daisies and maybe some of the Echinacea flowers? I was thinking about doing a couple of skinny tall evergreen (I think I saw something called a Sky Pencil?) along the front of the house. I also want to plant a Crape Myrtle tree in the yard. Thinking about honeysuckle near the mailbox, maybe? What do you guys think? Something better I should do? I am in Florida, hardiness 9 area...and I need plants for Full Sun for the front. You can see my dreary front yard right now. (And the pic was taken at night so it makes it look even worse..sorry) I also have some type of tree in the middle of the yard that I'm not even sure if it is alive. Please, suggestions! What should I do first? I know I need to dig up all that mess that is there right now. Allison Attachments:   |
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Posted: Mar/18/2008 7:25 PM PST
Any kind of Lily would be good. They're really basic and don't die off easily. There's also a lot of varieties of them. Also, you could try Canna. Depending on whether or not you get any frosts down there, you may have to dig them up, but they're nice flowers too. They can grow up to 6 feet tall, mind you. There's shorter varieties though. |
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Posted: Mar/21/2008 4:43 PM PST
The most important thing to remember is to get plants which are suited to your climate. When planting an evergreen border several years ago, I used Norfolk pine...which all died within the year. Then I realized that red cedar grows wild around here; over the past 5 years I've transplanted 5 dozen...several are now taller then me and 3 have small birds nests in them. How big a yard do you have? In your area you could grow citrus trees and bushes, figs, tropical hibiscus, all kinds of heat lovers. Southern Magnolia is a large tree when mature, has large shiny leaves which are evergreen and huge heavenly smelling white flowers. Mediterranean herbs like sage and rosemary tend to like dry conditions not humid, but might work. Ditto for Basil...and it come in many sizes--tiny round bushes with petite leaves, tall and bushy with big leaves, and some are purple with ruffled leaves. Marigolds come in many sizes (8' to 3') and in white, yellow, orange, red and many combinations of those colors and are practically indestructible. Do you like hot peppers--they have nice shiny leaves, love the heat, and tend to have tons of litle decorative hot peppers--you can find varieties that have yellow, red or purple peppers, and even one called 5 color chinese that has 5 colors of pepper at any one time. Try to get in touch with the agricultural extention agent in your area...he/she will be able to help you to find a list of plants well-suited to your area, and will even be able to steer you away from the more invasive or troublesome plants. |
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Posted: Mar/21/2008 11:16 PM PST
If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't plant my roses in front of the main (front of the house) window. They are beautiful to me but it's hard to clean the windows & they block the view. Mom has camillias in front of her windows which block the sun light from comming into the home...she is not too happy about that. I'm sure whatever you plant will look beautiful just thought I should share these things with you before you plant anything. |
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Posted: Mar/22/2008 10:34 PM PST
A nice 40cm high evergreen hedge in front of your window garden might be nice with colourful perennials in behind, then in winter the hegde hides the winter mess. Your could plant your dasies, echinacea & maybe some bulbs to. By my letterbox I have Trachelospermum 'star jasmine'(it has a smell to die for) dark geen shiny leaves, with white star like flowers. Before you plant anything mark out where you want your gardens. If the edges are going to be curved I use a hose to mark it out. I don't know what your soil is like but I always add some yummies (dig in and mix) to the soil, horse manure, compost etc. Hope this gives you some ideas ??? 
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Posted: Mar/23/2008 7:14 AM PST
a28.. You have a cute house.. and you might not want to cover that low window.. might I suggest.. drive around and look at how other front landscapes are shaped. Find out what you like and dont like about the variety of plants you have available. You might want to make your flower bed a bit wider and bring it out in front of the windows a little bit. I would bring it out at least as wide as the sidewalk if I was doing it... does it matter if you can see the plants and flowers from those windows? You want to draw your eye to the entrance of your home and inhance the great architecture of the house as well. In the picture it is hard to tell how far from the house the tree is located. You might even want to take the whole bed out to include the tree into a bigger flower bed. Be sure to prepare the soil before planting anything. A couple of taller plants on each side of the window might look nice, with shorter plants in front of the window itself. I love cannas and other tropicals, but they are not hardy where I live so i have to dig them over winter..LOL I am also partial to the lillies.. and other perennials..should be ok for your area and can be a very good addition to your landscape. If you go with foundation plants such as shrub.. find out the mature width and height of the plant. When I first started working on my landscape I planted plants too close to the foundation. Don't make that mistake .. Find out the needs of the plant, some plants need more acid soil than others and some need more shade or sun etc. And mulch mulch mulch  Dream big.. check out plants you like the look and smell of and have fun putting your landscape together!
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Posted: Mar/24/2008 5:13 PM PST
So here is what it is looking like so far. I still need to do more. I need a focal point and I also plan on rounding out the garden and edging it with bricks or rocks. But it is already looking better than it was! Attachments:   |
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Posted: Mar/24/2008 5:22 PM PST
It certainly does look nicer!!!! Good job!!!! |
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Posted: Mar/24/2008 6:16 PM PST
It really does already look a lot better. Once it fills in more It'll be amazing, ya? |
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Posted: Mar/24/2008 8:42 PM PST
its taking shape already!! Good job! |
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