What did you prioritize when redoing your landscaping? (shrubs, perennials, etc.)

[ourbabygirl]

We're redoing the landscaping in front of our house, and did have a plan drawn up last summer, but I've changed my mind on some things, and other things I'm not crazy about.

We replaced some shrubs today and hope to buy and plant more in the next few days. Originally I thought I wanted pinks and purples for the main colors, but now I realized that I like how reds, yellows, purples, and even orange look with the paint scheme of our house.

Things like the height and width of the plants matters, of course, as well as what blooms/ flowers at different times of year (here it's mainly May-October, though I'd like some color over the winter through dogwood and spruce shrubs). How much sun and shade the plants need are also important, as well as how hard they are to take care of (and what soil they need). I'd also kind of like some things that could be cut for vases in the house, and I want to try to avoid things that would attract a ton of bees (we had a bunch of sedum plants right by the front door at our last house that we had to give away, as they attracted too many bees, and DH is very allergic).

Other than price to a certain extent, what else should I be considering? It isn't a huge area that we're working with, but I'd like to keep it fairly low-maintenance, but more attractive than what we had.

Also, any tips on permanent edging to go along the mulched areas? We just have the black plastic stuff, but we're considering some of the stained concrete edging that many of our neighbors have... I also like the look of stone or brick edging.

Thanks so much for your help!

[SnuggleBuggles]

I’ve never ripped out existing landscaping except an odd plant or 2. Seems like too much work and expense. I just add to what’s there. I have one are that was all ivy and I ripped that out and planted a bunch of perennials. Spurge, hostas, phlox and daylillies are my go tos then I really just things that look pretty. It’s a lot different too to plant perennial than ripping out shrubs. $15-30/ plant vs $$$. Can you hold off on such a big overhaul and see how things looks even with just some great annuals and perennials?

I think for your needs- since you can’t really decide what you want- you’d be better off just getting some great dahlias (did them out in the fall, save and replant!), impatiens and whatever catches your eye at the nursery.

Our new house just has black plastic edging and you really can’t see it at all. I would have told you before that I’d prefer angled stone or brick but I was wrong. I like that this just disappears. I might be open to highlighting a very small area (around a tree, for example) with a more bold choice but it’s unnecessary en masse for me. I might do it if you’re talking less than 10-15’ but otherwise just leave what you have. Easy enough to change later.

So, per the title of your thread, I prioritize perennials. But, in your case I’d stick with annuals until you really decide what you like.


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[Melaine]

I would take a lot of pictures down to a good plant nursery and they can help you a ton. The one I worked at had several landscape artists who would help you map it out and make choices for your soil/light conditions

[erosenst]

Agree with taking to a good nursery. They can at least help you with a few trouble spots - and it may be worth paying for a design.

Two things I prioritize / have learned -

* Get things that do well in your space/sun/temperature range - the nursery should be able to help there
* Don't overplant. It should look a bit sparse (or even 'pretty sparse') for 2-3 years as the plants mature. If you plant to 'fullness' now you'll have a problem in five years. If you slightly underplant you can fill in later.

Good luck!

[ezcc]

I prioritize native plants as much as possible- look into native plant nurseries in your area. They are often easier to grow and so, so important for the environment. I am bit of an evangelist on this topic . My dh just put in stone as edging along our front beds and I think it looks great.

[ang79]

We need to landscape around our house (new build from 2017 and we haven't planted anything there yet, as we have been doing other projects). We want something low maintenance, so most likely small shrubs or bushes that will grow more and/or perennials. We may start on that this summer/fall. I'm not quite sure what to start with either!

[WatchingThemGrow]

How much is it for a landscape design? It always looks SO much better with a designer's eye, but I've never paid for that service. We SORELY need it. We are finishing 30cu yards (2 dump trucks full!) of mulch on our property and waiting for the chipdrop.com load for the back. SO much area that needs something prettier than "brown mulch." I assume there's a cost difference between the kind of designer who comes to your house and the ones who do it at the garden center.

[mmsmom]

I like the look of a stone border because in general I like a more natural, less formal look to landscaping. I don’t have a lot of knowledge but in my area with a lot of new builds I hate the way the landscaping looks after about 5 years. It is too much and too crowded. Builders plant for it to look good at the time but with no regard to how it will all grow in. I also do not like plantings that grow to cover windows. Dwarf versions often prevent this. So I would say plant for the long term and don’t worry if it looks bare at first. For me, less is definitely more.

[bisous]

I’ve never ripped out existing landscaping except an odd plant or 2. Seems like too much work and expense. I just add to what’s there. I have one are that was all ivy and I ripped that out and planted a bunch of perennials. Spurge, hostas, phlox and daylillies are my go tos then I really just things that look pretty. It’s a lot different too to plant perennial than ripping out shrubs. $15-30/ plant vs $$$. Can you hold off on such a big overhaul and see how things looks even with just some great annuals and perennials?

I think for your needs- since you can’t really decide what you want- you’d be better off just getting some great dahlias (did them out in the fall, save and replant!), impatiens and whatever catches your eye at the nursery.

Our new house just has black plastic edging and you really can’t see it at all. I would have told you before that I’d prefer angled stone or brick but I was wrong. I like that this just disappears. I might be open to highlighting a very small area (around a tree, for example) with a more bold choice but it’s unnecessary en masse for me. I might do it if you’re talking less than 10-15’ but otherwise just leave what you have. Easy enough to change later.

So, per the title of your thread, I prioritize perennials. But, in your case I’d stick with annuals until you really decide what you like.


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I don't rip anything out either!

So just some thoughts.

First, I can't recommend plants for you as I'm guessing you're not in my hood and plants are very climate specific. I do love the idea of native plants! A nursery will know which ones are easy to keep up.

Second, concentrate on getting evergreen shrubs and trees that just keep coming back and need little maintenance. The secret for our yard has been (again) selecting the right plants. We live in dry greater LA area and we have lots of plants that need weekly watering (if that) because they're highly drought tolerant. These form the backbone of our landscaping.

Third, if you want to add color, it can be done through those green flowering shrubs, but you can also add beds fairly inexpensively for flashy color. We don't do this, but my mom does. She always gets a few flats of flowers to add into the perennials throughout the yard.

This is a fun project! I hope you're enjoying!

[niccig]

We have a big heavily landscaped yard. Most of it was existing when we’ve bough the house, but we’ve overhauled large sections

1. Do a walk in your street and see what does well. I can stick a day lily, Rose, agapanthus, jasmine, tea tree, geranium, iris anywhere in my yard and it does well. Some other plants do not do as well. I do try other things but if they don’t take, I replace with one of the above

2. We put in perennials. If I’m spending the money and effort to plant, I want it to be there next year.

3. If this is a big area, a designer is worth it. We redid our back yard and used a landscape designer as putting in a hot tub and area for couch and fire pit, and wanted it to work with existing hardscape. Worth every penny, I think it was $900 for the design. We then hired her to project manage the contractor and get the plants (she gets discount) Again, worth the money for us. It was a big project and would’ve taken too long for us to manage ourselves as both work more than 40 hours a week. Other parts of our yard we do ourselves

4. Choose areas to work on and don’t start something else until it gets completed.

5. Really consider if it needs a overhaul or just changing up a few things. If it’s an overhaul, just do one area, as it’ll take longer than you think. We redid a very large garden bed and it took a couple weekends.

6. Read the height/width and spacing. Only plant it if it works in the space or you spend all your time pruning. Look for smaller variety if you want it. Plant smaller plant as it’s cheaper than a bigger pot.

7. Irrigation - that should be number 1. Make sure irrigation is set up for the area and is working. Have supplies to fix broken pipes. I wasn’t careful and broke a pipe last week, we can fix it, but didn’t have the connector I needed, so I texted our gardener who stopped by a couple days later to fix it for me.

8. Don’t buy plants unless ready to plant that day or next day, otherwise they become “buy and die”

9. We have some nurseries that are more mom/pop, only take cash. Plants are much cheaper but you have to know what looking for as don’t have the tags with planting information.

10. Plant in groups of odd numbers, looks better. And repeat plants/colors throughout the yard.

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