Just joined the board here and I'm hoping to get some good advice to make the front and sides of my house look really good. I've let it go for too long and even though it's a little late already this season to be planting bushes I want to go ahead and get it done this year once and for all. If I put it off another year who know how long it'll take. Here's some pictures of what's there now... House faces ESE so I'm facing the sun when it comes up. Looking from the front the left side of the house gets sun a lot of the day, filtered until 2P but then full sun for the next 5 hours, then filtered the last 2. The front sees filtered sun until around 2P then it's in the house's shadow for the rest of the day. Right side where's there's just nothing except those really ugly windows that need covering gets practically no sun at all. I'd consider that side 100% shade all day. Central Kentucky Zone 6 so the summers here get up into the mid and sometimes upper nineties in July and August. Don't know what to say other than that obviously I'm totally new to landscaping and could use some good advice on what I can put around my house that'll make it look good, if not great. Although I'm interested in suggestions for all 3 sides of the place, since the left side has a little something there already (and because I'm in a hurry) for now I'd like to concentrate on just getting something up front, and then on the right side after that. Keeping it simple in the front I'll be installing a new wood bordered raised bed, about 7 inchs on both sides of the front door. Our soil is hard packed and I think fairly nutrient deficient so a raised bed of nutrient rich soil is probably the best bet for establishing anything new out there. Not sure where to source the dirt though. Bags of miracle grow soil would be ideal if they weren't so expensive. I've got a trailer so hopefully that'll open my sources up to maybe some kind of wholesale landscape dealer. I've heard the old rule always plant bushes in odd numbers so I'm thinking about 3 bushes on each side of the front door. I was initially drawn to some of the box woods because they can do well in shady circumstances. But because they'll be shaded much of they day I'm sure that kind of thin leaved evergreen won't grow fast enough to fill the space any time soon. So I'm very open to suggestions as to what might go well and fill out fast in the front. Priorities are that it be green throughout the year, grow fast, and hopefully be as entertaining as possible, with color etc. And as for the right side I am entirely open to your suggestions as well. Well now ok I've finally done something to get this thing going. I'm all ears.
What do you plan on doing to maintain it? a lot of work or next to nothing once it is in? Are you looking for flowering shrubs, deciduous or evergreen shrubs? Are you wanting to fill in with perennials or annuals for color? You have a small house to work with in relation to size of the mature plants. I think you need to focus on dwarf size plants. Make sure you check the mature size of any plant you are considering before you purchase it. Measure the spot in which you plan to plant it. Before you know it they will out grow the house. Those boxwoods? are boring, but they are already there. do you plan to keep them? If so, keep them pruned, not with shears and shearing them like they are sheep, but with pruners so they look natural (which is a preference, but they don't grow that way in nature and I despise those "balls" in every professionally maintained landscape because it is fast and easy to do.) I don't think allowing a shrub or bush to grow over your windows is a good idea, so watch for height in any plants planted under them. You have a very nice house to look at and it is kind of "cottage-ish". I keep "seeing" perennials/annuals all over the front in full bloom, like delphiniums, fennel, larkspur, petunias etc...not so much in the way of bushes, for me. But you are the one who needs to maintain it and perennials are some work. How much time do you spend on the yard at your house? are you there or gone most of the time? always get a shrub that is zone hardier by 2 zones than where you live is a good rule of thumb. This past winter is why. How much $$$ do you plan to invest is what you need to also work with. No sense in having great plans for wonderful plants and no $$ to spend on it. And don't forget to MULCH MULCH MULCH your new beds.
I love your house! I would make foundation beds all the way around, with lots of color, avoiding shrubs that would have more aggressive roots. Lots of Hosta on the east/north sides - they are low maintenance. Perennials and some annuals that like sun in the front beds. Mulch is a great idea if you hate to weed, and it also conserves water.
