Front Garden Mockups

Juliette

I agree with Aimee – you need some height by the stairs. Maybe a geometric trellis to bring the eye up and some climbing flowers. Keep in mind what it will look like in the winter…which is why a cool trellis will look good even when it’s empty and/or evergreens. In the meantime, some potted plants of color on the steps would draw the eye up until you get your height features figured out. I definitely like the spots of pink between the hostas – just allow enough room, hostas spread out pretty fast!

Christina

Hiya,

I think lose some of the little bright green shrubs and scatter with tall spiky grasses which will help break up the ‘sphere’ theme, and will give that window a better sense of privacy. Also two topiarys at the base of steps. at the end of each banister. I could see the kind with spheres on it (typically martha stewart-style), or the kind with a twist upwards. Do you know what I mean? Ack!

Another idea, but this is just to my taste, and what you’ve already done looks great, is to have one super-full and flowery hanging basket in fromt of the window, centered, instead of two, with flowers echoing something in the planted beds, and then have two smaller hanging ones in front of door framing it, instead of one. maybe something in them to echo the topiaries?

For grass, I was thinking something like this:
http://www.potandgrass.co.uk/sedges_information.html

5th plant down on the page. :)

Hope this might help.
Christina

erin

The mock ups look great – I really like the taller bushes and how they mirror each other. And if you can, I would try to keep the peonies where they are. If you move them, they likely won’t bloom for a few years. Is there anyway you can work around them?

I agree with Aimee that you need some height next to the stairs. I think something evergreen would be best because then you will have something when winter comes along. I would put something on either side of your door, too – potted impatiens would work well in the shade and you could use pansies in the spring and mums (or gourds) in the fall. Or topiaries. The hanging baskets are nice, but I think the one on the right of the stairs is a bit distracting. I think Christina is on the right track when she says go for one bigger one.

You are definitely on the right track! Have fun.

Corey

Agreed on needing some more height, and not just by the stairs. If you put a file that shows an overhead view I’ll draw up a plan.

Betsy

I like the idea of a geometric trellis (not diagonal diamonds, but horizontal squares) installed over the entire porch wall, which would obscure your window. Have it come out an inch or two from the wall itself for shadow play and plant climbing. Am I the only one who thinks security when I see your basement windows? Then you could play with climbing flowers/vines. In your zone — Chicago, right? — this could be climbing hydrangea, clematis, English ivy, that reddish mapleleaf-looking vine that I can’t think of what it’s called at the moment (euonymous?), honeysuckle or chinese lantern or bittersweet — all which get beautifully gnarled and twisted for winter interest. Or even an heirloom climbing rose, choose a hardy one and it would be care-free. They would give you a vertical element by the stairs that curves in a crescent toward the center of the porch rail if you train the vines. Most of these choices attract hummingbirds and butterflies, too. So charming when sittin’ on your porch!

For corner/vertical accents, I would ditch the evergreen suggestions — too predictable and symmetrical for you, the style maven! Instead, go for verticality and winter color with redosier dogwood (red twig), or yellow twig if you want that palette. They can be easily pruned to train more vertical. Evergreens’ root structure too close to the house can wreak havoc with your foundation. Or if you like, try a pagoda dogwood, the tiered effect once it matures is very pretty, and you’d just need one for a focal. I’m just not sure which way you face, as the pagodas tend to like partially shady conditions. If you want more of a weeping effect, why not try a willow or bridal veil spirea? Rhododendrons are also evergreen and explode with color very early. Can I just beg you not to do an arborvitae or a topiary?!

Where are your lilacs, girlfriend? If you’ve got peonies, you need lilacs for earlier fragrance. Throw some of those in the side yard. The French hybrids bloom longer, and have a more vertical profile, too. You could do anything from pale pink to variegated purple. You could do a nice blend of lilacs, peonies, lavender or russian sage, for a cool palette. Accent it with pale lamb’s ear for texture and a little bit of white. If you go warmer, pick clematis, heirloom rose, asiatic lilies and rudbeckias for punchy yellow/orange. You are right to transplant your peonies in the fall. I didn’t know to do that and nearly destroyed mine with a spring transplant.

In any of these schemes, you’d need to fill in with only a very few annuals and could experiment with them for your color. I’d match your hanging baskets to the color scheme and watch my textures by adding licorice vine and some variegation in a cool palette, or if you choose the warm/hot palette, go for sweet potato vine in the lime green.

Also, I’d like to see some cool glazed ceramic pots on the porch wall on either side of the steps rather than the one hanging basket. The trellis and the pots could play up a Craftsman element. Right now you can’t see your cute little window next to the front door.

Enough, already? I just love this stuff!

Heather

How about some window boxes on the rail of the porch with flowers that would trail down over the edge? Perhaps nasturtiums? They’re easy to grow, and it seems you like yellow and orange!
Good luck!

lucky

i LOVE hostas – especially the variegated ones – i am getting my backyard landscaped in the next week or so – and am thinking very much about about a green and white theme. good luck on yours and cant wait for pics.

Sarah

I agree with height by the stairs. I love grasses but evergreens have the whole ‘doesn’t turn brown and die every year’ thing going for them…

I just want to add that I totally envy your Photoshop skillz. I need to work on mine especially since we’ll be doing a lot of remodeling & redecorating soon. I can tell your mock ups have been so helpful!

Debbie

Great job Nicole! I agree some height would be nice. I sent you an email with a photoshop image of some ideas. The house is beautiful and represents you and your style perfectly. Well done.

Shannon

This is just my opinion, but the stairs seem like a rather large and glaring feature that becomes a focal point. I think you should put identical pots of flowers (maybe geraniums?) marching up one side of the stairs to break it up a bit. It’s a lovely house that will look great with a bit more landscaping!

yvette

some kinds of hydrangeas give beautiful shape and height. if it were me, i’d plant a white magnolia near the stairs, or train clematis or moonflower up over the wall at the front there.

Maggie

Love your blog! Disagree on the red door though, I’d like to see your house having a solid wood arts and crafts style door! I LOVE the sclupture idea.

nikkirose

When I saw this picture of your house I immediately thought: Paint the door! I noticed that another reader mentioned red… but I was thinking PINK! A friend of mine has her door painted a dark magenta (on an otherwise nuetral pallete) and I LOVE it.

erin

i love your mock-ups! maybe some flower-boxes or flowers in your hanging baskets to bring the color up onto the house…

maybe some yellow flowers? i always think a little yellow goes a long way and brightens everything!

oh and i love the spheres!

sarah jane

A. Love your blog; long time lurker, first time poster.

B. I love the idea of adding some height by the steps, but I would be wary of using “some small spruces.” My parents put 2 trim, elegant, small spruces at the back of their house (in Joliet) and within about 2 years they grew into giant, hairy, light-eating monsters that have now totally obliterated not only the view of the back of the house but also most of the sunlight that used to come through the back windows. Proceed with caution! They will eat your front porch!!!!

jo

one more idea……the side of the house to the right of the front steps…..wouldn’t it be lovely to see your address painted vertically in brown letters? It could look very modern and striking!!

p.s. Should’ve double checked my first sentence in my sent comment….oops
but you get the drift!! :)

Betsy

If you love boxwood, you should have boxwood. To keep the entire design from looking too “stiff,” shift out of the globular elements and go for something that grows in a more abandoned fashion — like the vines. My clematis is growing so fast we can almost watch it. And a honeysuckle would do the same thing. Here are some trellis examples. Yours would go more horizontal, of course. http://www.trellisstructures.com/trellises/index.html

Sounds like your neighbor’s dogwood is a larger variety, you can get medium sized ones, and you can cut it back every year to maintain it. Rhododendrons need to be fed and acidic soil maintained, that’s why they might look sparse. Azaleas look very sparse to me, don’t like them, as the little flower puffs on the end of the stem remind me of the Chinese Crested or Mexican hairless dogs.

Try the pagoda dogwood instead of the predictable arborvitae. Google has a great variety of images. As you look at the house, on the left, extend the bed’s border out in a more curving element to accommodate it’s eventual width. This will give your design more depth. Because its stem is open, you can surround it with astilbe or something feathery to contrast with your boxwoods, too.

Allium would be a very pretty mimic to your round sculpture, and I love the focal point Debbie created as well, you could easily do the same thing with a simple water feature. Have fun! You’ve got good bones to work with.

Laurie

This post and the resulting comments have made me realize that I really need to learn more about gardening.

brandy

you mush check out skypencil japanese hollies. i bet you’d love them. the height and shape are very modern.

Laura

Hi

I happened upon your site serenditpitously & when I saw that picture I thought: “Oh my gosh, she’s here in northern Illinois I bet!” I am up in Waukegan in the north-east corner. Love your house!! I grew up in one that looked very, very, similar from the outside!! My mother in law taught for years (1940’s) in Oak Park. We are taking a day trip with my kids this summer to visit your area. My 10 year old son loves Frank Lloyd Wright & we have promised him a visit to the area. Last summer we visited the Dana Thomas house in Springfield. Nice to me you!!

Laura

jennifer

I think you need some sort of climber or vine. That would look great!

Kari

I have a picture of a vertical trellis we built to hide our ugly garage that sounds like what someone else was trying to describe building by your porch. It was pretty easy to make ourselves. http://kariyoung.blogspot.com/2008/06/garden-tour.html

If I can find time, I’d love to do a mockup for you too, we’ll see. If we lived any closer I’d trade you interior design services for landscape designs! I’m trying to figure out our bathroom, which is how I stumbled across your blog.

One good guideline is for no bed to be smaller than 4 feet depth. Any smaller and scale tends to get thrown off and you end up with a row of plants instead of a nice layered design.

Also don’t be afraid to tear out lots of lawn. I’ve read everywhere that beds are much easier to maintain than lawn, although persistent weeds might make you think otherwise. But if you are mowing an hour a week, well that much weeding will do a ton to keep your beds in good shape.

Nice big beds out away from the house help anchor it and make the house look nestled in the garden instead of sticking up from a flat lawn. The added bonus is that you can then see them from the window. Think about improving your views from your windows, not just how it looks from the sidewalk.

Hope that helps!

Oh, and boxwoods are never a bad choice, they add great structure to any garden whether its formal or cottage wild. Except some people think they smell like cat piss. : )

Kylie

I love Sandye’s mockup, I adore the lavender and what looks like a standard rose for height.

Not knowing anything about your climate over there, what will this look like in winter? I’ve planted my garden (granted I’m in Australia where it will never get as cold) with roses and cammelias. Then I have colour all year round.

Corey

Sorry I haven’t been back – I’ll take a look and draw something up. Also glad to see you bought some boxwoods, was going to use plenty of them to lend some formality to the space. :-)

Tracey

I agree with all of the height comments. Do Red Twig Dogwood grow in your area? They would be gorgeous against your house in the winter- a very branchy red twig bush!

Julie Anne

For height, you might think about foxgloves in purples and pinks. They are biannual – they grow for two years and then die, but they are perpetually re-seeding themselves, so they behave like perennials. They can get to be five feet tall, and they bloom for a long time, June – July.

Lili

I love the potted plants in that last one!