I need some landscaping advice

I'm sooo eager to do some landscaping in my front yard.  Our house was built new on a mature property; so I have full height trees and a full hedge line for privacy at the back; but nothing around the house.  Right now I'm researching plants and I've come up with a few questions.

I'd like to do some sort of flowering bush/hedge under the front windows.  So I'm thinking the mature height needs to stay around 4'.  Does that sound right?  (I haven't measured yet to see how far off the ground they are.)  I also want to be sure I don't plant them too close to the house.  How much space should I leave from the mature size to the foundation?  Is 2' enough?  I'm assuming if the bush is 4'x4' when mature (according to the Lowes website); when I plant I need to keep it 4' from the center of the plant.  I haven't chosen any plants; I'm just trying to understand this to keep in mind as I look!  I was looking at a gardenia bush online.  I bet that would smell great!!

Last question.  I have a curved sidewalk from the driveway to my front porch.  Then the windows are on the other side of the porch.  I want to put a wide boarder up the sidewalk with some different kinds of flowers or a mix of flowers and smaller shrubs (annuals and perennials, maybe trying to get 3 seasons of colors out of it.).  The problem is that I have a gutter down spout that comes down between the porch and the windows.  It pours out right where I'm wanting to plant.  Our soil is very sandy so it generally drains fast; but it does get a lot of water at once if we have a downpour or a bad storm.  We use gutter extensions around the other downspouts.  Should I still use one here and plant around it?  Or is there some way to help direct some of the water to my plants and some out to not wash things away.  Does that make sense? 

I'm eager to look for plants and see what DH thinks.  The thing I'm not looking forward to is the great mulch debate!  I don't want it in my yard; but it does look better around the plants than rocks or some of the other alternatives. 

We researched plants for a long time before we planted anything. We had spent our early years having things that needed trimming, etc. What we wanted this time was beautiful shrubs what would never need cutting back. I have seen newly landscaped plants that were beautiful but in a few years they were overgrown and the trimming got away from the home owners. Because of that we chose a low growing shrub for across the house front. It is an evergreen and the name of it is Soft Touch. If your plant is going to be four foot wide and four foot wide. You would need to come out at least three feet from the house to dig your holes. That would leave a space of about twelve inches between the house and the plant. Personally we came out four feet from the house and planted our shrubs. IIt is better not to have the bushes growing right up against your house. We live in a very isolated area and I wanted to be sure we didn't plant anything large enough for a person to hide there. If you live in the country, you want to be sure you don't plant things that deer and other wildlife love to eat. That was a real concern for us. Indian Hawthorne is another nice bush. They have either pink or white on them. But getting back to your question. Good luck with the planting.

Spirea is a nice choice. There are all sorts of varieties and colors. The one called Anthony Waterer is popular. It is light, yellowy green to medium green, with med pink flowers, blooms from spring through mid summer and can take full sun to partial shade. I believe that one stays around 3-4 feet. Different varieties have slightly different mature heights and widths. They also require little maintenance and are not popular with the deer. We sold a ton to landscapers when I worked at the nursery. There are several white types of spirea that are very striking, also, and a nice range of foliage color.

Azaleas are always nice, too, and have great color. They just don't bloom long enough for me. Some folks trim them up, but I prefer the natural look with azaleas. They would be the most hedge-like.

Another option is weigela. There are many different sizes and varieties, and I think Proven Winners has started to make/modify 'perfect' compact ones. My mom has weigela down the side of the house and they are gorgeous when in bloom. The deep burgandy-pink is very pretty.

Mockorange (Philadelphus) smells fantastic and has pretty little white flowers. One type gets really tall, but there is a more compact variety, as well.

Another one to check out is red Barberry. The flowers are nothing to write home about, but the small foliage is a beautiful purpley-red. One variety has a lighter swirl on the leaves. They look great mixed in with other green shrubs, but they have very sharp, thin thorns. I repotted close to 1000 of them at work one summer and my hands were a mess, even with gloves! The color is so pretty, though.

I have never had luck with gardenia, even as a houseplant. We are too far north here, I think. The leaves stay beautiful and glossy, but all the buds fall off, so I never get any flowers.

The downspout shouldn't be a problem as long as the soil is sandy and drains fast. You might want to dig in the spot a day after it floods to make sure no water is pooling under the soil, where it is not obvious. You can always add a little more sand or some small gravel to the bottom of your hole to expedite drainage. Otherwise, the main thing would be to make sure none of the roots get exposed if a lot of the soil is washed away, especially in the first year or two after planting. Mulch would help keep the soil from washing away. If it stays too soggy, you could plant a hydrangea or clethra in that spot. They don't mind being wet and might add a little extra interest to the plantings.

The biggest mistake people make when doing a foundation planting is not planting for the mature size of the shrub. Usually stuff is too close together and gets very crowded after a few years. It sounds like you are aware of that and are planning properly for mature shrubs. They should not touch the house, so the general rule of thumb is to give an extra two feet on the house side of the shrub. You will want to be able to get behind the shrubs to reach your spigot or if the house gets painted. It may look a little sparse the first years, but you can fill in the gaps with easy annuals or some potted plants till the shrubs mature.

blueyedgirl5946 said:

 We live in a very isolated area and I wanted to be sure we didn't plant anything large enough for a person to hide there.

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That's a very good point. We've tried to do the same thing.

We planted some weigela bushes along the pool fence by the arbor. I love weigela because I think the flowers are beautiful. And although ours is supposed to bloom only once (late spring), it actually blooms throughout the summer, too. They do grow, though, and they do need to be pruned. Rick prunes ours in late fall, after everything is done blooming. He usually prunes them down to about a foot or so above the pool fence (which is 4 feet tall). There are a lot of different varieties of weigela, so you could find something for your area. They are deciduous, though, so if you're looking for something that doesn't drop its leaves (since it will be out front), weigela isn't what you're looking for.

I'd like some Barberry. And some Bayberry, too. Both are pretty shrubs.

I would also love to have some redtwig dogwood.  You've got the gorgeous flowers during the summer and in the winter, you've got the neat red bare branches for a bit of interest. It's just gorgeous. Google Redtwig Dogwood and look at the images. Beautiful! I don't know if it grows in your area though.

While I love the scents of flowering bushes, I try to stay away from them, simply because the bees love them, too. I've gotten stung too many times when walking around flowering shrubs, so I'm a little wary. We have a clematis growing up the southern side of our arbor and the bees love that thing. We're always leery when we walk in and out of the arbor because you never know when the bees are going to be there. And the bees love me for some reason. They leave Rick alone, but they come after me sometimes. (Speaking of scented bushes, we have a large lilac bush planted at the western end of the house. When the bush is blooming, I always open the windows back in the computer room. The breeze pulls the lilac scent throughout the entire house and, it just smells beautifully. I truly love the scent of lilacs! Once they're done blooming, though, there's really not much interest.)

Oh! What about hydrangeas? We have two gorgeous PeeGee hydrangeas, one right in front of the house between our bedroom windows and the other at the western end of the house. They're better as single specimens and, when they're in bloom, they are just gorgeous with huge oblong globes of white flowers. The globes dry beautifully, too, and can be used to dried floral bouquets. They'll grow tall, if you let them.....ours are taller because we live in a bi-level, so our bedroom windows are way up off the ground. We have a Blue Nikkel Hydrangea, too, with the big blue globes of flowers. I think feeding them acid turns the flowers blue; feeding them aluminum makes the flowers pink.....unless they're actual colors. Our Blue Nikkels have blue blooms.  I love hydrangeas. They are so beautiful and they're a kind of old-fashioned flower; my grandmother had them along her house.

As for mulch, I'm not crazy about it either, BUT it does a great job keeping things moist and that's important. We put down mulch about every three years or so.

Winchester said:

Speaking of scented bushes, we have a large lilac bush planted at the western end of the house. When the bush is blooming, I always open the windows back in the computer room. The breeze pulls the lilac scent throughout the entire house and, it just smells beautifully. I truly love the scent of lilacs! Once they're done blooming, though, there's really not much interest.

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I adore lilacs! The neighborhood my husband and I lived in when we first met was very nice when it was built in the 70's, but by the end of the 90's it was starting to slide into being a lower income area. You could tell the yards had been landscaped and lovingly maintained back when, but as more renters moved in, the gardens were left to run wild. When I walked the dogs, I would take a giant Big Gulp cup with water and a pair of pruners. My husband called it my Guerrilla Gardening. There were so many huge lilac bushes! Our house smelled fabulous all season and had gorgeous flower arrangemnets. I never took too much, I clipped perennials that needed it and lots of lilac when it was in bloom (and I only dug up a few things that wouldn't be missed at vacant rentals :anon. It was so much fun.
That is a really good memory of my dog, Waylon, too. I had forgotten how his manner changed when his leash was clipped on. He was so proud and strutted more than walked when he was on his leash. He owned that neighborhood.

blueyedgirl5946 said:

 I have seen newly landscaped plants that were beautiful but in a few years they were overgrown and the trimming got away from the home owners.

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My mother and step-dad have had this issue!  They didn't do the planting themselves.  I think the house was 4 years old when they bought it; so things were still fairly young.  Before we knew it; the 2 bushes in front of the house were blocking the windows and the evergreens at the corners were massive!  My mother had to wait till the baby birds had left their nests to cut them down.  The neat part was one year we got to watch a nest from inside the house.  We saw the babies from eggs on up!  Pretty cool!  Part of their problem was also the front walk to the house is too close to the house.  It fills up with water but it's also not wide enough for much of anything with height. 

happybird said:

Spirea is a nice choice. There are all sorts of varieties and colors. The one called Anthony Waterer is popular. It is light, yellowy green to medium green, with med pink flowers, blooms from spring through mid summer and can take full sun to partial shade. I believe that one stays around 3-4 feet. Different varieties have slightly different mature heights and widths. They also require little maintenance and are not popular with the deer. We sold a ton to landscapers when I worked at the nursery. There are several white types of spirea that are very striking, also, and a nice range of foliage color.

Azaleas are always nice, too, and have great color. They just don't bloom long enough for me. Some folks trim them up, but I prefer the natural look with azaleas. They would be the most hedge-like.

Another option is weigela. There are many different sizes and varieties, and I think Proven Winners has started to make/modify 'perfect' compact ones. My mom has weigela down the side of the house and they are gorgeous when in bloom. The deep burgandy-pink is very pretty.

Mockorange (Philadelphus) smells fantastic and has pretty little white flowers. One type gets really tall, but there is a more compact variety, as well.

Another one to check out is red Barberry. The flowers are nothing to write home about, but the small foliage is a beautiful purpley-red. One variety has a lighter swirl on the leaves. They look great mixed in with other green shrubs, but they have very sharp, thin thorns. I repotted close to 1000 of them at work one summer and my hands were a mess, even with gloves! The color is so pretty, though.

I have never had luck with gardenia, even as a houseplant. We are too far north here, I think. The leaves stay beautiful and glossy, but all the buds fall off, so I never get any flowers.

The downspout shouldn't be a problem as long as the soil is sandy and drains fast. You might want to dig in the spot a day after it floods to make sure no water is pooling under the soil, where it is not obvious. You can always add a little more sand or some small gravel to the bottom of your hole to expedite drainage. Otherwise, the main thing would be to make sure none of the roots get exposed if a lot of the soil is washed away, especially in the first year or two after planting. Mulch would help keep the soil from washing away. If it stays too soggy, you could plant a hydrangea or clethra in that spot. They don't mind being wet and might add a little extra interest to the plantings.

The biggest mistake people make when doing a foundation planting is not planting for the mature size of the shrub. Usually stuff is too close together and gets very crowded after a few years. It sounds like you are aware of that and are planning properly for mature shrubs. They should not touch the house, so the general rule of thumb is to give an extra two feet on the house side of the shrub. You will want to be able to get behind the shrubs to reach your spigot or if the house gets painted. It may look a little sparse the first years, but you can fill in the gaps with easy annuals or some potted plants till the shrubs mature.

Click to expand...

Thank you that is VERY helpful!!  I love the mock orange! I'm looking at the spirea online too.  I'm interested in not having the same thing everyone else has.  I'm also thinking; we've been here for almost 5 years without the landscaping; I can wait for it to mature.  I just want to do it right!  We've done everything else a little at a time too.  It feels like we make better decisions that way.

Winchester said:

 
I would also love to have some redtwig dogwood.  You've got the gorgeous flowers during the summer and in the winter, you've got the neat red bare branches for a bit of interest. It's just gorgeous. Google Redtwig Dogwood and look at the images. Beautiful! I don't know if it grows in your area though.

While I love the scents of flowering bushes, I try to stay away from them, simply because the bees love them, too. I've gotten stung too many times when walking around flowering shrubs, so I'm a little wary. We have a clematis growing up the southern side of our arbor and the bees love that thing. We're always leery when we walk in and out of the arbor because you never know when the bees are going to be there. And the bees love me for some reason. They leave Rick alone, but they come after me sometimes. (Speaking of scented bushes, we have a large lilac bush planted at the western end of the house. When the bush is blooming, I always open the windows back in the computer room. The breeze pulls the lilac scent throughout the entire house and, it just smells beautifully. I truly love the scent of lilacs! Once they're done blooming, though, there's really not much interest.)

Oh! What about hydrangeas? We have two gorgeous PeeGee hydrangeas, one right in front of the house between our bedroom windows and the other at the western end of the house. They're better as single specimens and, when they're in bloom, they are just gorgeous with huge oblong globes of white flowers. The globes dry beautifully, too, and can be used to dried floral bouquets. They'll grow tall, if you let them.....ours are taller because we live in a bi-level, so our bedroom windows are way up off the ground. We have a Blue Nikkel Hydrangea, too, with the big blue globes of flowers. I think feeding them acid turns the flowers blue; feeding them aluminum makes the flowers pink.....unless they're actual colors. Our Blue Nikkels have blue blooms.  I love hydrangeas. They are so beautiful and they're a kind of old-fashioned flower; my grandmother had them along her house.

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Ooo!  That Red twig dogwood is really interesting!  I need to look at it better to see if it's ok for our zone. 

I looove lilacs!  They are my favorite flower, scent, color...etc!  I have 2 little lilac bushes in my front yard now off to the side.  My Mother and Step-dad gave them to me on Mother's day right after DS was born.  Something attacked the leaves the first year.  I was SO happy they bloomed last year!  I noticed buds on them the other day.  But I also noticed "something" has nibbled on some of the stems!  I should have protected them this winter! 

My Grandfather actually suggested hydrangeas.  I would need a compact variety.  I started looking at those the other night before I got sleepy.   I will never forget; when DH and I were on our honeymoon I came across a property that had TONS of them and they somehow had both pink and blue blossoms at once.  It was stunning!!  I'd be happy to have some around here.

I do worry about the bees; especially being near the front door.  I know they are good for the garden and there are problems with the bee populations declining; but I'm a bit allergic!  My Grandfather has a gorgeous clematis right off his back covered patio.  You can't get into the back yard without walking by it.  I keep a good eye on those bees!  I told him I was thinking of some kind of trellised flowers to hide where we keep the trash cans along the side of the house.  That was his suggestion for that.  We have had issues with yellow jackets and stinging insects like that in the summer (I saw my first one today too...grrr...).  So I'm not sure I should go that route anyway.

happybird said:

I adore lilacs! ..... That is a really good memory of my dog, Waylon, too. I had forgotten how his manner changed when his leash was clipped on. He was so proud and strutted more than walked when he was on his leash. He owned that neighborhood.

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Awww!  I love it!  There used to be some gorgeous, huge lilac bushes in my mother's neighborhood.  As a teenager I walked past them on my way too and from the bus stop.  The smell; you just cant beat it!  They are gone now; it's a shame!  Someday I'd like to take a cutting of my Grandmother's lilac bush and add that to our yard too.  I've heard of people passing them down for generations that way.

how exciting! i love planning landscaping and garden beds.

re the distance to plant bushes from the foundation of your house, it depends on the bush and how it's roots spread/how far they spread. i've heard that plants roots are usually at least as wide as the plant is tall, but there are exceptions to this. spring bloomers that come from bulbs don't have as extensive root systems and some plants/bushes may have more wide of root systems. you're very wise to research things before planting near the foundation of your house.

re your curved walkway to your porch and the downspout, i have two thoughts. the first would be a rain barrel, there are some nice looking ones available these days. using a rain barrel, you'll be able to use the accumulated water to water your garden beds which might save a bit on your water bill. the second thought i have is to use either or both adding additional downspout to your existing (to reroute it) or a ramp. the ramps i have are a green plastic type material and they sit with their higher end under the downspout. they direct the water away from areas for me. one last thought is that you could re-do your downspout,  change where the downspout is positioned from the gutter.

edited to add:  when i planted my gardens/landscaping, i planted 5 hardy hibiscus plants. i put in 4 luna pink's and 1 luna white hibiscus. this will be their third year, and last year their blooms were just incredible. my neighbor has one hibiscus and quite a few rose of sharon's, which are very lovely too. i thought i'd mention these because you've said you live "north" and hibiscus and rose of sharon aren't something everyone has in my area.

also, sometimes people living in northern areas can plant gladiolus and have them come back year after year. the trick is to plant the bulbs on the southern side of the house and close to the foundation (where they'll receive some warmth from the house during the winter). i live in northern ny state and this will be the third year for my glads.

mickNsnicks2mom said:

 
how exciting! i love planning landscaping and garden beds.

re the distance to plant bushes from the foundation of your house, it depends on the bush and how it's roots spread/how far they spread. i've heard that plants roots are usually at least as wide as the plant is tall, but there are exceptions to this. spring bloomers that come from bulbs don't have as extensive root systems and some plants/bushes may have more wide of root systems. you're very wise to research things before planting near the foundation of your house.

re your curved walkway to your porch and the downspout, i have two thoughts. the first would be a rain barrel, there are some nice looking ones available these days. using a rain barrel, you'll be able to use the accumulated water to water your garden beds which might save a bit on your water bill. the second thought i have is to use either or both adding additional downspout to your existing (to reroute it) or a ramp. the ramps i have are a green plastic type material and they sit with their higher end under the downspout. they direct the water away from areas for me. one last thought is that you could re-do your downspout,  change where the downspout is positioned from the gutter.

edited to add:  when i planted my gardens/landscaping, i planted 5 hardy hibiscus plants. i put in 4 luna pink's and 1 luna white hibiscus. this will be their third year, and last year their blooms were just incredible. my neighbor has one hibiscus and quite a few rose of sharon's, which are very lovely too. i thought i'd mention these because you've said you live "north" and hibiscus and rose of sharon aren't something everyone has in my area.

also, sometimes people living in northern areas can plant gladiolus and have them come back year after year. the trick is to plant the bulbs on the southern side of the house and close to the foundation (where they'll receive some warmth from the house during the winter). i live in northern ny state and this will be the third year for my glads.

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Hibiscus would be beautiful!  I'm not sure I've seen any around here.  Thank you for the information.  It's a bit warmer here than where my own family is in Central New York; so that should help with some plants like that.  I do think my grandmother used to plant gladiolus in her yard when I was younger.  Along side the house; like you say!  It's at times like this I miss being able to chat with her!  (She's still with us; just in a nursing home with dementia.)  My Grandpa and I do talk a lot about gardening.  They both had amazing green thumbs.  I'm not sure if I got them at all or not. 

I'm going to do a lot of reading before I try tearing up the grass and planting anything!  My front yard is dominated by one large tree for shade; but I get the afternoon sun once it starts setting.  The grass is always more spars there.  I'm going to have to think about that too; when I try to select plants. 

There is so much to research and plan even before any work begins!  I feel a little less lost having asked here!

I have A LOT of landscaping around my house. I'll go through some pictures and can tell you the good, the bad and the ugly. :nod: