newbiegardner6
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Joined: Wed Aug 06, 2014 3:12 pm

Landscaping help !!

I am completely new to gardening. Just started doing some landscaping in the front of our house. Had a few quick ques. In the attached pic you can see that we are trying to mulch a portion of the front of the house and section it off with rocks. The shrub has been there since we bought the house and hardly requires maintenance. We just planted the Japanese maple and did the rocks by the house and the rest is mulch.

We have mulched part of the area. The area not mulched yet has grass. I'm planning on using round up to kill the grass and weeds off in that area and then lay down some newspapers and mulch on top. This is what I gathered from some forums here as the best way to go.

I also wanna put a rhododendron in that section before I mulch. Will that work after I kill all the grass off ? Just wanna make sure I can plant in that area.

Also wats the best way to lay the stones? Do I get rid of the grass and dig a little deeper to put the stones in the ground ?

Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks so much !!!
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imafan26
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Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

It looks like a shady spot.

The shrub is nice and as you say it is fairly carefree. You do need some under plantings, maybe some annuals like impatiens that don't mind being in the shade but will also tolerate some sun. It will give you more color.

Personally, I would not have put the maple in that location. You have two relatively tall plants that block your windows unless that is what you want to do. The tall plants look like they are a little too close together and they do not complement each other well. The Japanese maple does need to be in shade in the afternoon but most are going to be 8- 12 ft tall and spread as wide as they are tall. Unless you will be pruninng your japanese maple to keep the canopy tight, it needs a bit more distance from the house. I would have opted for shorter shrubs that would be below window height with color and texture to complement the older shrub like junipers bordered with annuals for seasonal color. I would also make the border bed a bit wider and rounder or undulate. That will give the illusion of depth especially if the front of the border is planted with smaller plants.

newbiegardner6
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Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Aug 06, 2014 3:12 pm

imafan26 wrote:It looks like a shady spot.

The shrub is nice and as you say it is fairly carefree. You do need some under plantings, maybe some annuals like impatiens that don't mind being in the shade but will also tolerate some sun. It will give you more color.

Personally, I would not have put the maple in that location. You have two relatively tall plants that block your windows unless that is what you want to do. The tall plants look like they are a little too close together and they do not complement each other well. The Japanese maple does need to be in shade in the afternoon but most are going to be 8- 12 ft tall and spread as wide as they are tall. Unless you will be pruninng your japanese maple to keep the canopy tight, it needs a bit more distance from the house. I would have opted for shorter shrubs that would be below window height with color and texture to complement the older shrub like junipers bordered with annuals for seasonal color. I would also make the border bed a bit wider and rounder or undulate. That will give the illusion of depth especially if the front of the border is planted with smaller plants.
I planted the maple wit the intention of covering the windows. And I do wanna plant another shrub between them . I will look into junipers. I like ur suggestion of making the bed rounder. Lemme move the stones around and see how that looks.

Thanks !!

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tomf
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Joined: Mon May 18, 2009 8:15 am
Location: Oregon

The big issue I see with planting a tree so close to the house is that the roots of the tree will damage your foundation. when the tree gets big it will also damage your roof by dropping leaves on it, and by shading the roof. I would move that tree if I were you.
After the lawn dies you can plant and then mulch.



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