Re-designing front yard and adding shrubs

[silk.spectre]

Hey, guys!

I've been at my friends' house in California for a while now. It's a dry place, so their front yard shrubs and plants are dying off. I offered help. The problem is, I know pretty much nothing about gardening, but find it fun. The problem with their front yard, is that they HAVE to keep in maintained because of the HOA (homeowner association). I would like to help them to redesign their whole front yard and plant new shrubs and hedges. Here's how it looks like:



As for someone totally inexperienced, I know it doesn't look nice, especially now, since we've had plumbers digging holes in there to get something fixed.

I can totally plant things and design the front yard totally on my own, but I'd really like to get some tips on how to start it and how to hide that black thing peeking out of the ground (whatever that is ). I would like to know how to redesign it, because I believe everything has to be changed. If you could give me tips step by step what to do and which tools to use, I can make it all happen Maybe not professionally, but I guess it should do.

Thank you in advance!!!

[catgrass]

I visited Ca. a few years ago and one thing I noticed, (and really liked), was the Little John bottlebrush. It is a low growing shrub that produces the bottlebrush flowers that bees and hummingbirds love. It will tolerate sun/shade, too much water, not enough water, is evergreen and survives dang near anything while looking good, too. Daylily is another good choice-there are many to choose from.

[ElizabethB]

Could you post more photos? Close ups of the existing plants so they can be identified and some distance photos so the entire front of the house can be seen. It looks like part of the yard has a steep slope. Also where is the driveway and sidewalk?

Can you find out what that "black thing" is? That may restrict what you can plant and how close you can plant. Also where is the water source?

[imafan26]

It is best to do your research and look for natives, fire resistant plants and drought tolerant plants.

It sounds like a fun project. I would not try to do anything but a plan for the summer time and wait for cooler weather to put things in.

Xeriscape plants will use a lot less water.

Succulents, rosemary (fire retardant), California poppy, California bay laurel, and yucca are the ones that I am familiar with.

[silk.spectre]

Thank you so much guys! I will definitely post more pictures! If you could help me identify existing plants, that would be awesome! I will be back soon with more photos!

[grrlgeek]

The "black thing" is most certainly the sewer cleanout. It connects to the lateral sewer line running from the house to the street. You can open the cap and clear plumbing blockages via that access point. You want to use care when digging near that, as well as in the vicinity of that stubout in a (usually) straight line to the street.

I second the Little John Bottle Brush. It's a beautiful (and very forgiving) shrub that adds colour, and doubles as a high energy food source for hummingbirds and bees.

[silk.spectre]

Hey there, guys!

The "black thing" is most certainly the sewer cleanout. It connects to the lateral sewer line running from the house to the street. You can open the cap and clear plumbing blockages via that access point. You want to use care when digging near that, as well as in the vicinity of that stubout in a (usually) straight line to the street.

Yes, thank you! That's exactly what it is. We had some serious problems recently and plumbers basically had to dig down the front yard area to replace damaged parts. They also, unfortunately, had to remove some of the shrubs to do that. I already threw away some of them, because they died.

Okay, so I was able to clean the area out a little more. Again, I have no idea what the hell I'm doing, just so you know. I still think it looks a little better than it did when I first posted a picture.



I'm sorry about the poor quality of this- I had to use my older phone.

Now, the only thing I'm concerned about, is the area to the right, where the steep slope starts (that's already someone else's area). I tried to remove dead roots, but I ended up basically just ripping off everything else, since it was all deeply rooted into the ground. I would really like to explain it better, but I'm not a native speaking American (I'm Polish), so it's challenging. Sorry!



Everything else starts looking all dandy, but this area just sucks! I have no idea what to do about it and how to remove it, because I still think it should be removed. It would be amazing if you guys could advise me on which tools to use to basically make the soil look nicer, too. I guess a hoe would do?... (sounded kinda weird )

We don't have a lot of plants out here in the front yard, but if you could tell me what are these and how to take care of them, that would be awesome!





I still don't like the grass that surrounds the shrubs, because it just looks overgrown and dry. I just temporarily made it look a little nicer, haha.

Here's where the driveway starts, so that you get the idea:



Thanks so much for the help! I already looked up the bootlebrush and we might get it!

[grrlgeek]

Can you possibly update your profile with your location and perhaps a climate zone? There are so many different climates in California and not all plants will work well in all areas.

For a point of reference, look at the map at the very bottom of this page: https://www.beachcalifornia.com/california-regions.html . Within each of those regions, is yet another collection of varying climates. I live in Los Angeles County, which has areas of desert, mountain, beaches, and valley. You can snow ski in the morning, and be on the beach surfing or getting a tan, by noon. It's that diverse.

You can go here: https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/ and enter your zip code to find your hardiness zone. That information, along with at least your general area (Desert, Bay Area, Central Valley, North Coast, etc.) will help folks make the most relevant suggestions for plant care and selection.

Edit to add - the University of Calif Cooperative Extension has a good website too: https://cagardenweb.ucanr.edu/General/ . This is their link to shrub specific information: https://cagardenweb.ucanr.edu/Landscape_ ... ial_Vines/ which includes a method for identifying shrubs you don't recognise.

[silk.spectre]

I updated my location. Right now I'm in Riverside, California. Not far from LA, but definitely it's a lot hotter here. Thank you very much!

[grrlgeek]

Oh yes, it's hot and dry in Riverside. You're in USDA Hardiness Zone 9b. That info will come in handy when choosing plants. I am afraid that I am not your best option when it comes to design or the care and feeding of shrubs like the ones you have. I have a loathing for shrubs that goes back to my childhood yard chore years. I would probably say cut them all down and plant corn. But the HOA wouldn't approve of that. I'll make a couple of suggestions though.

The yard looks like so many of the tract homes near me. Maintaining grass in that climate is a lot of work and a lot of water. I would definitely take all of that patchy grass on the right side out, and extend the dirt patch as far as your property line.

You can do a lot with pavers, decorative rock, stones, mulch and edging to section off areas and create themed plantings. Hopefully, someone with a design eye will chime in. If you can use native plants you can also save water and they will require a lot less tending, since they have a built-in disposition to grow where you live.

This is a super neat looking shrub that blooms March through August: Monkeyflower
cite: © Br. Alfred Brousseau, Saint Mary's College, Permission to use is granted freely to not-for-profit organizations under Fair Use. https://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_q ... +0480+0060

And I am especially fond of Chia, but that looks a little wild and might not pass muster with the HOA.

Check out : https://www.calflora.org/app/wgh?page=entry . It's an amazing mapping tool where you enter your zip code and it will tell you all of the native plants that grow there.

Keep us updated and show us pictures of what you do with the space!

[imafan26]

I would suggest Indian Hawthorne, rhaphiolepis indica. It is a low maintenance drought tolerant shrub. It does grow slowly so it is best to get bigger plants.

The bottle brush is also a good choice and will fill in faster. It is not a particularly popular hedge here because of the prickliness of the flower that make some people itch.

Can you put up a picture of the whole house. If this is a tall house, the shrubs will be kinda small for the scale of things. You might want to try something more vertical like an olive tree or yucca.

[silk.spectre]

Wow, guys, this is so cool! Thank you so much for the help!!!!!!! I will definitely take a picture of the whole house, so you can see. This is quite big two story house. As soon as I can, I will show it to you. Thank you again for being so lovely and considerate.