This is the second year we have lived in our new home and we have finally decided that we NEED to redo the landscaping around the house. The flower are beautiful and have different flowers year - round but everything is overgrown and out of control.
We are in West Michigan and the side of the house we are working on gets lots of hot evening sun. We want choices that are very easy from a maintenance standpoint; don't mind watering but for example, constantly dead-heading the rose bushes is annoying.
I can post a rough blue print of the area and pictures if that would help. The majority of it is a 3' wide strip around the house with river rocks in place of mulch. Another portion is probably 10'x30' in the front of our house with a tree in the middle.
I don't know if this is too vague to even get a conversation started, I am new here. If you guys are interested in helping on this project let me know what kind of information you need.
Hello CMay825 and Welcome.
Start a new garden...my best advise is to goggle information on your home location for plants,flowers, etc. that have a high survival ratting for your climate zone.
I have found through the years of mistakes to stick close to native flowers, plants, and trees. You will find your self having less disappointments, and seeing more native butterflies, birds and the likes.. Check their height, width, locations and soil condition requirements. Gardening should be a pleasure and not a fight to have it survive.
Start a new garden...my best advise is to goggle information on your home location for plants,flowers, etc. that have a high survival ratting for your climate zone.
I have found through the years of mistakes to stick close to native flowers, plants, and trees. You will find your self having less disappointments, and seeing more native butterflies, birds and the likes.. Check their height, width, locations and soil condition requirements. Gardening should be a pleasure and not a fight to have it survive.
It is good that you have lived in your house for a while so you know how the sun hits the yard throughout the year. Planting natives helps with maintenance. Instead of redoing the entire yard, I would do it by sections. Especially if you are planning to do the work yourself. It is important to prepare the soil well and add compost and fertilizer so what ever you plant will get a good start.
It helps to post pictures as well as a plan so we can have a better idea of what the whole thing looks like. Note what things you want to change and what you desire in the plants.
Nothing that is living will be no maintenance. It depends on how much time you want to spend each week on it. Some of the slower growing plants with lower maintenance will take years to fill up a space, so you may consider getting larger plants instead. If you want something that will grow fast, expect more maintenance.
It helps to post pictures as well as a plan so we can have a better idea of what the whole thing looks like. Note what things you want to change and what you desire in the plants.
Nothing that is living will be no maintenance. It depends on how much time you want to spend each week on it. Some of the slower growing plants with lower maintenance will take years to fill up a space, so you may consider getting larger plants instead. If you want something that will grow fast, expect more maintenance.
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CharlieBear
- Green Thumb
- Posts: 588
- Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2011 5:19 pm
- Location: Pacific NW
Start by considering what your objectives are and how much you plan to spend. Landscaping is highly personal. You don't say how fast that area dries out. If it is quickly, then you might look at drought tolerant plants. If you want to help pollinators than stick with natives or less hybridized plants. Many of the new ones are sterile, not good for bees, hummingbirds etc and more expensive. There is also the possibility of bulb gardens, containing spring, summer and fall bulbs for part or all of the flowers. They have minimal cleanup compared to say roses. There are also small flowering shrubs that would work. Just be sure to group things together by water needs and I would mulch the plantings for water retention. If you go native plants then skip the fertilizer, generally. I wish I could look at and smell the soil, it might benefit from a lot of amending, or it might not need anything at all. I would also start area by area. If the roses are your biggest gripe, start by removing them after you decide what to replace them with. A mix of bulbs, natives and small shrubs are what many go with. Note, small shrubs are often used to frame a doorway or the ends of a house. Be sure they will remain small enough that they won't damage the foundation or give a robber a place to hide, where they can't easily be seen from the road etc. Consider color, do like the English garden look (lots of colors) or do you favor as purple as the main color say. If I remember correctly, Michigan has a great extension service. They should be able to give you lists of plants that do well where you are. I would caution against simply taking your hardiness code and going to catalogs, which has lead to many failures for many people. Be sure what you chose is not on the invasive list for your area or something they want removed from the water shed you live in. If you look in a catalog and it says small shrub find out how big it grows there first. Something that is small in one place may be quite large somewhere else. I have seen dwarf trees for example that are supposed to top out at 6-7 ft go 12 feet here, where some shrubs that average 12 ft most places top out at 4-5 ft here. That is why it is so hard for most of us to do more than give you directions as to where to start looking.