Can you give me some feedback on my landscape plan?

[peachyness]

My husband and I bought this house. The backyard is gorgeous but the front is sad.

BEFORE:
[img]https://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs493.ash1/26964_725276143695_6418788_41398827_6464084_n.jpg[/img]

I do not have a green thumb. This is my first gardening project so I would love it if you could give me some feedback here. This is what I have done so far:


[img]https://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs513.snc3/26964_725276103775_6418788_41398822_5362915_n.jpg[/img]
This is just 1/3 of the whole project. I am only focusing on the area in front of the patio for now. Inch by inch...

Another view:
[img]https://hphotos-sjc1.fbcdn.net/hs493.snc3/26964_725276118745_6418788_41398824_4559883_n.jpg[/img]
If you're wondering about the water in the hole: I began digging up the hole to start planting, freaked out, and stopped. Then, it started raining so of course the hole filled up with water.

I don't think these pictures do any justice. The curve looks a lot better in person. Really, trust me. Even my husband likes the curve.

I'm going to put Star Jasmines as hedges in front of the concrete. It won't be boring old hedges because they will have pretty flowers in the summer. It'll be kind of like the hedge in this picture:

[img]https://www.rjhorton.com.au/Site/Climbers/slides/Star%20Jasmine%20Ground%20cover.JPG[/img]



In front of the hedges I'm going to plant 7 daylilies.
[img]https://gardening.resourcesforattorneys.com/images/daylilies.jpg[/img]

What do you think?

Oh, I'm going to put rocks as a border around the whole garden area. I'm excited about the rock idea.

[rainbowgardener]

Unless the rain stopped like 5 minutes before you took the picture, that water sitting in the hole doesn't look good. Looks like you have very heavy clay soil that doesn't drain very well. Before you plant anything, work on amending you soil with lots of organic material and fork it in well, loosen everything up so you have better drainage.

The star jasmine hedge is lovely. Extend it out under the window so the fragrance will come in the house!

The thing about the daylilies is that they multiply rapidly. Your little space, if you are just talking about putting them in the area that the picture is of will be full with 7 day lilies. Then next year it will be way over crowded and the daylilies will be invading the lawn. And the day lilies have a lot of foliage and get tall and bushy. If you are talking about planting the low jasmine hedge in front of the concrete and then day lilies in front of that, no one will know the jasmine is there and it may get shaded out. If you really like daylilies, think about getting some Stella d' oro dwarf daylilies. They bloom over a much longer period than the regular ones and they stay smaller. Don't put too many of them in... leave some bare dirt; they will fill in as they multiply.

What kind of sun exposure does your little patch get? It looks a little shaded with house all around it. You know the jasmine likes a lot of sun?

[peachyness]

You are indeed correct about the soil being very clay like. Yes, I do need to work on it some more. I've been tilling and working the soil, but I guess it wasn't enough!

About the daylillies, thank you for the heads up on how much they spread out. The person at the nursery was the one who put 7 in that area (he drew up the plan). In that area, do you think I should just plant around 3-4 then?

A storm was going through and so it looks very shaded but this space does indeed receive a lot of full sun.

I like your idea of extending the hedge underneath the windows. The man stopped at the corner wall and then put camelia sasanqua underneath the window. Isn't that a shrub? Won't that be weird?

Thank you so much for your feedback. That is what I need. I'm beginning to think I need to return a lot of the plants that I bought from the nursery and do a lot more research before continuing on.

[rainbowgardener]

Camellias are gorgeous (I wish they would survive our winters!), but yes it is a shrub:

Camellia Sasanqua's have mature heights that range from about 4-15 ft (1.2-4.6 m)
https://www.floridata.com/ref/c/came_sas.cfm

You would either lose your window or be committed to doing LOTS of pruning and trimming.

It would give you more continuity just to extend the jasmine hedge, which would be a better size, too.

[peachyness]

Rainbowgardener, I just noticed that I bought the dwarf version. So, it could work, I suppose.

My only concern is that I have my water pipe and sprinkler switch at the corner area of the house. I do not want to block that area.

I will have to sleep on this. I do like the idea of continuing though. I'll wait to return the camellias because I do like the idea of having them bloom during the fall/winter time.

Thank you so much for your help. I was in tears yesterday trying to think about how this will work. You have been so helpful.

[mtmickey]

If you are going to do a rock border, get some flat rocks and put them in as a path to your sprinkler switch. That is what I did and planted a few low growing seedums, which filled in the space nicely and still allows easy access the sprinkler switch.

[peachyness]

mtmickey, yes, that's what I figured I would do. I will need to do the same in the backyard too.

I still haven't gotten around to doing the rock border, but since I did the garden in the front lawn way back in the spring time, it is really starting to look nice. THe plants are growing, blooming, filling in the empty spaces, and many butterflies and bees have been happily visiting the garden. I am overjoyed and thank you guys for helping me!!!