Front yard
Employ grasses and succulents. Grasses and succulents are good choices for sloping gardens, since they thrive in dry, well-drained conditions. Notice how the plants in this garden add depth and texture to the space. Pay attention to small details by adding creeping ground covers such as Angelina stonecrop (Sedum rupestre ‘Angelina’, zones 5 to 8) or cheddar pinks (Dianthus cvs, zones 3 to 8) to garden crevices.
Plant small trees. Dwarf or semidwarf trees can be a beautiful addition to a small front yard, providing a focal point and increasing the sense of depth. In the yard seen here, one tree was planted on each side of a central path, with a second path running crosswise — a look that can be scaled up or down, depending on the size of your yard.
Designing Your Hillside Garden Creativity is in order in planting a garden on a slope. If your garden is contemporary, with clean lines, a block planting of a single species or cultivar may be in order. If your aesthetic is traditional, you may opt for a design emphasizing green foliage or white flowers. The rest of you can dare to mix things up and have some fun. When designing a garden on a slope, I find it helpful to stand at the bottom of the space and imagine myself conducting a symphony orchestra. A musical score may very well have crescendos, high notes, low notes, prominent and feisty movements and slow, understated movements. Translate this image into your plant design by crafting a blend of plants high and low in size, loud and subtle in color and texture, plants that move at the slightest breeze and those that don’t. The juxtaposition will add another layer of interest to your garden.
Pocket-Size Meadow in Colorado A parking strip at the Gardens on Spring Creek, in Fort Collins, Colorado, looks like a watercolor painting with swaths of lemon-yellow and lavender-purple blooms. Choosing a mix of bloom forms — such as the flat tops of yarrow, the flower spikes from a blooming yucca and the round globe thistles — offers more visual interest than planting a single flower form, and it contributes to a meadow-like look. Plants in this garden bed include: ‘Anthea’ yarrow (Achillea ‘Anthea’, zones 3 to 9) Blue allium (Allium caeruleum, zones 4 to 8) Adam’s needle (Yucca filamentosa, zones 5 to 10) ‘Munstead’ English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia ‘Munstead’, zones 5 to 9) ‘Shades of Mango’ pineleaf penstemon (Penstemon pinifolius ‘Shades of Mango’, zones 4 to 9) Water requirement: Low to moderate Light requirement: Full sun
Cottage-Style in Upstate New York Bursting with blooms, this romantic perennial garden in Buffalo, New York, overflows onto both sides of the sidewalk, enveloping a passer-by with summer flowers. If you embrace a “more is more” attitude toward gardening, re-create this look with a mix of colorful spring- and summer-blooming perennials, and optimize for plant height to create lush layers of flowers. Plants in this garden bed include: Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia, zones 5 to 9) Day lily (Hemerocallis sp.) Coneflower (Echinacea sp.) Petunia (Petunia sp.) Water requirement: Moderate Light requirement: Full sun
Remove lawn. I spend about three times the amount of energy mowing than I do gardening (and I mow just a few times each year). Lawns are water and nutrient hogs and wasted space for birds and insects. I like the look of lawns as pathways, and sometimes they’re nice for negative space — a place to rest the eye on and break up the garden — but beyond that they do little for garden making.
Add a privacy screen. While you want your front yard to be more open and friendlier, you still want to balance that with a bit of privacy. After all, no one really wants to be on stage or display, do they? There are ways to create some friendly privacy so that your message is still one of, "Hello, neighbor!" and not that you've built a stockade. Try some soft plantings near the street or sidewalk, and aim to have the overall height of these beds hover around the waist or the chest. Anything taller, with the exception of an occasional small tree, will be too overpowering and send the message to keep out.
זה יכול להיות מוצלח לצד דרום של הבית. לחפש כסאות כאלה (או לעשות). אפשר להחליף בדים). א This sun-dappled spot, with its white canvas sling chairs and gravel patio, is all about the greenery. Note the different shades and textures, courtesy of the yew at the steps, the low boxwood hedge and the row of hornbeam trees behind.
Plant masses of blooms. Take a cue from the cottages of Nantucket (most of which have tiny front yards) and plant an abundant row of hydrangeas and fragrant roses right along the street. It will charm passersby and provide a bit of privacy to the front of your house. A small picket fence makes a nice addition and gives the blooms a support to drape over
אולי אפשר להעביר את הגג מהדק לחזית Vaughan, Ontario. If your front yard doesn’t have walls, fences or mature plantings for privacy, it’s natural to feel a little on display for the neighborhood if you’re sitting outside. Adding a pergola to cover a front yard seating area and surrounding it with a mix of shrubs and small-scale trees can help an area feel private but still friendly. This xeriscape front yard in a suburb in Ontario features a flagstone patio enclosed by a handsome wooden pergola and dynamic, low-water plantings.
החזית מתחברת למדרכה - לחשוב על שביל ישר לכביש. אבל עדיף מהצד
this three-tiered combination of perennial purple coneflowers, tawny ornamental grasses and low-growing tufts of day lily foliage would also work as a sidewalk combination. The purple coneflowers are particularly long-blooming and, in combination with the tall ornamental grasses, will carry the garden through fall. Plants in this garden bed include: ‘Magnus’ purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus’, zones 3 to 8) ‘Karl Foerster’ feather reed grass(Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’, zones 4 to 9) ‘Stella de Oro’ day lily (Hemerocallis ‘Stella de Oro’, zones 4 to 9), after blooming
Plants in the Foreground Even though they’re not on the porch itself, the plants you include in the landscape leading toward your front door can have a big impact on how your porch looks and feels. From the street, colorful plantings draw the eye — and for those sitting on the porch, a screen of plants provides a bit of privacy and a lovely view.
The designer has employed the concept of asymmetrical balance; one garden bed is larger than the other but is weighted to look equal. The stone pillar mimics the lamppost, bringing continuity to the space. Notice how the caladiums (Caladium sp, zones 9 to 10) are more prominent in the smaller bed on the right. Acting as a fulcrum, they balance the beds, making them visually pleasing. A carpet of ground cover in the foreground of each bed brings that additional dose of soothing continuity. If you are not confident in your ability to lay out bed lines that seem to flow effortlessly across your hardscape, consider employing the use of a garden hose. Stretch it across your walkway and create a serpentine or curved line that makes sense to you when viewed from different angles. It's easier to change the hose than to redig your bed lines.
Add fresh gravel to boost front yard look
Add a neighborly front-yard feature. Hanging out in the front yard is a great way to meet your neighbors. But if your yard is like most, there’s probably nowhere to sit! Make your front just as appealing as the back by adding a pair of Adirondack chairs, a picnic table or even a fire pit. When surrounded by lush plantings, your front-yard hangout can feel both welcoming and just private enough.
PICKET FENCE כאן בצבע טבעי הגדר מאפשרת גינה מלפנים זהנראה טוב גם מהרחוב לבית, וגם מהבית החוצה
The circular seating area links a large side yard with the equally large front yard, giving both a raison d'etre. The rounded "carpet" of crushed stone has some nice detailing, including the block edging and the flagstone path that cuts through it. Not too casual; not too formal. Definitely inviting. The rounded area (complete with two charming turquoise Adirondack chairs and a small side table) serves the same purpose as a front porch, providing bonus seating to the two benches on the entry threshold of this traditional home. This side yard treatment is both attractive and neighbor friendly
As revealed in this aerial view of the same yard, the plant massing to the left of the fence also provides a measure of intimacy for a gravel-topped conversation area.
A narrow strip of grass leads the eye to a uniform massing of daylilies here. The rustic wood fence not only serves as a backdrop for these perennials, but divides the property into public and semiprivate spaces. The inner plants are arranged en masse, blocking the view of the curb from the house without being unneighborly.
This garden is totally about what's viewed by the owners. It has a stoutly constructed white fence as a neutral color foil for colorful flowers that are high along the fence and dip down as they approach the lawn.
Addition over the entrance
Two special details make this grand lawn feel more intimate, appropriately scaled to the humans who stroll here. The first appears in the foreground where two deep planting beds are outlined by low boxwood hedging, mirroring one another on either side of the lawn. Anyone who walks through this opening feels safe and welcome. This detail is similar to path treatments that vary in width, encouraging pedestrians to slow down and admire the garden's sensory gifts. The second curvaceous detail emerges in the distance — an arbor that acts as a doorway to the hidden garden beyond. This arbor's placement is successful because the lawn continues beneath it like a walking path — and plantings on either side prevent anyone from side-stepping the journey.
Boulders can overlap the walkway slightly to create continuity from side to side. Do this safely to avoid a tripping hazard. plants directly into the hardscape. Here the designer has both embraced and softened the hardscape by introducing a ground cover directly into the joints of the sidewalk. Notice how the appropriate use of this unexpected technique pulls the eye toward the house and creates an oasis in the midst of the walkway. Creeping and wooly thyme (Thymus cvs, zones 4 to 9) are especially suited for this purpose.
Allow plants to overflow onto the hardscape. The appropriate use of this technique will soften the edges of the hardscape and bring continuity from one side to the other. Notice the repetition achieved in this garden through the use of ornamental grasses, hydrangeas and spreading perennials. Some maintenance and planning are required to assure that the plants never present a hazard to the visitor or look overgrown.
An allée of pollarded trees makes a bold statement in this garden. Allées are usually used as a formal element, so this one contrasts perfectly with the contemporary style of the home.
Flower walk. Overflowing with flowering perennials of all shapes and sizes, this Toronto garden bordering the street is a feast for the senses — and a gift to the neighbors. Flowers in this garden bed include: pink mallow, purple clematis, Oriental lilies, pink cosmos, dark-leafed canna, low-growing white sweet alyssum and more.
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