Adam and April’s Landscape Project

New Homeowners Start Landscape

Adam and April have a lovely home.  But the overgrown shrubs and low limbs of large trees in the front yard made it difficult to see.  Soon after they moved in, Adam set out to limb up the pine trees in front, and remove several other trees that were damaged.


 

  Adam and April asked for my help in getting a ‘plan’ together.  The design process was on hold until we determined what they wanted their yard to reflect.  Did they want a formal garden, an English garden, a high maintenance garden, or something in between.  We also talked about the time frame in which they expected to have this project finished. 
This timing issue also is important because a budget needs to be set up.  Lets face it, if you want a lot done next month, you may have to hire some help.  If this plan stretches over 3 – 5 years, then you may be able to do most of the work yourself. 
So Adam and April decided they wanted a casual, colorful garden that was low maintenance.  No maintenance gardens for the homeowner usually requires a gardener, since there is no such thing as a ‘no maintenance garden’. 

 
Adam and April removed the taxis from the front corner and added a compost soil mix to the planting bed.  April also set out to remove some of the border stones that were three high, and spread the extra soil around the roots of the tree.
 
During the deconstruction process, I had April and Adam over to see some plant material that they might want.  They chose some hostas, and other shade plants that we could divide when they were ready to plant. 
Extra watering was needed before we divided some of the plants, as we have had no measureable rain here for months.  Finally, April and I set out to dig!

An ornamental Zebra Grass is taking center stage in the front corner.  Surrounding the grass, we put a variegated liriope.  The green and yellow of both the grass and the liriope really played off of each other in the sun.  The bright purple bloom of the liriope accented the planting nicely.
Next we tackled the base of the pine tree.  Here we planted five green and cream hosta, H. Abba-Dabba-Doo.
We took divisions of  6 – 8 daylilies.  Unfortunately, I could not recall the colors, or the names.  We will try to name them in the spring.  Consequently, we divided out about 40 or so fans, and randomly placed them under the tree.

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I plan to follow Adam and April’s project over the next season or two.  Can’t wait for spring when the new beds will come to life. Follow the basic steps to plan your project and thanks for visiting today.