Figuring out what to plant in front of the house can be very intimidating for new gardeners. I want to Design Your Own Landscape Online Undergraduate make it easy. This is a paid endorsement. The author has been compensated and provided with the product free of charge in return for their honest opinion.
Foundation landscape design is typically more stressful than it is for other gardens because your front garden is main focal point that people see when walking up to your house. You want to make sure the style and plantings match the style and color of your house, enhancing the house, not hiding it or making it look bad.
I want to make this super easy for you, so I will break it all down starting with the basics. Before you go ripping out those old scraggly shrubs or shopping for plants, take some time to do some planning.
Not only will this help ensure a lovely foundation planting, it will make it much easier to choose the plants. Determine the sun exposure � Be sure to measure the sun exposure of the area before you start planning. The plants directly in front of my house are in partial shade, but the ones on the end are in full sun. Learn how to determine the sun exposure of a garden area. Look at the style of your house � As you brainstorm landscape design ideas, first think about the style of your house.
You may find it easier to do some research to get inspiration for the specific style of your house. Take some photos of the front of your house and bring them to the garden center with you. They will be able to suggest plants that will work with the style of your house. Think about plant spacing � Proper spacing is one of the most difficult things about designing a foundation planting.
But resist the urge to crowd the plants, especially shrubs. Planting too close together will create a messy, overgrown feeling once everything fills in.
You can always fill in the empty spaces with annuals and containers until the perennials and shrubs fills in. You can use a photo of the front of your house to draw on, or you can just sketch it out to get an idea. Choosing plants is fun, but it can also be stressful � especially for foundation planting! Size � The most important thing to consider when choosing foundation shrubs is the size of the mature plant.
Also, be careful when choosing trees and large shrubs to plant close to house foundations. Too often I see people plant a tree or large shrub right next their foundation, not thinking about the full size of the plant. Once they mature, large shrubs and trees can cause major headaches � and possibly even damage to the foundation, siding or roof of your house.
Color � Another important thing to think about when choosing shrubs is the color. I chose shrubs that compliment the color of the brick on my house, and creates a nice contrast to the light colored siding.
The dark foliage also makes a lovely backdrop for the bright and colorful perennials and flowers that I picked out. Shape � You may also want to consider the shape of the shrubs that you choose for your foundation planting. Look at the dominate shapes of your house, and see if you can incorporate shrubs that will compliment or mimic those shapes.
Layers � When choosing landscaping plants for the front of your house, think about creating layers. The tallest should be planted in the back, then each row of plants should tier down so the shortest ones are in the front.
Using evergreen shrubs in your design is fine, but be sure to mix in lots of contrast and color to add visual interest and make your house pop. If you have a red door, add a few pops of red plants in the design. If you have brick on your house, then choose plants and flowers that will accent the colors in the brick. Be sure to read the plant tag for bloom times so that you can choose a variety of flowering plants for constant color. See if you can incorporate the style and plants from other garden areas into the foundation planting to create unity throughout the landscape.
Before pictures of flower beds around house foundation. To give you an example, and help get your creative juices flowing, I will walk you through the process of redesigning my foundation planting in the front of my house step by step. Before you start, be sure to have the area marked by the utility companies. This is especially important to do before landscaping around foundations. Think of what could have happened if I would have hit that with my cultivator. Pipe hidden under soil near house foundation.
Of course, you can leave the ones you know you want to keep I left a few in mine. Put the plants you want to keep into pots and incorporate them into your new foundation garden design, or relocate them to a different garden area. Ripping out old landscaping around house foundation. Step 2: Amend and loosen up the soil � Foundation soil is usually very poor quality because the builders use cheap filler that is full of rocks and dirt.
So, you will definitely want to amend the soil before planting anything. That way, you will know exactly how to amend it. Determining Draw Your Own Landscape Design 15 the pH of your soil will also help you choose the right plants.
The soil next to my house foundation was so hard that it was difficult to even dig a hole. The Troy-Bilt 4-Cycle Garden Cultivator was super easy to use, and quickly broke up the hard, compacted soil. Just be sure to keep the grading so that the soil goes down at an angle away from the foundation.
Grading the soil is important so that the water runs away from the foundation, avoiding any water issues. Step 4: Choose the focal plants first � Think of your focal plants, or anchor plants, as the backdrop to your landscaping.
Most people choose to use shrubs, but you could also use large perennials or even climbing plants as your focal plants. You want your anchor plants to fill the space, but not overwhelm it in a few years. I knew I would be planting three focal shrubs under the high windows to break up the plain siding. In addition, I had a large corner to fill, so I wanted to be sure to choose a large focal plant for that corner too.
Choosing bushes to plant in front of the house. You want the tallest ones your anchor plants in back next to the house, and then layer each row down so that the shortest plants are in the front. One of the main goals for my foundation planting was to add lots of color to the front of my house. So I chose plants with colorful foliage and also a range of flowering times. Keep in mind that I also had two areas to work with, the corner is full sun, and the front of the house is partial shade. So before you start digging, take all of the plants and place them where you want to plant them.
Leave them in their pots so that you can easily move things around. It may look sparse now, but squint your eyes and try to imagine what it will look like when everything is full grown. Once you have everything placed, walk away.
Leave it for a few days or even the whole week before you plant anything. Step 7: Plant everything � Now, finally you can plant everything. Like I mentioned above, foundation soil is usually very compacted. Loosening up the soil like this will make it easier for the roots to become established.
Learn more about how to transplant garden plants. I recommend using a natural hardwood mulch for foundation planting rather than rock. Wood mulch helps to retain soil moisture, keep the roots cool, protect the plants during the winter, and it also feeds the soil as it breaks down.
Rock on the other hand can get very hot in the sun, and burn plants. Rock is also a pain to work with if you need to dig up or replant anything. Choose mulch that will compliment the color of your Design Your Own Landscape Online Free 2020 house, and also accent the plants.
Done planting flower beds in front of the house. Before it looked scraggly and tired, and it was in desperate need of a major change. Now the curb appeal is so much nicer, and I love walking by it.
After pictures of my new foundation flower beds. There are lots of things to consider when designing the foundation planting in front of your house. But if you take your time and follow these steps, you will end up with front flower beds that will complement the color and style of your house, and add tons of curb appeal that you will love.
Share your foundation planting ideas or design tips in the comments section below. I live and garden in Minneapolis, MN zone 4b.
My green thumb comes from my parents, and I've been gardening most of my life. Read More Your welcome! Echoing others thanks for the very helpful roadmap for foundation planting. Just wondering what gardening zone you live in order to see if that might be an option in my yard.
Thanks in advance. There are definitely varieties hardy to your climate, so check your local garden center. Love the ideas and how simple you lay them out for us beginners. I would say to also suggest getting your underground utilities mapped out before you dig anything around the house. Yes, good point. I did mention having the area marked by the utility companies before starting in the paragraph before the step by step instructions , but maybe I need to make it more prominent.
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