Tall Stuff in Back, Green Side Up

Just as in plumbing where you need to know two things:  Cold on the right and shit don’t flow uphill.  In landscaping, we have a saying as well: tall stuff in the back and green side up. 

You also know that I was a landscaper and designer for the last 20 years of my working life. I  will drop some photos here just to spice things up. This is not work that I have done recently, nor here in Mountain View. It's in New Orleans where the weather is much different, but maybe you will get some ideas for your own house.

After you move into your brand new house, you realize that the builder’s landscaping included 6 shrubs planted in a row at the house’s foundation and one tiny tree centered in the front yard.  So now you not only have to pick out drapes, but also figure out what to do with the rest of the yard.

Planning your landscape

Start with deciding whether to hire a landscape architect or doing your own design using a landscape contractor. The architect will provide you with plans that include everything from a swimming pool to a gazebo or a circular driveway.  Often he draws the plans using the computer.  Your plans take into consideration your needs, wants and budget.  Plans drawn by a landscape architect are comprehensive and take your landscaping from start to finish.   You can get bids on those plans or even do it yourself in stages. Sometimes landscape architects do installation as well, so you may wish to have them bid on doing the work.  You will pay for the landscape architect’s plans. 

You can also use a landscape contractor who will work with that set of plans.  Both will give you a contract that outlines the scope of work and what you may be responsible for.  The contract will give you a start and completion date and a total price assuming no changes and depending on the weather.

Installing your landscape

Hardscaping is usually part of your installation.  Hardscape includes driveways, swimming pools, parking pads, fences, gates, ponds, fountains, irrigation systems and more.  If you have hardscape being installed, the job will take longer and make more of a mess. Be prepared for heavy machinery and big trucks invading your space, making noise and waking you up early in the morning.  But it will not last long and the benefits are worth the temporary disturbance.

Planting your landscape

More big trucks will arrive full of garden soil after the hardscaping is done.  That soil gives you a weed free beginning for your garden beds.  Workers will spread it into your already designed garden beds.  When the soil is in place, your plant material arrives and and is spotted. Spotting is what happens when the plants are still in their pots, but placed where they will be planted.  

Plant material will consist of trees, shrubs, flowers and vegetables.  The plant palette will be chosen for your climate.  The architect or contractor knows what grows where you live, what maintenance the plant material needs, and chooses the plants accordingly.

Maintaining your landscape

Please remember that no garden is maintenance free.  Some plants like trees or shrubs are low maintenance, but still require attention.  All need water, food and occasional pruning.  Perennial plants are favorites because they flower throughout the year. The maintenance requirements are more than shrubs or trees, but give you flowers, textures and live for years.  

Plants that require the most maintenance are annuals. They must be replaced every year, but give you a show of color that make the low replacement price worth every penny.  

You may want to consider a contract with the installer to maintain your landscape on a regular basis.  They will keep your brand new landscape healthy and gorgeous for all the years you live in your house.

Landscaping in Winter?

Ya know winter either has arrived where you live or it’s arriving soon. My last career was as a landscaper and here are a few things I picked up along the way.

I’ll add a few photos from tropical New Orleans just to make you remember summer and how short it was.

Do you look at your landscape in winter and just see ugly brown or worse yet, see a constant cover of ever greying snow?  You can make your yard much more pleasant if you do a few things when planning and installing it early on. You can also add some ‘bones’ to the garden now to make it look nice in all seasons. 

All gardens must start with ‘bones.’  These are the trees, shrubs, walkways, statuary, or benches that define the garden’s shape and stay in place year-round. Add  arbors or trellises to the other hardscape . Even in winter the vines that grew up the trellis or over the arbor add interest with the vines’ skeletons until they green up in the spring. 

Paths can give your garden interesting angles that frame the beds, now white or brown. Plant shrubs that are berry producing along the paths, so birds will visit. That adds both color and movement to the winter garden. 

Evergreen trees keep your landscape green and look wonderful with a blanket of snow. Or cut a few branches and use them in window boxes or planters. They will stay green for weeks.

The water feature can also be a focal point in winter. The fish can’t be seen and the waterfall is silent, but ornamental grasses add movement and structure to the winter landscape. If you leave a hole in the ice, birds and other wildlife will stop by for a drink.

Statuary creates focal points in the garden. Depending on your garden’s formality or casualness, the statues can be obelisks or whimsical children at play. Regardless of the statuary you choose, be sure it fits where you put it. Most of the time a formal statue does not work well with an informal one.

Add interest when the snow falls or when the entire garden turns brown as it does in the warmer zones. Add a bottle tree, a Southern garden tradition. A bottle tree consists of bottles on tree branches, either real or manufactured. The bottles are usually blue. The noise of the wind over the bottle openings are said to keep the ‘haints’ away. 

Exterior pottery can hold interesting sticks from the garden. When the snow settles on the sticks, the result is an ever-changing sculpture.

The garden is rarely green and colorful in the winter, but it can be made so very interesting by using your imagination and spots of movement and color.