topic Re: Landscaping question in Garden

Landscaping question

theresa — Sat, 20 Sep 2025 19:21:11 GMT

So my landscaper posted a photo of the 90's look VS today's look of a home with lots of shrubs in the front. He removed them and the property looked so much cleaner. I decided to have him remove my evergreen shrubs and now I think the front looks too bare.

I have 2 azalea plants and white rocks. In the Spring will probably have him plant hydrangeas. Need ideas for low maintenance plants or small shrubs.

Now the concrete foundation is very obvious and the guy who mowed yesterday suggested I could have the foundation painted to match the vinyl siding. I spoke with my contractor today who painted the inside of my home and he said it's a very common service and he would match the foundation perfectly to make it blend with the siding.

Anyone else do this? I have a flat ranch and I keep my property pristine. Any ideas on low maintenance shrubs or plants much appreciated also

Re: Landscaping question

JYWilliams — Sat, 20 Sep 2025 19:42:06 GMT

I had shrubs in front of my house and down my property line. I removed all this year. It looked naked at first because I wasn't use to the shrubs but I like it now since they are gone I do have potted flowers out front Spring/Summer. I've seen foundations painted that looked nice. I've also seen houses with vinyl siding but they put the brick design vinyl siding on the foundation. That also looked nice.

Re: Landscaping question

haddon9 — Sat, 20 Sep 2025 19:51:50 GMT

We still have a lot of landscaping in the front. However we had a plum tree off of one side of the driveway that we had removed a couple of years ago. At first I thought we would replace it with another smaller tree or some shrubbery of some sort but instead we had our lawn guy dig up the mulch, even out the ground and put sod down in that area. Wow! It looked so nice without any landscaping! Sometimes less is more.

However I still like to see something in front of the foundation at the front of the house. I like the idea of painting it the same color as the siding. See how it looks then before you add more landscaping..

Re: Landscaping question

theresa — Sat, 20 Sep 2025 19:57:14 GMT

I have 2 maple trees in the front of my home one on the side of the driveway and the other and the very end of my front yard property. I'm not a flower person so low maintenance works for me less is more LOL! Thank you for your suggestion about seeing how the foundation color looks before I start adding more plants/shrubs.

The painter said it will make the home look larger and a cleaner look. He is not one to take advantage he is semi retired and only keeps his long time clients. I called him for ideas and he came this morning and showed me the shade of paint. He said if I don't like it he will not continue - will only do a small area and if necessary he will remove it.

Re: Landscaping question

theresa — Sat, 20 Sep 2025 19:59:43 GMT

@JYWilliams I put 1 ceramic pot with some asters and they look nice but my larger ceramic planters are very heavy. I'm going to see how the foundation being painted looks before I start adding more landscaping. Right now it looks bare but the white rocks do look nice!

Re: Landscaping question

JYWilliams — Sat, 20 Sep 2025 21:55:07 GMT

@theresa, Once you have it painted post and let us know if you liked it and if you'll landscape afterwards. I have some heavy pots that I had to use a dolly to pull the pots from my garage to the front of my house. I do have two fire glow maple trees out front so it's not completely bare

Re: Landscaping question

shelbyshelbyshelby — Sat, 20 Sep 2025 22:07:59 GMT

Re: Landscaping question

shelbyshelbyshelby — Sat, 20 Sep 2025 22:08:39 GMT

Less is more.

Re: Landscaping question

theresa — Sat, 20 Sep 2025 22:52:30 GMT

@shelbyshelbyshelby so you're saying the less landscaping the look is better. I will keep you updated after the foundation is painted.

Re: Landscaping question

walkingal — Sun, 21 Sep 2025 13:08:25 GMT

@shelbyshelbyshelby wrote:
Less is more.

@shelbyshelbyshelby @theresa I just wanted to say I agree with less is more. A lot of people nowadays, at least where I live, don't trim and cut back their bushes and trees. Things keep growing and growing, and you can't make heads or tails what anything is. Also, bushes and trees die after a time, and tjhey need to be removed. I have a landscaper too, and they do a great job of keeping things trimmed back and cut.

Re: Landscaping question

SEGardener — Sun, 21 Sep 2025 17:06:28 GMT

Paint can seal foundation blocks. Do you have any kind of moisture problems in your basement or crawl space? If so I wouldn't paint the foundation blocks. Moisture wicks up to the drier foundation blocks and dissipates into the atmosphere. Plant shrubs - be careful of hydrangea depending on the sunlight too much or not enough. Personally I'd stick to an evergreen - there are plenty that are dwarfed gowing 24-40inches. They are the least maintenance and also are good drinkers for water at the foundation.

@theresa wrote:
So my landscaper posted a photo of the 90's look VS today's look of a home with lots of shrubs in the front. He removed them and the property looked so much cleaner. I decided to have him remove my evergreen shrubs and now I think the front looks too bare.

I have 2 azalea plants and white rocks. In the Spring will probably have him plant hydrangeas. Need ideas for low maintenance plants or small shrubs.

Now the concrete foundation is very obvious and the guy who mowed yesterday suggested I could have the foundation painted to match the vinyl siding. I spoke with my contractor today who painted the inside of my home and he said it's a very common service and he would match the foundation perfectly to make it blend with the siding.

Anyone else do this? I have a flat ranch and I keep my property pristine. Any ideas on low maintenance shrubs or plants much appreciated also

Re: Landscaping question

theresa — Sun, 21 Sep 2025 17:55:56 GMT

@SEGardener I don't have blocks as foundation it's solid concrete. My basement is finished and I asked this painter about mold problems/moisture. He said it wouldn't impact that issue. I had evergreen shrubs before that my landscaper trimmed 2X year. I really regret having him remove them. One was very large but the other 3 were fine. Lesson learned. He put down additional white rocks so now it's very bare. I hope painting the foundation is not going to be another mistake on my part but I don't know who else to ask unless I ask a contractor who builds homes.

Re: Landscaping question

Mom2Dogs — Mon, 22 Sep 2025 00:07:26 GMT

@theresa I have a long front yard foot print...Imagine the white house on a much smaller and less grand scale....very difficult to landscape. For years I had mulch and lots of greeney...over time I got older and tired of replacing mulch every single year and the cats used the mulch as their litter box.

I pulled out all the greenery, had nice black sparkly stone brought in and added 3 plants/seedum and a large rock. I have one small area that I had the landscaper put in dirt so that I could add a few plants (it is set apart with medium size rock) and I also have a large black planter that is seasonal...for height I plant a grass in that planter along with ivy geranium....at the other end I have a cement bench. It looks nice, at first I thought it looked stark but I have gotten used to it. I did add this year two additional black planters (tall) that flank either side of two pillars near the front door and added plants in them...helped soften the area.

I envy my neighbors, they have small manageable footprints. I think painting the foundation sounds like a great idea, that is one thing I wish we would have had done when the house was painted, but I did not think about it until it was to late....if I really wanted it done, I could do it...good luck!

Re: Landscaping question

SEGardener — Mon, 22 Sep 2025 15:45:05 GMT

@theresa wrote:
@SEGardener I don't have blocks as foundation it's solid concrete. My basement is finished and I asked this painter about mold problems/moisture. He said it wouldn't impact that issue. I had evergreen shrubs before that my landscaper trimmed 2X year. I really regret having him remove them. One was very large but the other 3 were fine. Lesson learned. He put down additional white rocks so now it's very bare. I hope painting the foundation is not going to be another mistake on my part but I don't know who else to ask unless I ask a contractor who builds homes.

I'd ask the contractor about paint peeling and how often it needs to be redone.

Re: Landscaping question

theresa — Mon, 22 Sep 2025 18:36:05 GMT

@SEGardener I asked that question to the painting contractor and he said the paint would not peel from the foundation.

Re: Landscaping question

SEGardener — Mon, 22 Sep 2025 23:46:57 GMT

@theresa wrote:
@SEGardener I asked that question to the painting contractor and he said the paint would not peel from the foundation.

I'd make sure that's in the bid/contract for the job and a warranty period is provided. Paint does separate from concrete because concrete is so porous. You may want to Google painting concrete foundations.