Garden

[theresa]

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 

[JYWilliams]

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.

[haddon9]

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..

[theresa]

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.

[theresa]

@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! 

[JYWilliams]

@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

[shelbyshelbyshelby]

Less is more. 

[theresa]

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

[walkingal]

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@shelbyshelbyshelby wrote:

Less is more. 

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@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.