Tell me what to do with this awkward, 5 and 1/2 ft wide space between these boxwoods and my house in the front yard. The area stays shaded. Can't afford to pour concrete or anything like that.
Cut out the boxwoods. Start with a fresh clean beginning.
magmcbride
If money is tight, don’t do anything. There’s nothing holding water against the foundation, and that’s just dirt. I recommend turning your attention to generating enough income so you can fund improvement projects such as this.
anderhole
Might be cool to plant more boxwoods and trim the ones in front to half height (slowly lowering height every few months)
markermum
Is this a walkway? If not you can plant a shade garden
80_Kilograms
I agree that it’s an awkward space. Pouring a concrete walk there would seem strange, since it doesn’t really go anywhere, and it’s not wide enough for a patio-like space.
I think I’d remove the boxwoods and do foundation plantings there.
CrazyButRightOn
Decorative gravel and some stepping stones.
TotallyDissedHomie
4+ inches of mulch and hostas, my wife would have me dig out the boxwoods just because of the incongruity
restoper
Plant ground cover like asian jasmine, horse herb, or whatever you like that works in shade. You could just buy a few and let them spread over time to save money.
total_bushido
Expand the porch, and extend the gutter away from your house
brittanylouwhoooo
Lay down flattened cardboard boxes (the brown kind with no ink) then top with 3-4 bags of mulch. It’ll make it look so much nicer for about $10-15.
mikebushido
Plant something to bring the butterflies around. Or make a little bird park.
FeelingAd4116
Use it to play cornehole in the meantime then save up money for a deck or expanded porch.
Voyayer2022-2025
Plant pea grass
EmphaticallyWrong
Mulch or pine straw
kjm16216
I’d probably just do grass. A shade grass like creeping red fescue will do fine.
moonchild1119
I like this space. Wait til you can extend the concrete porch. But in meantime you can buy those cheap ikea outdoor tile thingies and set up a little area to chill.
Snoo_75138
Make a little (preferably winding) walkway to the other end. Then get plants that like the shade! You can get some really nice ferns and such for rather cheap! Plant them there along with a few flowering plants for that added pop!
Mix and match and change how u see fit!
Have fun!
editrixe
I’d do large stepping stones from the hoot of the stairs to the end of the boxwood (sort of 24”-diameter stones, in a kind of mosaic pattern all the way down the walk) with carpet thyme growing between the stones, and for the strip between the stones and the hedge, I’d probably plant a row of lavenders or astilbe.
HealthyApartment8585
Stepping stones and small patches of ground cover plants
Loose_Ambassador2432
I’d throw down some mulch and shade-friendly ground cover like hostas or ferns to make it look intentional. A few stepping stones could give it a nice walkway feel too. Cheap, low-maintenance, and way better than staring at bare dirt.
funsado
Small paver stepping stones, hostas, ferns, and petunias. No need to make this expensive.
Live-Nail-9177
Worried about water getting into your walls personally. Agree with commenter above who said to extend the gutter further from the house
juzme99
First I would be extending that down pipe out to the road or at least past the hedge, because from the look of the bricks that area floods with heavy down falls, you can see the huge depression where the down pipe ends. Then add stepping stones and shade loving plants. Over time you could extend the porch with a small wooden deck. I also noticed your neighbor’s extension on their downpipe is pointed towards your yard and looks like it would flow directly into this area also.
joaoseph
Get a few hydrangea and plant them behind the boxwoods. Will fill in nicely.
SupersleuthJr
Can you cut down the boxwoods and start over and plant some things that are nicer than boxwoods, closer to the house?
Wade1217
Pour a layer of stone and use the space as a front porch with some chairs. Eventually, you can save some money and build a proper porch.
ckm22055
Why don’t you remove the original hedge bushes? Then, create a flower bed for color against the house, which will also give you more yard greenery.
It’s a lot of work, but I did this with my house, and it brightened up the yard and the house.
Pablois4
Water, from above or below is damaging and, IMHO, job one is to direct it away from your house.
Your downspout terminates right at the house foundation which is a no-no. You need to put an extension on that pronto.
Water hitting the soil next to your house is splashing your house and making it dirty. The soil there is compacted and settled and I suspect little lower than further away from the house. You don’t want that.
I see landscape fabric that looks raised up by the box-wood roots. There’s also higher areas in the middle.
My friend’s house was like your house here. I took a shovel and worked on the grade. I didn’t dig so much as skimmed the dirt to change the slope. Like here, there were a row of bushes 5’ish feet away so I was limited in what I could do but, even so, I made the lowest area along the bushes. It was meant to be temp but, damn, just a little regrading made a big difference in splash-back and in dampness in her foundation. Solving that gave her some breathing room to work on the rest.
So I recommend you do the same.
Are you looking at short term fix or long term project? Short term is to direct the water and, if this is a path, put down something for people to walk on (pavers) You can put down rock next to the house, do not put down mulch.
AsidePale378
I wouldn’t plant a a thing . Id put down stone if it a walk way . Keep roots away from the foundation.
If the bushes aren’t a must I would remove and plant a flower bed away from the house
29 Comments
Cut out the boxwoods. Start with a fresh clean beginning.
If money is tight, don’t do anything. There’s nothing holding water against the foundation, and that’s just dirt. I recommend turning your attention to generating enough income so you can fund improvement projects such as this.
Might be cool to plant more boxwoods and trim the ones in front to half height (slowly lowering height every few months)
Is this a walkway? If not you can plant a shade garden
I agree that it’s an awkward space. Pouring a concrete walk there would seem strange, since it doesn’t really go anywhere, and it’s not wide enough for a patio-like space.
I think I’d remove the boxwoods and do foundation plantings there.
Decorative gravel and some stepping stones.
4+ inches of mulch and hostas, my wife would have me dig out the boxwoods just because of the incongruity
Plant ground cover like asian jasmine, horse herb, or whatever you like that works in shade. You could just buy a few and let them spread over time to save money.
Expand the porch, and extend the gutter away from your house
Lay down flattened cardboard boxes (the brown kind with no ink) then top with 3-4 bags of mulch. It’ll make it look so much nicer for about $10-15.
Plant something to bring the butterflies around. Or make a little bird park.
Use it to play cornehole in the meantime then save up money for a deck or expanded porch.
Plant pea grass
Mulch or pine straw
I’d probably just do grass. A shade grass like creeping red fescue will do fine.
I like this space. Wait til you can extend the concrete porch. But in meantime you can buy those cheap ikea outdoor tile thingies and set up a little area to chill.
Make a little (preferably winding) walkway to the other end. Then get plants that like the shade! You can get some really nice ferns and such for rather cheap! Plant them there along with a few flowering plants for that added pop!
Mix and match and change how u see fit!
Have fun!
I’d do large stepping stones from the hoot of the stairs to the end of the boxwood (sort of 24”-diameter stones, in a kind of mosaic pattern all the way down the walk) with carpet thyme growing between the stones, and for the strip between the stones and the hedge, I’d probably plant a row of lavenders or astilbe.
Stepping stones and small patches of ground cover plants
I’d throw down some mulch and shade-friendly ground cover like hostas or ferns to make it look intentional. A few stepping stones could give it a nice walkway feel too. Cheap, low-maintenance, and way better than staring at bare dirt.
Small paver stepping stones, hostas, ferns, and petunias. No need to make this expensive.
Worried about water getting into your walls personally. Agree with commenter above who said to extend the gutter further from the house
First I would be extending that down pipe out to the road or at least past the hedge, because from the look of the bricks that area floods with heavy down falls, you can see the huge depression where the down pipe ends. Then add stepping stones and shade loving plants. Over time you could extend the porch with a small wooden deck. I also noticed your neighbor’s extension on their downpipe is pointed towards your yard and looks like it would flow directly into this area also.
Get a few hydrangea and plant them behind the boxwoods. Will fill in nicely.
Can you cut down the boxwoods and start over and plant some things that are nicer than boxwoods, closer to the house?
Pour a layer of stone and use the space as a front porch with some chairs. Eventually, you can save some money and build a proper porch.
Why don’t you remove the original hedge bushes? Then, create a flower bed for color against the house, which will also give you more yard greenery.
It’s a lot of work, but I did this with my house, and it brightened up the yard and the house.
Water, from above or below is damaging and, IMHO, job one is to direct it away from your house.
Your downspout terminates right at the house foundation which is a no-no. You need to put an extension on that pronto.
Water hitting the soil next to your house is splashing your house and making it dirty. The soil there is compacted and settled and I suspect little lower than further away from the house. You don’t want that.
I see landscape fabric that looks raised up by the box-wood roots. There’s also higher areas in the middle.
My friend’s house was like your house here. I took a shovel and worked on the grade. I didn’t dig so much as skimmed the dirt to change the slope. Like here, there were a row of bushes 5’ish feet away so I was limited in what I could do but, even so, I made the lowest area along the bushes. It was meant to be temp but, damn, just a little regrading made a big difference in splash-back and in dampness in her foundation. Solving that gave her some breathing room to work on the rest.
So I recommend you do the same.
Are you looking at short term fix or long term project? Short term is to direct the water and, if this is a path, put down something for people to walk on (pavers) You can put down rock next to the house, do not put down mulch.
I wouldn’t plant a a thing . Id put down stone if it a walk way . Keep roots away from the foundation.
If the bushes aren’t a must I would remove and plant a flower bed away from the house