We constantly harp on what is “in” and “out” when it comes to home design—like home decor moves we don’t want to come back and things that are making your exterior look dated—but what about the actual landscape? Just as the front porch and foyer set the tone for your home’s interior, so does the facade and landscape when it comes to curb appeal. Overly manicured lawns might be dwindling in favor of more naturalistic designs (though there’s still a time and place where we love those clean lines and precise hedges!), but this is the one thing landscape designers hope goes away and stays away.
Adam Millhouse is the co-founder of Millhouse Howell Landscape Company, a Birmingham, Alabama, landscape design company with a mission to craft spaces that complement their surrounding landscape
The Landscape Trend Pros Want You To Stop
Credit:
Hector Manuel Sanchez; Styling: Buffy Hargett Miller
Quit overplanting your beds! “One element to existing landscapes that we are often tasked with correcting is overcrowded foundation plantings and overgrown shrub borders,” says Adam Millhouse. “These existing conditions probably looked good on ‘day one’, but five to ten years later, the home is engulfed in plants and surrounding landscaped areas are unmanageable.”
Filling a bed immediatley doesn’t give the plants room to grow overtime. You might plant a bunch of smaller plants to fill what feels like a bare landscape to start, but once they start growing it all becomes one big entangled mess. Treat your landscape like you do the interior of your home—adding and subtracting things as you live with it. Making small changes along the way allows you to really see what works best in a space which applies to your plantings as well.
Why You Need To Stop Overcrowding Your Plants
Allow your house to have some breathing room. “When we remove old plantings, the house can ‘breathe’, and it becomes evident that simplicity is usually the best strategy,” explains Millhouse. “The right trees, strategic anchor plantings, appropriate ground covers, and an expanse of lawn is never out of style.”
Appearance: Overcrowded plantings can easily make your landscape look messy, and before you know it your house will be “that one” on the block that is known for being overgrown and unkempt. This can also create a breeding ground for unwanted pests and fungal diseases. Not only does this make it harder to properly maintain your landscape, but if planted too close to the home, the roots and branches can cause damage to your foundation, siding, and block windows.
Cost: It’s also more costly, both upfront when buying an excess of plants and later when cleaning up and replacing plants that may not have fared well due to lack of light or too much moisture. Instead, be sure to allow space between each planting with their mature size in mind; vary the height and scale of your shrubs, flowers, and ground cover plants; and use mulch or pine straw between plants to create a finished look without overplanting.
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