What would you do along this long driveway? Zone 8a
I’m buying a house and it has this long driveway and I was wondering what everyone would do? I love tropical and interesting foliage/color, not really a fan of things like Hollie’s and boxwoods. I’d love to hear everyone’s ideas!
First thing I’d do is rethink those narrow sod strips bordering the concrete. That is just a maintenance headache waiting to happen with a mower and sprinkler, plus it emphasizes the “runway” look which is exactly what you want to avoid on a long drive like this. You want to create rhythm, not a straight line, so plan on creating large planting beds that flare out at the curves and recede in the straights.
For that tropical vibe in Zone 8a without the boring evergreens, you have some killer options that are hardy enough. Look into Windmill Palms (Trachycarpus fortunei) as your anchors since they handle the cold, and mix in some hardy Bananas (Musa basjoo) or Elephant Ears (Colocasia) for that massive foliage texture. You can underplant those with Canna Lilies for the pop of color you want. Just be careful mixing tropicals with those native pines on the left, sometimes the contrast looks weird if you don’t transition it right. I’d actually recommend throwing this photo into the GardenDream web app to layer those tropical plants over the existing landscape first, it’ll save you a fortune in trial and error by letting you see if the scale of a banana tree looks goofy next to a pine tree before you dig the hole.
streachh
Smoke trees?
togetherwegrowstuff
I’d plant a row of blooming trees on one side and a row of low blooming plants on the other side stacked out with alternating blooming seasons to feed the native pollinators. As many natives species as you can find.
craigrpeters
I’ve always loved those long drives with the big trees spaced evenly on both sides, that (nearly) make an archway. Looks like you have room for that – jealous 😛
5 Comments
Sweet burnouts
First thing I’d do is rethink those narrow sod strips bordering the concrete. That is just a maintenance headache waiting to happen with a mower and sprinkler, plus it emphasizes the “runway” look which is exactly what you want to avoid on a long drive like this. You want to create rhythm, not a straight line, so plan on creating large planting beds that flare out at the curves and recede in the straights.
For that tropical vibe in Zone 8a without the boring evergreens, you have some killer options that are hardy enough. Look into Windmill Palms (Trachycarpus fortunei) as your anchors since they handle the cold, and mix in some hardy Bananas (Musa basjoo) or Elephant Ears (Colocasia) for that massive foliage texture. You can underplant those with Canna Lilies for the pop of color you want. Just be careful mixing tropicals with those native pines on the left, sometimes the contrast looks weird if you don’t transition it right. I’d actually recommend throwing this photo into the GardenDream web app to layer those tropical plants over the existing landscape first, it’ll save you a fortune in trial and error by letting you see if the scale of a banana tree looks goofy next to a pine tree before you dig the hole.
Smoke trees?
I’d plant a row of blooming trees on one side and a row of low blooming plants on the other side stacked out with alternating blooming seasons to feed the native pollinators. As many natives species as you can find.
I’ve always loved those long drives with the big trees spaced evenly on both sides, that (nearly) make an archway. Looks like you have room for that – jealous 😛