I’m hoping to add something to the side of the house that will help with proper drainage and look a little nicer. There’s no gutter above this part of the house and there’s a retaining wall near the rear of the house- both the side of the house and the retaining wall collect a lot of leaves. What do you guys recommend? Climate is zone 5A
by missmudblood
5 Comments
I’d put a smaller tree on the corner of that foundation- say a red bud or dogwood.
I’d put a couple evergreens along the house, esp out in front of but not very close to the A/C compressor. Say green mountain boxwood, etc.
Since that side of your house doesn’t appear to be a convenient path to the backyard, I probably would put in a path or more elaborate garden.
Good luck!
You have roof runoff bombing directly onto bare dirt next to an exposed foundation. That is why the grass is dead and the soil is splashing up on your block wall. Your first move is to ensure the dirt is graded away from the house. Once you have a positive slope lay down a heavy nonwoven filter fabric and install a three foot wide band of heavy washed river rock along that entire wall. A wide stone drip edge absorbs the roof water impact prevents mud splash and gives you a clean surface so you can blast those trapped leaves out with a blower in five seconds.
Do not try to hide the AC unit and gas meter by planting right next to them. Service guys will trample your plants and shrubs will just trap more dead leaves. Instead push a curved planting bed out into the yard forming a sweeping line. Plant a solid mass of tough Zone 5 structural natives like Switchgrass or low Junipers. That gives you a living screen to hide the bare foundation block while leaving a clear stone walkway behind them for maintenance. Function and beauty have to work together here.
Figuring out exactly where to put that sweeping bed line and deciding between stone types can be tough to visualize. Take a wide photo of that wall and run it through the GardenDream web app. It acts as a safety net by letting you overlay the stone drip edge and test out different plant layouts before you spend money having a dump truck drop two tons of rock on your driveway. Get the blueprint right first and the work will pay off.
i would leave a few feet for maintenance access and plant some big bushy stuff. juniper, fir, whatever suits you
Peach tree?
Plant 2 junipers at end of house . 3′ and 6′ from house . Maybe a coat of paint on house and you are good to go .