Just bought my first house and want to turn this front yard into a more natural native garden.
It is about 8 by 23 feet. It gets part sun, maybe 3 to 4 hours, with a big tree out front blocking a lot of direct light.
My first instinct is to rip everything out and start over with native plants, but my wife wants to keep the shrubs, so I am trying to figure out what actually makes sense.
I would like to get rid of most of the grass and plant natives that will fill in and look good over time. I want it to feel intentional, not messy, and keep maintenance reasonable.
Edit: South Eastern PA, Philadelphia region.
A few questions:
Are the existing shrubs worth keeping or should I just start clean?
What works well in part sun around here?
Any layout ideas for a narrow space like this?
Best way to remove the grass before planting?
First time doing anything like this, so I am open to whatever advice you have.
by HarryLasagna
4 Comments
Image 1: Side angle, you can see the existing shrubs my wife wants to keep and the current brick edging.
Image 2: View from the porch looking out. The red line marks the property line with the neighbors.
Image 3: Looking back toward the house. Shows the slope and the patchy grass area I want to convert.
Prune the shrubs down a bit, and see what it looks like. A larger focal point or two can be useful.
Strawberries, violets, nasturtiums? Those should help keep the weeds down and don’t require all that much maintenance. Many food plants are also ornamental enough to be used here.