Zone 5b-6a ~~ Part Sun
Hello! We moved into this home a few years ago, and there was previously a tree in in the center area that was already dying. We gave it one more year, it got worse, so I cut it down and remove the root ball. I have gardening experience, raising a successful vegetable garden for quite a few years now, but my creative vision for landscaping is lacking greatly; I lack experience here.
Could anyone suggest some ideas of how to design this middle raised area? I recognize that the position is awkward, they put it way too close to the house in my opinion. Currently in the space against the house are a few large, healthy hostas.
I am open to a mess of perennials, shrubs, dwarf trees, a tall narrow tree maybe.
Any help or advice is truly appreciated, and thank you in advance.
by Mr_Smithy
2 Comments
It’s small for a landscape bed, so you could get another small flowering tree in there like a lilac. The prior one may have failed because it was buried too deep.
And/or you could treat it like a large container and think “spiller, filler, thriller”. A “thriller” or focal point would be a tall perennial or woody shrub for vertical interest, and fillers and spillers would be other smaller plants like short perennials and grasses with interesting shapes and textures to contrast.
I like to think about bloom time to narrow it down; The hostas cover early spring so it’s not a bad thing if you put, say, sunflowers and liatris in that bed, and they look good all summer. And put in a decorative grass as a filler to look interesting in the fall.
Edit: I also love to recommend creeping phlox to people, it’s such a nice plant to edge walkways and landscape beds because it stays short and flowers profusely.
I’d get rid of all the Home Depot type “bricks” and just design from scratch. It looks like you might be in a place like Denver that gets snow, so I know that can limit what you can do with landscaping.
Get a landscaping design book for a few basic ideas and also just drive around your neighborhood and find the house with the best looking landscaping and use that to give you some ideas.