The Process
I had the pleasure of meeting and working with these wonderful clients. Upon our initial meeting, I learned that they wanted to collaborate the plant material in the front with the plant material that the builder had put along the backside of the house. The intent is the create larger and more dramatic beds to match the vastness of the house. In addition, they wanted to have a full and colorful display four seasons out of the year. Lastly, create a center bed that would grow tall and full enough to create a more secluded or sacred space on the front patio.
I am kicking myself for forgetting to take an initial photo to show the full transformation.
Once I created a list of all the plant material from the front and back, the next step was to come up with a design that created the best balance and statement of colors. Also, you want to make sure that there is a good distribution of evergreens so that in the winter the beds still look layered and full.
We ended up extending the bed on the left of the front door to create room for the new camellias on the back row, and to create a more subtle circle into the newly created center bed. The Otto Luyken Cherry Laurels had to be moved forward, and then we added a row of Radiance Abelias from the back. Then we transplanted some Rudbeckias and Blue Marvel Salvia to balance out the bright yellows and blues from the right side.
The newly created center bed was a collaboration of transplanted dwarf Encore Azaleas, transplanted Loropetalums, and transplanted Cassian grasses. I then added a fragrant orange tea olive tree and some Dwarf Radicans Gardenias.
In the long bed against the house, I used more of the Radiance Abelias to balance the bright yellows from the left side, and added some Pugster Blue Butterfly Bushes for three seasons worth of floral impact. The client wanted this bed very full, so we created a new middle row of Knockout Roses to complement the existing ones on the left side of the house. It’s a little hard to see, but we transplanted the Bananappeal Anise to behind the weeping Japanese maple to keep the same light on dark foliage throughout the landscape.
The last and final bed was the endcap of the driveway into the sidewalk. There was not a lot to do here, but the main thing was to switch the Coral Bark Maple and weeping Snow Fountain Cherry Tree. With the way the sun was tracking switching locations created a more preferred sunlight situation for each plant. Then it was a simple addition of matching Encore Azaleas and Knockout Roses.
This front yard is going to be full of color this upcoming spring through fall!