2 Sided Landscape - Hidden vegetable garden in front yard
Wed, Jan 29 2014 01:36
| Curb Appeal, Organic Edible Gardens, Trends Ideas
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| Vegetable garden in front yard can not be seen from street. This is view from owner's driveway |
Plant food, not lawns. Pretty front yard salad gardens
This salad garden is positioned in the sunniest part of the front yard in an area that is hidden from the neighbors. It's visible from my driveway and all windows across the front of the house. These edibles plus others scattered thru the front yard are combined with flowering shrubs and perennials that attract beneficial insects and pollinators. The plants occupy 90% of the space with only 10% remaining lawn.The front lawn at my house is a very small drift of zoysia that flows along the curb and blends with the neighborhood. The entire remaining front yard is landscaped with edibles mixed with perennials and shrubs. The photo below shows the view from the street. The edible garden with the 4 stone raised beds is located behind the pink azaleas. Other low growing vegetables, dwarf blueberries and strawberries are located behind the purple verbena in the upper, left corner of the photo below.
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| This is what the neighbor's see. Edibles are behind the pink azalea. |
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| This is the other side where the main edible garden is located. |
Looking forward to creating something perfect for you!
Danna Cain, ASLA
Home & Garden Design, Inc., Atlanta
homegardendesign.com
Comments
New walkway and interesting plants transform curb appeal at this John’s Creek home
Tue, Dec 3 2013 05:13
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| After |
Soft textured plants and meandering walkway create a welcoming entrance
There are many things to consider when designing a new entrance walkway. Orienting guests, slope of the land, ease of use and architectural style are all very important. The most special entrances, however, are the ones that create an ambiance that reflects the owner's personality thus truly welcomes guests to the home. Given the style of the house, the walk could have been very linear and formal however we chose a more informal design. The owner wanted a much softer and more welcoming look that would incorporate low maintenance Southern color and texture. Tops on her list were old fashioned favorites such as forsythia, gardenia and daylilies.On my first visit to this home, I was shocked to see that the builder had provided only a stepping stone path to the front door. It was difficult to walk on and completely too small as the approach to this huge front porch. The landing that made the transition between the path and porch was settling and of mismatched materials. This all needed to be replaced.
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After much deliberation, I decided to keep the old clipped ilex bushes because the house really needed the massiveness of these shrubs. Reclamation pruning has begun on these to equalize the heights, remove dead limbs and encourage healthy, interior foliage.
To soften the look, we added 8’ tall forsythias on the corners of the house behind the old shrubs. More softening was achieved by adding daylilies and perennials in front of the old shrubs. We also introduced evergreen Indian Hawthorne ‘Eleanor Tabor’ and Crown Jewel dwarf gardenias with the intent that these shrubs would grow together forming soft masses.
On the left side, we started reclamation pruning on the large sasanquas. We reshaped the one by the chimney, deciding to keep it shrub-form as a backdrop for all the perennials in the butterfly garden. The other sasanqua by the garage was limbed up into tree form.
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Danna Cain, ASLA
Home & Garden Design, Inc., Atlanta
See our portfolio
Transform your holly bushes
Sun, Sep 1 2013 08:11
| Curb Appeal, Herb Gardens, Italian Garden, Organic Edible Gardens, Perennial Gardens, Pots Containers, Pruning, Small Front Yards
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| These holly trees have been "limbed up" into tree form plus new, more interesting plants added around for color, texture and an Italian flair |
Morphing a holly hedge into an award winning statement
Here's an idea you can use! When faced with a huge, boring hedge, consider "limbing it up" to morph it into a row of trees. That was our solution when the City of Atlanta arborist would not allow us to remove these Virginia Highland hollies. The raised canopy gave us space and sun to plant the herb and perennial garden that the client desired. This idea won the 2013 Atlanta Home Improvement, Best Before/After Makeover contest in the landscape division.The hedge was so fat and robust that it was difficult for the owner to keep up with pruning it off of the unique, yet small driveway. The first goal was to give the client more space.
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The photo below was taken immediately after pruning the hollies. Yes, that entire hedge was from only 2 plants! Notice how we selected only a few of the best main trunks on each plant. We then shaped and cleaned out the canopy. Strategic limbs were cut back severely so that they would “bush up” to fill in and grow into a more compact form. Drastic reclamation pruning, such as this, should be done in February while the plant is dormant. This timing, just before the flush of new Spring growth, assures that the plant will not be barren for long.
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| During photo, taken just after pruning the hollies |
The next photo shows the holly trees "limbed up" into tree form plus the new, more interesting plantings surrounding the hollies. This client wanted color, texture, herbs and an Italian flair. Notice how we incorporated the Italian cypress that he really wanted for texture. He did not mind seeing the neighbor's house. In fact, he welcomed the more spacious view that this idea presented.
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| After Photo, one year later |
Between the hollies, we placed a large Italian Terra Cotta urn as a focal point. This provides color rear round, especially in the winter when the surrounding perennials are dormant.
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| Large Italian Terra Pot with annuals |
The sunniest place in the yard was at the corner, so this is where we placed the main herb garden. See how the pruning of the hollies, addition of the Italian cypress and the herbs plus perennials have transformed the curb appeal of this Midtown home.
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| After photo shows how this idea provides better curb appeal plus space for the herb garden at the sunny curb |
Award announcement
Magazine article
Portfolio photo #1 curb appeal
Portfolio photo #2 perennial gardens
Atlanta Home Improvement magazine chooses Hoover project as Best Before/After
Mon, Jul 1 2013 09:46
| Awards Recognitions, Curb Appeal, Italian Garden, Perennial Gardens, Recent News, Small Front Yards
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HGD wins 1st Place Landscape in Before/After Contest
This contest was sponsored by Atlanta Home Improvement magazine. They asked local professionals to submit before and after photos of renovation projects in categories ranging from interior design to landscape. We won 1st Place in the landscape category for Hoover's front yard makeover in the Virginia Highlands area. We were not only given a lovely plaque .... we were featured on this beautiful 2 page spread in the April 2013 issue of the magazine!
Magazine article