Foundation Planting -- Tradition with a Twist

"Foundation Planting,"  an American landscape tradition evolved when subdivisions sprang up all over the country during the prosperous post war era.
Originating as an inexpensive method of hiding concrete basement blocks or the base upon which a home was built, the most common and practical choice was a straight line of evergreen shrubs.  The look has survived the post war generation and is the most popular frontscape of choice in the northern U.S. 

As home design has evolved, and the foundation of a home is not the functional line of old, the tradition of foundation planting has hung on, mainly out of tradition and practicality.  Evergreen shrubs retain color and texture in cold winter months, hold up to heavy snowfalls, and look great adorned with Christmas lights. 

Classic foundation planting involve boxwood or juniper hedges lined up under the front windows of a home. Here's some advice:

1.   Traditional:  Keep it green and monochromatic.  Popping in a contrasting red barbery next to a golden globe arborbitae results in a choppy look.  The idea is to underline the windows of the home, drawing the eye to a welcoming front door. 
  

2.   Read and then measure.  Leave room for growth.  Plants are funny about that.  That cool mungo pine could grow to six feet and obliterate the view from the dining table, so plan ahead.  Leave room, including projected growth so that there is at least twenty four inches between the hedge and the brick once it has reached maximum size.  Otherwise trimming and home maintenance will be painful. 

3.   Maintenance:  Clipping hedges is great exercise and lovely for working out the upper arms, but if time is of the essence, then avoid installing a fast growing privet.  Stick with slow growers such as boxwood and junipers.  Even so, haircuts will be required in late spring and summer. 

4.  Modernize:  Layer a line of low growers like Euonymous, dwarf Wintercreeper, or Green Velvet Boxwood in front of a line of more colorful Ninebark, Forsythia or Burning Bush.

5.   Softer Look:   Rather than evergreens, if the area receives cooler morning sun try a line of hydrangea or rhododendrons. There are new varietels every year, but stick with tried and true varietels like Annabelle, Samantha, or Nikko Blue for a high traffic area like the front of the house.  Leave the dried moppy heads on in the fall for winter interest. 

6.  Borders:  Cut a one foot wide space in front of the hedge for summer annuals or bright perennials, but add some curves to soften the line of the home. Wait until after the first spring trimming to plant so as to aovid dislodging delicate plants while removing clippings.  As the hedge grows, cut a bit more into the front lawn along the bed.  For a clean and natural  look, use botanical edges. 

7.  Color and style coordination:  Burgundy barberry along a red brick home won't stand out like a soft green boxwood.  Remember that most nonevergreen shrubs will change from four to five different colors through the season.  The darker the home, the lighter the shrub.

8.  Location and heat retention:  Evergreen will not thrive under a shade tree.  Hydrangea will fry planted in front of a white brick home with afternoon sun exposure.  All new plantings need plenty of water to establish.  Direct downspouts so that the overflow augments ordinary watering and new growth

There's nothing wrong with tradition, but mixing it up maximizes the curb appeal of your home.


Related articles of interest: 

How to Trim Shrubs -- No More Bad Haircuts

Green Fences -- Boxwood Hedges to Hydrangea Hedgerows

New USDA Planting and Gardening Zones

Burning Bush and other Fall Follies

Will this Early Warm Weather Harm my Plants?

Seventy degrees on St. Patrick's Day?  Be it the luck of the Irish or El Nino, this has been one lovely winter--and  tisn't even officially Spring until next week! One morning we made the rounds of the garden with morning coffee in hand marveling at the green daffodil shoots already seven inches out of the ground.  By dinnertime there were bright yellow blooms hanging from those stems. 

It seems like the yard changes daily, grass is greening up, trees are budding and shrubs are begining to bloom.  Spring seems to have eerily arrived overnight in Southeast Michigan. 

While we all rejoice in the warm temperatures, it's easy to feel wary given our fickle climate here in the mitten.  Will the early appearance of shoots and buds hurt baby plants and budding shrubs should temperatures drop?

Early Daffodils

The answer is--not likely.  Should temps stay in the freezing range for an extended period of time there might be a bit of brown "freezer burn" on the edges of tender leaves, but the issue is purely cosmetic. 

Plants know when to exit dormancy based upon soil temperature and light exposure. Their wake up alarms are set by Mother Nature.  Soil temperature is already higher than usual due to the warm winter, so a dip on the thermometer should have no effect on the early risers in the garden.  Trees, for example,know when to bloom leaves based upon the cycle of light and darkness, so the warm temps have no effect.  the concept works in reverse in the Fall.

Hellebores

The only bad news is that marginally hardy weeds have survived with gusto, so it may be a good idea to spend a few of those warm moments outdoors getting ahead of the weeding. 

Warmer ground makes Spring bulb planting easier.  Remember the opposite rule--plant fall bloomers in Spring and vice versa.  So daffodils and tulips are only for admiring, not planting right now!

Hellebores have been blooming for a few weeks now, their soft colors and pale centers are unmatched this time of year.

So stop worrying, and enjoy the sunshine!

Landscape Art - -Garden Ornament or Outdoor Tchotchke?

What type of art or sculpture should I use in my garden?

There's a place just off the highway near Reed City where the industrious proprietors spend the winter months carving out wooden garden art with a bandsaw. Silhouetted smoking cowboys languish against a tree near families of jumping frogs.The classic pair of backsides gaily greet passersby, with no extra charge for red polka dotted bloomers. 

Garden ornaments add a uniqueness of personality, sparkle and interest to the landscape.  The range of possibilites are limitless, from gnomes to ganders. What may be too fanciful for the interior of the home plays well in the yard.  Tucked away in a colorful perennial garden, surprises small and large can delight visitors, especially children. 

When art's intended as a garden focal point, here are some considerations:

1.  Site::   Pick an area of the yard which lacks other distraction. Imagine that the piece is the first thing visitors would see, then place the object in an area which will draw immediate attention, then compel the eye to sweep along the rest of the garden, to the next focal point.

2.   Size:   Place the item, then step back to the point where you'll first spot the piece.  Does it look proportionate to the surroundings?  Plants change in size, trees lose leaves, bulbs andbloom and go throughout the year so how will it compare two months to the giant coleus in August?  Think ahead.  Ask a spouse or other willing volunteer to stand in the spot for visualization.

3.   Color/texture:  What is compatible with the surrounding environment?  A white statue against a pale colored home won't pop.  What other items are in the yard.  Mossy verde pieces clash with stark
white if in the same frame.  Try to keep it compatible.

4.   Simplicity:  Don't compete with Mother Nature.  Chose a piece that is simple and elegant.  Statuary, sculpture, stonework, structure.  A stack of flat stones in diminishing size or a soft piece of driftwood are natural alternatives. 

5.   Seasonal:  Change pieces with the season.  Snowmen, Santas, metal birds, are fun to see off season, but only occasionally unless the handle "eccentric" doesn't bother you. 

6.  Location, location, location:  A dramatic piececan be artfully perched at the end of a pathway or in clear view of the dining table.  A favorite urn in view of the kitchen window aligns the eye and adds

interest. 

The lovely part of garden ornaments is they lack permanence.  They can be moved if the landscape changes or the piece simply become boring.  Today's urethane replicates yesterday's limestone, but is far easier on the lower back.

For those who like to avoid the landfill, one of my favorite pieces was found at the curb.  A broken fountain now operates as a bird bath and drinking fountain for itinerant wildlife.  Still, be careful not to overdo...

Remember, the idea is to enhance, not eclipse the real stars of the show.

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