Green Thumbs: Help, I’m clueless!

[moonlight]

We bought this house last year and have worked really hard on the inside. Now that the summer is nearly over it’s time to work on the outside. I’m clueless! I need something easy to maintain. As far as my climate goes: I live in NC about two hours east of Durham.


DH is thinking boring shrubs. I’d like to pull out everything, especially everything left of the front door, and start over. The old owners either had no taste for landscaping or they were drunks! The white you see isn’t little stones, its seashells! UGH!


Old owners put up that lattice and planted ivy. Only issue is I don't really care for the ivy and it grows on the porch, not up the lattice! He also put in a small red rose bush that is pretty. I just don't know how to care for it.


Closer view of the messy flowerbox. He had a fake palm tree, but I had the sense enough to throw it out.


Right side of the house.


The little shrubbery on the right is pine smelling. We have a tree that sprung up that we can’t seem to kill. Maybe tree removal folks are in order? I know it's going to mess up the house's foundation if we don't do something about it. The tree trunk is about 1' from the house.

[HouseofWool]

If you want to leave the lattice, there are plenty of pretty flowering plants that climb. I'm not sure what is hardy there but this year, we got a very pretty climbing brown eyed susan. With most of them, you may need to "train" them - redirect the growth in the desired direction.

The piney smelling stuff looks like juniper to me. I am not a fan, because it usually ends up scraggly looking (to my eye). But, I would concentrate on one bed at a time and since that one looks decent, then go for the seashell bed.

You definately want perennials, look for things that flower at different times. You could put in classics like daffodils or tulips for early spring, purple coneflower is mid summer. What kinds of plants do you like? I LURVE ornamental poppies, they are showy beyond reason when in bloom.

[poky]

The piney smelling stuff looks like juniper to me. I am not a fan, because it usually ends up scraggly looking (to my eye).

Juniper is a horrible scourge. It will *hurt* you if you get too close to it. Guess what the previous owners of our house in Portland planted next to the freaking MAILBOX (as in, it now surrounds it)?
We recently looked at a google street view picture of the house, and I had forgotten that we hadn't actually had time to get that obnoxious thing yanked out of the ground. I know we'd planned on it (and will if we ever move back there).

[moonlight]

Juniper is a horrible scourge. It will *hurt* you if you get too close to it. Guess what the previous owners of our house in Portland planted next to the freaking MAILBOX (as in, it now surrounds it)?
We recently looked at a google street view picture of the house, and I had forgotten that we hadn't actually had time to get that obnoxious thing yanked out of the ground. I know we'd planned on it (and will if we ever move back there).

Think that's what it is. It scratches very easy, stays green all of the time and kinda grown close to the ground. Is it hard to remove?

[oceanchild]

We're planning to get an arborist out to our house one of these days, because it's 50+ years old, and we can't identify the majority of the trees we have growing in the yard. So that would be another option if you want to spend your way to a solution.

[scrub-jay]

As for the lattice, check with a local nursery to see what grows well in your climate. I love Wisteria, it looks gorgeous climbing. Other ideas - lilacs smell amazing. As for shrubbery - what about rosemary? My parents have a huge rosemary bush and at least it is useful as an herb!! I would start at a reputable nursery (as in: not Wal-Mart or Home Depot) and get advice based on what grows well in your area.

Good luck!

[ides]

Green Thumbs: Help, I’m clueless!

I HATE Juniper! It was in the front yard of my parents house right next to the mailbox! Thing freaking scratches & feels awful on bare leggs. Choose a soft shrub if you want shrubs.

[alison]

What about clematis for the lattice?

[moonlight]

As for the lattice, check with a local nursery to see what grows well in your climate. I love Wisteria, it looks gorgeous climbing. Other ideas - lilacs smell amazing. As for shrubbery - what about rosemary? My parents have a huge rosemary bush and at least it is useful as an herb!! I would start at a reputable nursery (as in: not Wal-Mart or Home Depot) and get advice based on what grows well in your area.

Good luck!

Oh good idea! I'll find out if that grows here. How big does the rosemary get?

[moonlight]

What about clematis for the lattice?

I'm on one of the info sites for clematis and that looks very doable!!

[scrub-jay]

Oh good idea! I'll find out if that grows here. How big does the rosemary get?

DH said that his parents once had a rosemary bush that was half as tall as their 2 story house, so my guess is that it will just continue to grow! He said it might even get more dense if you cut it back. Rosemary is incredibly hardy and requires little "tending." His suggestions for the lattice were: "Wisteria takes a long time to grow (unless you buy a larger plant) other ideas are jasmine, climbing roses, or grapes"

Good luck!

[moonlight]

GRAPES!?! Could I really get away with that?? Now that is an idea!!

I was going to suggest clematis, too. DH thinks trumpet vine is more hardy, but I'm not a big fan of orange flowers. You could also try a climbing pea - some of them have gorgeous purple flowers.

What kind of sun does each garden spot get? That will be a major determining factor in what will do well there. (It looks like you have a hosta in the front bed, which makes me think shade.)
For shady spots, you could try azalea/rhododendron, which can get pretty big. You'll want other flowers in with it that bloom later in the summer. Impatiens are a shade annual - you'll have to plant them each year, but that's easy, and you'll end up with a blaze of color near the ground, overflowing your garden spots.

[oceanchild]

GRAPES!?! Could I really get away with that?? Now that is an idea!!

We looked into grapes and found them to be incredibly high maintenance, just fair warning. (Clarification: we found starting them to be incredibly high maintenance. Might be different with a bigger plant or something?)

[medpedspouse]

Trumpet vine, although pretty, is a PITA. We keep finding little plants everywhere!!! One was even growing behind some boxes between a crack in the garage. So beware.

Re: rosemary - there are all kinds. We have the large "bushy" type as well as the ground cover type.

I would go to a local nursery during a weekday (not as busy) and take your pictures. Some of my local places offfer free planning advice. I took the plan, bought only the major plants from them and added the fillers from Lowes to save some money.