Foundation Planting - Creating The Perfect Frame For Your Home
Posted by Goody on 03/31/08 in Home Improvement
Foundation plantings, the plants that are set closest to the house, are important to the entire look of your home and its relationship to the rest of the landscaping.
For foundation planting evergreens are widely used not only because they can thrive in shade, but also because look good all year round. You must use discretion however, if you have not used evergreens elsewhere. The contrast could be too sharp and cause the evergreens to look more like a barrier.
In addition there is a wide choice of dwarf fruit trees, flowering shrubs, roses and cushion chrysanthemums that will lend color to your foundation design throughout spring, summer and fall. Floribunda roses, flowering quince, Japanese red-leaf barberry and forsythia are among the bushes and plants that can also be used.
Though it may be tempting to try one of each of the nursery’s evergreen specimens in foundation plantings, this should, of course, be avoided. On the other hand, creating a complimentary mix of plants can add great interest and beauty. You could contrast tall and low-growing types: use stiff-needled pines with feathery juniper with broad-leafed laurel and rhododendron.
Take time to draw to scale the relationship between your house elevation and the foundation shrubs and trees as they will look at mature height in your preliminary planning. You may find that some of the plants you have selected will be too tall for the house and may obscure your windows making the house gloomy inside. You can avoid wasting a lot of time having to remove these plants later on by taking this step at the beginning.
You also want to make sure that larger plants are not planted to close to the house itself. There must be enough room so that when the root system reaches it’s full extent it is not causing damage to the foundation.
Making the planting in front of the house bowl-shaped in its overall outline and putting the tallest shrubbery at the corners of your house can give the impression of a broad base to the house. In some places, you may want to let the wall show to the foundation.
Because the entrance is typically the most important feature of the front facade, start your planning with it in mind. Use shrubs that direct the eye toward the door.
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