Landscaping design

[Aggie_Ama]

We have a very narrow, boring suburb lot that desperately needs some personality. I am trying to come up with some ideas for landscaping the yard but having trouble finding pictures to give me any starting point. The yard is small, house sits near the curb, probably only 30 feet back? The lot is only 50 foot wide and about half of that is driveway.

We would like something clean looking but not too manicured (shaped shrubs). Anyone know any good sites or books to help? My husband's co worker is a landscape designer but he is always so busy and I am getting impatient. Fall planting season will be here sooner than we think!

[Aggie_Ama]

The only photos I have access to right now:

This one shows looking from the front walk to curb, the yard only goes about 2 ft passed the tree on the right:



Shot two, we want to do something with this flower bed. This summer I didn't put flowers in it, the shrubs are not growing (builder used wrong shrub for the lighting/drainage) and the shrubs are just the vast blah of green.

[LBTC]

My DSiL is an award winning landscape designer in Vancouver, BC. Here's a link to the porfolio on her website. She does a lot with rock, and the overall look of her gardens is a bit on the wild side. Rock spacing and really organic shapes help that look.

http://www.gardenhabitats.ca/portfolio.html

If you have enough of a budget, the sky is the limit! Have fun with it!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[tulip]

I'm a landscape architect. I suggest going to the library and looking at the garden design books, making copies of the designs that you like. You'll probably notice stuff that you like over and over again. That'll help narrow down your ideas. You can go out and buy a few magazines, too, and cut out pictures that you like.

I wouldn't count on your husband's co-worker UNLESS you are willing to be a client (and pay him). We do have to make a living and we always get requests for free design work.

My advice would be to keep it simple if you decide to do it on your own. Choose a limited palette of plants that work well together and for your site (water, sun/shade, etc.) You may want to take the sustainable angle--low water needs, wildlife habitat, non-invasive plants, year-round interest. Or you may not.

The good thing about landscape design is that you can always change it as you learn about what you like in terms of design and plants. Landscapes evolve with you, it's nice.

Do you live in College Station? If so, perhaps you could hire a landscape architecture student from A&M for design work. Please be sure to pay them, though!

[Aggie_Ama]

I wouldn't count on your husband's co-worker UNLESS you are willing to be a client (and pay him). We do have to make a living and we always get requests for free design work.

My advice would be to keep it simple if you decide to do it on your own. Choose a limited palette of plants that work well together and for your site (water, sun/shade, etc.) You may want to take the sustainable angle--low water needs, wildlife habitat, non-invasive plants, year-round interest. Or you may not.


Do you live in College Station? If so, perhaps you could hire a landscape architecture student from A&M for design work. Please be sure to pay them, though!

Double edge sword with the co-worker is he is also a close friend. He wants to do it as a friend (offered when DH told him we were doing it), I want to pay him. But really he takes on too much as it is and has real paying clients outside his day job. Plus there is the satisfaction of it being your own creation.

We definitely are going the drought loving route. My husband works at a nursery so the plants will actually be pretty cheap, it is just deciding what works!

Unfortunately, we are not in Aggieland anymore. I knew tons of students who did design through college to pad their portfolios and dirt cheap.

[peachgirl]

I'm a landscape designer...when I worked at garden centers, I would help people all the time who would just bring in pics like you showed here and show them what was available and what they could do with it. No charge for that...

If you take your photos to a good garden center (NOT Home Depot, etc) they should be able to help you. Take some measurements and also note where downspouts and faucets, etc are.

Edit...I just read the part where you said your husband works at a nursery...surely someone there can help ya! There's only one design person there??