Landscaping Ideas?

[moonwolf]

How have you landscaped your property for the best view from your house?

I am thinking about rejuvinating some areas and maybe move, add, or subtract some plants around to enhance both view and attract songbirds. Keeping wildlife at the distance, but 'viewable' is also one of the interests.
A recent garage fire has changed the view from the house at one end which makes things very different for the landscape that is there now. A few tall trees missing now open up a different appearance to the southwest that is interesting and I'm not rebuilding the garage. The concrete slab where the garage stood will make a good lookout point by leaving it flat and unobstructed from a sun room house view, but it's 'different'.

There is a pond below that wasn't seen before from the house very well. That could be a focus point as well as the chicken coop just below near where the garage was. Some plantings to enhance around those will help. The hill going down the lawn with a view of a trail also is somewhat of a focal area to view different wildlife and the trail is used for walking in summer and ski/snowshoe in winter.

There are non-suckering lilac bushes in a sort of 'boundary' between the open area to the pond and that separates the area of the 'homestead' closer to the house/barn. Some crabapple trees already are part of the 'view' close and the distance is the mixed rough pasture beyond the pond with nearby forest and beaver ponds beyond that.
A few antique farm implements, like the hay rake, sits on the hill adds a little character, but I'de rather not obstruct a 'wild' view from he deck or sunroom of the house area. Got lots of time to think about it, but fall transplanting would be a good time to 're landscape'.
How do you think about landscaping around your places?

[QBVII]

Well, we are only just starting to THINK about how to landscape, which should be a challenge because we are living here to SAVE money - last thing I want to do is spend $$$$ for landscape stuff.
So I will have to use found items, primarily.

I was poking around in the back yard the other day, out behind an old building there is an old pedal car sitting there....the view of our house from the driveway is somewhat obstructed by trees but I was thinking of putting the pedal car out by the road with some sort of humorous sign by it, like "Don't Drink and Drive" with an old bottle or something.....I'm not quite sure that makes much sense, but anyway.......what I'd like to do is put something like Burma Shave signs along our driveway for people to read as they drive in, LOL.

I am going to use the squash plants we bought the other day as temporary "decoration" around the house.

There are plenty of trees, etc., I can transplant for decoration and I am going to scavenge/make mulch. Like to have a pretty birdbath and bird houses.

Hubby tossed an old metal wok out the other day, might get that and see if I can recycle it into a mini-birdbath. :haha:

[Mid Tn Mama]

I have been landscaping on the cheap for a few years. I've been lucky to get starts of many perennials that are good for wildlife too. I only deadhead during the season to get the most that I can out of a perennial, then let it go to seed and leave it all winter for the birds. I hate to see people clean out a garden after bloom just when the birds want the seed. Also, by doing this , I have many more starts next year to plant elsewhere.

I recommend mums if you have a large area to landscape. They multiply and you can cut them twice the season and replant. One mum= three mums. They come up green in the spring (where otherwise you might have weeds) then have fantastic color from late summer until frost (when few other things are blooming well).

I also plant shrubs with berries for the birds. I don't have time to monkey with feeders, but the birds appreciate the good stuff left on the flowers and shrubs and stay around anyway.

PS. Another hit is Beebalm.

[Jenn]

Moonwolf think perspective. Think the view across your whole property whatever size that is. How to draw the eye far away- that is supposed to be refreshing for the viewer, makes the owner feel it's all even more spacious than it is- and also interest/color for closer up. I have in mind the huge majestic trees planted on stately estates (here I am in England) (also the Maxwell coffee mansion in Nashville has good examples) so they'll look good someday from the dining room 1/4 mile away. For smaller American yards use species that won't dwarf the yard close up, if you've the distance a larger tree further out. Can you line up some of the objects- pond trail etc- with a further reinforcement to draw the eye in that linear direction- one of the crabapples in line with house and pond back or front of pond whichever looks like it'd be nicer? Or a pair framing it?

Since my backyard is presently a tiny treed in box, while cutting out suckering lilacs and other things I put views under arching shrubs into the empty yard next door. Gave the eye a peekaboo hole that drew you to look beyond the flowers on the shrubs. (Should've cut holes in THEIRr hedge too to give me a triple length view.... wouldn't have worked tho.) Now there are neighbors there I'm sort of letting it fill in though.

[Wolf mom]

Hi Moonwolf, Go to the gardening forum. They have lots of great ideas... Good planting!

[CraftyDiva]

Check out the "Landscape Design" forum here.............
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/