I got married when I was very young, I had the idea that I could capture her with this gesture. We moved into a one roomed apartment where we doted over our son, the landlady said that we could decorate it as we pleased and she would buy the material we could move when a more suitable place could be found. When we moved upstairs and someone else moved in below the landlady made the same offer. We were invited down to look at the improvements and I realised just how personal this stuff is. If you decide that you want to live here with your calloused knees and your seven (is it) kids you are the master. I can say that it looks like this or that and if I lived there I would do this but I don't live there, you do. If you can find a way to connect the various parts of the scene we see in a coherent fashion then it will look better from the outside.

So, how did you like the front when you removed the stones?
Could they be used to define edges of the entire front beds?
I can help with getting links to your previous posts into your present thread.

Design or Disaster?

What I Did with What I Learned

I can't help with your design problems, except to observe that you've certainly had lots of advice previously. Perhaps you could relist ALL the ideas, cross off the ones you don't find helpful and then ask specific questions.

The problem is everyone would do something diffrent. I looked over your last post and I'm impressed by what you have already done. You have been busy. 7 children sounds like free labor to me!lol.
I have one and 3 grandchildren nearby. The grandkids are still a little young to be of much help. But I believe nothing keeps children from tearing up your yard like working in your yard. Or should I say their yard.
I guess the first thing I though of was you need a paint job. Painting is cheap and easy. It looks like you could reach most everything with a good ladder. I wonder about over the front porch though. Maybe a friend to help with that area? I know that isn't a gardening suggestion but it would make the biggest impact.
You also mentioned covering that fence. Morning glories, evergreen honeysuckle, clematis (it's a slow grower).
people cringe at honeysuckle and it can go crazy. I mow mine along the fence to keep it in check and hedge trim it once a year. It was much cheaper than a privacy fence for the dog pen area. I wouldn't put it infront of a flower garden though. If you had a spot that it would be easy to mow plenty far away from the beds it might work.
If I were going to plant something in my beds to climb the fence it would probably be clematis. Much less crazy.
Nice Job!

When you say you're willing to change the fence... you mean the chain link? One thing that just struck me is that you have used consistent railings on the front porch and the side porch. If you built a fence that looked like that, it would connect the whole property visually and maybe distinguish your house a bit from your neighbour's.

And a paint job is a great idea. The railings and porch now look added on, and they could be integrated with paint.

You could purty up the hellstrip (boulevard) a little.

KarinL

Thanks everyone. Hi Ink. You reminded me of my early days with this huge family and my fear and flight urges and wondering if I was in way over my head. Praying always replaced those feelings with overwhelming peace so I know this is where I belong. In spite of all challenges I am blessed beyond my wildest dreams. While it's not the house I would choose, I think I will stay here with my calloused knees and my (yes) seven children and my wonderful husband who is king of our kingdom and I am his queen. My peace and joy come from things that will last much longer than my yard or my home and that's good to know. Do you have any specific suggestions for "connect(ing) the various parts of the scene we see in a coherent fashion"?

Yes, foxesearth, I like the blocks removed from the front. I am having a tough time keeping an edge on the bed out there because the grass is kind of sparse and I'm thinking about other options: ground cover, extending the bed to the sidewalk, etc. I'm not sure how I'd keep the mulch contained if I ran it right out to the sidewalk. The blocks found a new home with a friend of mine. I've used limestone for pathways and stacked stone walls, so I'm going to stick with it to try to develop the cohesiveness I've learned about. Thanks for the links.

Hi amazon. My children are tremendous help. I couldn't have done it without them. I agree about the paint job, but we will probably do new siding eventually because of problems replacing the existing siding. I like it better than vinyl, but can't find it anywhere. I can't bring myself to paint when I plan to do the siding within a year or so... I seem to do everything at least twice. I don't think it will be long before my mixed shrub border disguises the fence. I did plant a kiwi vine on a section along the side. Now I just have to wait for it to take off and cover.

Karinl! Good to hear from you. I think it would cost a fortune to go around the yard with that type of fence so I'm still hoping my shrubs will make it disappear. I thought split rail would be nice, but I don't know if that would add yet another element that adds to the lack of cohesion. The boulevard is on the back burner until I complete some of the other projects I have going, but I do want to do something out there.

Where's Ironbelly? I really wondered if he could expand on what he thought about the entry when he said "a broad, angled modification at the corner which would lead directly to your front door". Sounds great, but I need a little more direction. I'm wondering if he means taking out a column or adding some concrete to the porch or what. My plan was to do a wide flagstone path (as wide as the porch - 7') that kind of sweeps from the side to the front, maybe getting slightly wider at the sidewalk. The path would rise as it approached the porch making it just one step up onto it. Is this a good or bad idea? How would I do an angled modification. So many questions. Thanks again.

This is an old post, but I'm still working on the project. I thought I'd bump it up and see if I could get any more input during the slow winter months. My previous posts 'design or disaster', 'What I did with what I learned' and 'here to learn more' were lengthy and I'm not sure how to link to them.

I am considering removing a portion of the railing in front of the door and making the main entrance walk come straight out from there. This will entail putting railing on the right side of the porch and reworking the landscaping around the front and side. My goal is to solve the 'welcome to my garden' problem mentioned in previous posts.

I still would love to know more about a broad angled entrance ironbelly mentioned. If that would be a much better solution, a more detailed explanation would be appreciated. I know I will never have a showcase home, but I hope to develop some of the cohesiveness I'm learning about. Thanks for all the help!

You could try to contact Iron Belly direct from his member page.

Thank you

I'm going to say no on the entrance straight into the house. You yourself have said you prefer the view from an angle, so why add something that detracts from that?

The home itself is so symmetrical, I think adding a slightly off-center entrance would be more odd than the one you have now.

Regarding your chain link fence... having it covered with vines might block too much sun for your garden. But if you feel that's play with what you have planted in there, perhaps you can bring the wood into play without replacing the fence. I am kind of thinking of a mock-pergola or mock-arbor. The vines could then cover the chain link fence while the wood would add the visual character peeking out from between the vines.

I would also consider repairing the sidewalk. You have a lovely double lot there, but the broken sidewalk, IMO, kind of detracts from the perception of it being a single home and yard.

There certainly would be plenty of labor involved with bearing seven children. The straight path to the house does coordinate with the straight sidewalk and the straight path to the street, so I'm not sure curving the path to the house would be a step up (so to speak). There is also the matter of what is comfortable and practical.

Thanks for your responses.

Much labor indeed... and it doesn't stop after they are born.

Sometimes I wonder if people would have different opinions if they were 'on site'. It's hard to convey everything with pictures and words. The house originally had an off-center entrance on the opposite side (we moved the front door). When I did the side entrance I was thinking of how I like to view my home, but not of design principles. Coming straight out from the door would help with another problem. It is practically impossible to keep grass growing in that spot. I still want to know more about the idea of a broad angled approach mentioned by ironbelly. I'm working on getting more information about that.

My chain link fence is slowly being disguised by my growing landscaping. We definitely need to replace the sidewalk. It's on the big list.

Hi Callosed Knees,
I like what you've done.

Since you don't like the straight on view because of your neighbors' house - have you considered a planting just off of the corner of your house that might "hide" or atleast distract attention from their house. I'm talking right in front of that plant beds corner.

It's hard to tell how exactly much light your front yard gets through the day - does your house face south?

Large shrubs/understory trees might help cut the sight line to your neighbors - I'm assuming that corner is fairly shady - maybe a pagoda dogwood (cornus alternifolia) a variegated redtwig dogwood (cornus alba/serica?). Also consider viburnum, lilac, serviceberry, etc., depending on your light.

You're not trying to hide your neighbor's house just distract from it

A canadian hemlock or yew might also work and be able to tolerate shade, as well as provide more screen in the winter...but be very careful as they can also look very dark and if you front yard is in perpetual shade it could look gloomy. Other brighter evergreens would work if there was enough light. Just a thought, it is a cute house and very nice garden!

Nice job, Callosed Knees...I don't know how you managed with seven children.

One thing I do when looking at a photo such as yours it to look at it very quickly and then look away...that way I have a quick visual of what stands out. What stands out on your house, unfortunately, is the porch addition. With such a large lot and great plantings, I think, as Inkognito suggested, you might find a way to add some cohesion between the two very distinct sections of the house. Painting the rails on the front porch and the entire side porch would shift the emphasis dramatically...let those plantings show up...you've done a great job on them.