Oh, and I'm sorry, I am in south central WI just outside of Madison...I believe I am about on the line where zone 4 and 5 meet.

I agree that your house would benefit from some foundation plantings. Boxwoods are not hardy enough for zone 4 and really not that hardy for zone 5, in my opinion. However, a similar and MUCH BETTER plant, to my mind, is the ilex crenata, japanese holly. It's more hardy (although may need some winter protection in your area) and is just lovely...not the prickly leaved holly, but a rounded leaf. One of the great benefits is that the females produce a dark berry that birds love. There are many forms available. These mix well with rhodies and azaleas (at least on my north facing exterior) and should make a nice assortment for your foundation. Also, you could throw an enkianthus in there as well, which is also attractive to birds.

Patty

Thank you for reading my post and looking at the pictures, Patty. There are several places that said they would be ok... but I will surely look deeper into that! One site is from Olbrich Botanical Gardens here in Madison, which is part of the city of Madison, where they have an article on just that. I will include the link below.

But I am off to look into your suggestions as we speak! I thought it might even be nice to have a few different things in there.... but I am so new to this, and have no idea what goes with what. If I could afford a professional landscaper...I'd probably do it! LOL

Here is a link that might be useful: Boxwood In The North

Do you know the soil pH? If it's high, and it very well might be, about the only evergreen that is going to do well is yews. Specifically the hardier hybrids that should be what is commonly available. I can grow boxwood, but it has to be put in the right place. It needs protection from winter sun and winter wind. If you can't provide both, it will fry.

Evergreen hollies are something I've been trying to figure out for years now. Around here, I just don't see them. They are readily available, grow well in areas of acidic soil, but are notable by their absence in my limestone pocket.

I have 3 Buxes microphylla 'Green Mountain' and I can assure you that they are hardy even two hours north of Olbrich. Although slow growing, they are undemanding, only suffered slight winter burn the first year they were planted, and have tolerated me moving them without a sulk or a high demand for water. They do fine in clay soil. The color of the foilage changes somewhat during winter, but greens up again in spring. The only problem I have with them is male dog urine will kill the foilage if it is hot and dry.

If you decide to use boxwood, look for larger plants as the small ones stay like little mounds until they mature. Mine are 4 years old and just started looking like they belong in my garden - they have been spared being turned into chickens.

Thank you for the info! I don't know the soil pH... I have had two emerald arborvitaes planted in the same soil and they have done fine (well, again, until I burned them unknowingly with sidewalk salt!) I will look into what I need to do to find out what kind of soil is here. THANKS!

Arborvitae and conifers are pretty adaptable about soil. The problem you may run into with them is lack of sun. The plants that want acidic soil are rhododendrons, azaleas, pieris, hollies and things like that. If they don't like the soil conditions, they are much more subject to cold.

So if you are planting the north side of a house, particularly a two-story house, don't have acidic soil, and are in a cold climate, the evergreen shrub choices are really very limited.

Thanks, I guess that is why I was asking...because I really was afraid that would be the answer.

I would love to hear ideas of what I could put in there that would look nice. I know I could probably do hostas, but that would not be my first choice!

Again, I have photos on the link below.

Thanks!

Here is a link that might be useful: House/foundation photos

It might be a good idea to get a soil pH kit at the local garden soil and test your soil. In Wisconsin the soil could be acid, neutral or alkaline, depending on your areas, but less apt to be alkaline than the nasty PA clay I have to contend with. On the plus side, if you want to grow acid loving plants, with raised beds you can ammend the soil to create more acidic conditions. That's what this north country gal did in my tiny yard to be able to grow my favorite dwarf conifers. So you need to make a decision, what are the main kinds of plants you want to grow? If it is indeed conifers and other sandy, slightly acid loving plants, then create a bed like that. Boxwood, on the other hand, I don't think likes acid soil. So if you're really in love with boxwoods, (which would look great in a formal type arrangement), then design a bed around that look, with soil and other conditions tailored to your favorite plants. At least that's what I did in my yard, I started with a couple of plants I knew I just HAD to have, and since they were acid loving, then I designed the rest of the plantings to compliment my anchor plants. This has worked really well for me.

That's one approach, OR another way of looking at it is to decide the overall "look" you want to acheive. That's a different approach than picking some favorite plants first. That approach would mean thinking about shapes and arrangements of plants for the design, and then going about finding the plants that meet your shape and soil/sun requirements.

But either way, I would suggest thinking about the whole bed as opposed to one plant at a time. Just my humble opinion. That way you'll avoid the problem of picking plants one at a time and ending up with conflicting soil requirements.

As a side note, again, just my taste, I could see two ways of going about doing that bed. One would be a formal, symetrical design maybe centered around a birdbath or sculpture. Another would be to create an informal area, like a little mini woodland, centered around a pretty tree such as as japanese maple or serviceberry or dogwood, redbud, etc. Or you could fill it with a riot of colorful perrenials like you have been doing with the wildflower plantings. It all depends on your taste, which I'm not sure of from your original post.

Anyway, just my .02.

My taste is very simple. (I'm not a huge flower fan either!) Things that I DO like are the boxwoods...sure, but I LOVE arborvitaes, I like anything with a red hue...like the red barberrys... just something SHRUB I think. I can see about getting a test kit...I'm sure they'll know what I'm talking about if I go in there, but you did spark my interest greatly!

I am not wanting "formal," really, just something to put there to get rid of the emptiness. A bird bath...nah...I'd do that in the back yard where I have my bird feeders...and you'll laugh, but the only "sculpture" I'd want is a big lifesized fiberglass horse! Ok...I'm going off the wall here, but you said the magic word. Japanese maple. I have a huge admiration for those since I've seen them, and have always planned to get one, even barely avoided impulse buying a few times. I had to find the "right" place to put it...and I just haven't found it yet. The bed that's already there...I just planted a wildflower/hummingbird/butterfly mix in there...I like more natural stuff. But, even there, I so wished I could plant one of those maples...but, and I wish I had pics to show before, there are two tanks in there...concrete tanks having to do with the septic system, and I'm not sure how the roots would grow on one of those trees, if they would just grow around those tanks, but also, if they would do damage to the concrete. As far as what I was originally talking about, the bed behind that area, I don't think there's enough room...or maybe enough sun. From the existing planting area to the house wall is 4.5 feet. I would LOVE japanese maple, if I could figure out how to incorporate it nicely. I like your ideas!

A bit about me, I am not into fancy or formal, I am very simple.... I have learned that I am NOT good at keeping up with weeding, nor would I be at pruning I'm sure. So something relatively simple I think...and I had hoped to mulch around everything hoping to keep weeds away. I tried the landscape fabric/river rock thing...which I really liked, but I am not having good luck with the fabric, and don't wish to mess with that anymore. Anyway, I like your ideas, and I LOVE japanese maples!!
Thanks!
Angie

Try looking at the better homes and gardens site (bhg.com) it has about a ton of different bed designs and it names all the plants in them, so you get to look at a variety of different shrubs, tree's, and flowers. Lots of good info there in my opinion. Nice place to start. Go to gardening once your there and then to garden plans. There is also some suggestions on this site for best flowering tree's, small tree's etc... Also check out the conifer forum for some suggestions on winter interest (see i am learning a little bit =)). Someone recommended this site to me so you may check it out as well... http://www.girardnurseries.com/ ...good luck.

If you search this forum, you will find many discussions and responses that outline the landscape design process. Try "design principles" or "elements" or perhaps search for one of the steps in the process, say "site analysis". That should bring up some interesting threads which will take you through the process with others who have come asking here.

I am not a pro. When I first began reading here, I also started with the "Here's a spot that seems to need something. What should I plant?" attitude. I soon learned that that's not where the design process usually begins.

As a side note, I really like what Lpinkmountain had to say about building a garden design around key favorite plants. It makes sense to me, but it is helpful to make sure that you are choosing "plant selection" as a starting point for a reason that outweighs other considerations. Most of the time, plant choice comes almost last in the thinking and planning process.

Your words seem to express a frustration with being stuck. The answer you seem to be giving yourself is that the right plant will fulfill your desire for the front landscape of your home. I guess my question would bewill it?

What happens if you go out and purchase plants based on your own preferences or recommendations from this forum or elsewhere. You bring home lovely healthy plants and put them where you think they will look well and do well. You wait a yearÂbecause they've got to grow. And maybe another. Then you step back to lookÂIf you are very lucky, or have great instincts for design, you may be pleased. OTOH, you will still be ppuzzled, wondering why nothing about the way you have created this three dimensional frame and setting really works for your home. Must be that you bought the wrong plants? NoÂit would have to do more with poorly understood design.

In one of your responses, you wrote "I am not wanting 'formal,' really, just something to put there to get rid of the emptiness." So, it isn't really a plant you need, but a plan that will help you understand space, emptiness, framing, form, line.

What do you love most about the front view of your home? How could you make that even better?

What is the feeling or experience you hope to have on returning to your home after being away? What practical elements will help create that experience?

Usually it isn't the plants that answer these questions. It will be the generosity given to the depth and size of beds. It will be the turn of a path, just so. It will be the quality of materials and execution of construction. These form the bones. These are what then set off something exquisite you might choose, like that Japanese maple you're dreaming aboutÂ

Wellspring

Well said, Wellspring. Your post should be in a FAQ for this forum.

And to take the conceptual back to the pragmatic, to me there is something very odd about the shape of that raised bed. Can it be moved, or even removed? Or would you consider changing its shape? I'm not even clear on why it's raised, or why you would want to raise your foundation plantings. I'm all in favour of a well-defined edging, but raised doesn't work here, to my eye.

If you can absorb Wellspring's message, I think you would sit down with a pen and paper, draw a plan view of the area, and make the curves and flow of walkways and bed edges work first. Plants will enhance and accentuate these, but if the right curves and flows aren't there, the plants and the beds will always just look plunked.

KarinL

Thank you for the input. Guess I will take a look around...because I have tried to draw something out...just not coming up with anything (even have it down on graph paper, with one square equalling one foot to get measurements just right).

Karin, thanks for your honesty. It's hard to sell what something looks like through another's eyes...so I will explain that "thing" in the yard. It has 6 sides. (like a hexagon? But not remembering the name for 6!) and it serves a purpose there. When this house was built, we were told time and time again that THAT particular spot was the ONLY place to put the septic tank(s). So we had these two concrete tanks right in the front yard of the house....and a pipe behind them. A HUGE eyesore! My husband is not very landscape inclined either, but he was quite proud to surprise me one day by having done this...with a stack of landscape timbers we'd been storing in the barn, and dug up some black dirt from our pond behind the house (natural pond, but it was dry that year), and filled it in. He was quite proud of himself...and at the time, I thought it looked GREAT! Of course, ANYTHING was better than it was before!! So those eyesores are now covered up, but accessable when they need to be. I argued with those folks....there just HAD to be another place to put those tanks, but they assured me that there was not. So right in the front of the house they went. Very close together, and with the pipe so close to the house we could not run the riding mower between it and the house. So we had to work around these things, and I did NOT want to see them. Don't think I want to tear it out, at this time anyway, because it would break my DH's heart I think! =) And as for having it raised where the foundation is, I figured, with what's already there, it wouldn't look nice unless it "matched." I have NO eye for this stuff. I have a great appreciation for the world around me, but when it comes to the little world called my own yard, I just ain't got a clue! But thank you all, I will check out the websites listed above, see about getting a test kit for the soil and look at pictures where I can find them to gather some ideas.
Angie

Well then there's a good reason for that hexagon (that is six!) to be there. But it doesn't have to drive the rest of your design, that is, it doesn't have to force you to make a raised bed at the house, which I don't think the house needs and which might not be good for the brick. I think what you're looking for now is the shape of your foundation bed and a way to edge it. You can either incorporate two or three sides of the hexagon, or you can run your bed edge right outside the hexagon - no shortage of room, it looks like. How much planting bed you want is obviously dependent on how much plant material/gardening space you want.

KarinL

I agree with Karin that the bed is extemely awkward looking and bears no relation to what you would want to enhance the entrance to your home. Incorporating your bed into your design would help enormously, and then you could plant a simple groundcover to camouflage the bed. In addition, remember that most inexperienced homeowners plant MUCH too close to the foundations of the house. You would want to plant at least 4 feet from the house to give the shrub room to grow without being mashed against the house and to be out from under the overhang. When you consider that, think rather in terms of "framing" the house with plantings rather than running a line of shrubs around the foundation.

Well you've gotten some good landscaping advice GB, and will probably get more. I'm going to commit a forum faux pas and offer some gardening advice. If your husband got the soil in that bed from the pond, it may be kind of clayey and you might want to add some sand to it. I bought a bag of play sand at the home and garden center and mixed it into my clay beds, about 10% and it did wonders to improve things for the plants I planted. But I don't know for sure what your soil is like. You can also buy other soil ammendments at the garden center depending on your needs. Pond soil might be quite rich in organic material, but I can't tell from the picture.

I do not know for sure if a japanese maple would be appropriate for the bed but I think it might, if it was a small one, of which there are many cultivars. People grow the little maples in pots on patios, and I seem to recall that jm pots are rather shallow. But the place to ask that question is on the Japanese Maple Forum. They are very helpful. They helped me a lot when I was getting my jm. I ended up mail ordering my tree, from a mail order source recommended by the folks at the JM Forum. I don't have time to search for my old post, I doubt if it is still active, but you could search that forum for recommendations, I'm sure it is a common question. I was very skeptical about mail ordering a japanese maple, and when it came, (in a cardboard box, no less), I was even more skeptical. I put the little stick in the ground a year and a half ago and hoped for the best. My maple has been amazing. It survived the winter and was very pretty in the spring and all through last year. This year it has really taken off, is about twice as large as it was last year, and is growing like gangbusters. I don't have a digital camera anymore but I've posted a picture from last June. The variety I chose is called "Fireglow" which I chose specifically for its smaller size and more upright form than the traditional "Bloodgood" variety that you find everywhere. For my situation, and I think yours too, Bloodgood would get too big. Plus, Fireglow lives up to its name in the spring and fall. It's also supposed to be very hardy and so far mine is proving to be. But there are gazillions of other maples to choose from if you're willing to seek an out-of-the-way nursery or mail order. The folks on the JM Forum would be very helpful in offering suggestions.

If you don't want to go with the maple, there are two other small trees that would make stunning focal points, I've seen both planted in foundation beds. These are Sargent Crab (a small white flowering crab that had those bright red berries in the late fall/early winter), and a little tree called "Harry Lauder's Walking Stick" which is also sometimes called Corkscrew Hazel. It is related to hazelnuts, and has a very unusual form, all twisted. It also has very pretty spring flowers. It looks interesting in the winter and early spring, two times of the year when most other things look drab in the Midwest. Google the tree in the "Images" window of the Google search engine and you'll be able to see some images of this tree. One other small tree that I like is called Amelanchier, or Serviceberry. It has white flowers in the spring, pretty purple berries that the birds just love, and red foliage in the fall, and the tree has nice bark and form in the winter. The birds eat all the berries so the tree is not messy. There are some smaller, more shrubby varieties that are quite stunning. The berries start out ruby red and gradually turn purple, that is if the birds don't immediately scarf them all down. Sometimes the tree is filled with songbirds, which is nice to see if you like to watch birds.

As for other plants with red foliage that are small and shrubby and might look good with boxwood, I like redtwig dogwood, especially the kind with varigated leaves. If you keep it pruned the new growth is stunning in the winter against the snow. Another great shrub is winterberry holly. It is totally different from the chinese hollies that they sell everywhere in the nurseries. It has small deciduous leaves, but amazingly bright red berries totally cover the shrub in the early winter. The only downside to this shrub is bunnies and deer love it. A couple of other small shrubs to consider are the "Wine and Roses" wiegelia (they can get big unless you get the dwarf variety) and this spirea that I have in my yard, I think it's called "Gold Flame" or something like that. The new growth is red, and the flowers are hot pink. It actually looks very good with my japanese maple, and I like the fact that even when it isn't blooming it looks pretty, unlike some of the other spirea. Another great plant is Fothergilla, there are big and small varieties. It has pretty white flowers in spring, and gorgeous red foliage in the fall. So do some of the viburnums.

Heuchera, (Coral Bells) is another red leaved plant that seems very popular, a lot of my neighbors have it in their foundation plantings. The red, cutleaf japanese maple is very popular around here as a foundation planting, mixed in with evergreen shrubs like you mentioned. I think the japanese maples also look good with azaleas, which come in stunning red shades but I don't know if those grow in your zone. I cannot recommend barberry, no matter how cool it looks, since I work in forest conservation and have spent many hours digging out invasive barberry from the woods. It overtakes the forest floor and crowds out all the lovely spring wildflowers.

Here's my fireglow, last year.
{{gwi:31853}}

Thanks again! You all are helping me learn, and helping me figure out things I need to consider before I do anything. I think, for now, I'm kind of stuck with the hexagon there...I just don't have the heart to tell him I'd like it gone....he meant so well! (considering our house is brick, and we have several large rocks decorating our property, and several rock walls as well, I thought a rock type border would have looked better...) but it sounds like some of you think that I wouldn't have to raise the foundation area up to "match" the hexagon that's already there... I appreciate that!

And the person that said barberries have a tendancy to "take over" so to speak...

I am guessing the soil has a lot of clay in it. It gets VERY hard. Hubby recently tilled through it and mixed in a couple bags of peat moss.

I am going to get a test kit to check the soil....once I get over to the garden center. I did not think of that, and it makes sense to do it so I know what would thrive here.

I do, REALLY LIKE the JM idea. Something that does not get large, or too upright, I have been looking into the different kinds out there to see what's available. I have seen a lot of bloodgoods around here...I know those get too big... I tried to find an actual JM forum on here, I did not, only a Japanese garden forum, which I will be keeping tabs on. I am also writing down all of your suggestions and ideas for things to look into....and am going thru those as well!
Thank you much for all of the tips, I am SUCH a newbie....I have NO common sense when it comes to this stuff, but I do have the interest in learning! Thanks much!!
Angie

Hi,
I usually lurk here (still very much learning), but I love Japanese Maples.
You are right, there's no JM forum, but the Maples forum has quite a number of threads on JM's.

Good luck with your yard!

I feel bad that I criticized the hexagon, and I didn't mean that it is unattractive in and of itself. It also was evidently a pretty clever solution to a previous problem, its success being apparent in that we can no longer see that problem. I really think his work can still be wholeheartedly appreciated. So I would emphasize that my critique is only to the extent that it interferes with the next project, which is foundation planting.

If rock is what you might use to outline your foundation/walkway beds (and I do think they should sweep around that entire area) then just run your line into one end of the hexagon and out the other. The time might come when you can replace the hexagon, but that doesn't need to be now; he may even think of doing it later.

I'm guessing you will have to have some mounding of the soil up over the tanks and then down if you don't want to pile it against the house, but if you have some spreading shrubs in there (hope there are some hardy for you) it won't show up much.

KarinL

Hi Gb! A few more random thoughts for what they're worth, some gardening, some landscaping. You can go over to the Maples forum and search under my name and find my original posts, that's what I did today. Now I remember I got my maple from Herter's Nursery in NC, which was recommended. Now is NOT the time to be mail ordering a japanese maple, especially from NC, it is getting too hot. But you can research the kind you want and plan and get ready for a fall planting. It just seems too hot right now for shipping. You could probably call one of the maple places and ask them to hold one for you and ship it in the fall. The tree I got from Herters was great, but I have also ordered from Forest Farm Nursery in I think maybe OR or Washington state, can't quite remember. They have japanese maples, as does Mountain Maples Nursery which is also on the NW coast. When I was over at the maples forum today there was a post on small red maples you might want to check out.

As for your bed, if you already put peat in it, and it's still clay soil, I would highly recommend adding the sand. I've dealt with clay for years and could not believe the difference tilling in sand makes to a bed of clay. Especially if you want to plant everygreens and maples.

As for the landscaping, sounds like you're wanting something with a bit of a japanese aesthetic, with rocks, evergreens and maples. I've been very inspired by the japanese style, although I don't have enough money or discipline to really pull it off. But a few things about that style I've used you might be interested in. In the japanese style, there is a subtle use of plants that emphasizes foliage--textures, shapes and forms of plants, as opposed to flowers and their colors. Also the plants all relate to each other and represent something, as opposed to the way most people look at plantings as groupings of individuals. Also the emphasis on rocks as landscape features. I'm a transplanted north country girl, so in my garden, the dwarf conifers I've planted stand in for their larger northern cousins. Same with my maple, which is standing in for it's big cousin, the red maple of the northwoods. And I have another small tree called "blue beech" which is standing in for the beech trees. I just completed the north country trio in my yard with a dwarf japanese white pine, standing in for the state tree of my home state of Michigan, the white pine.

So with japanese garden aesthetics, you would look around the natural areas where you live that inspire you with their beauty, and try to create a little mini version in your raised bed. Maybe mix in some boulders, even ad a small water feature if you're ambitios (even a little stone birdbath might work). A great book to check out from the library is "Landscaping with Nature" by Jeff Cox. There is quite a bit in there about using rocks and other natural materials, and great ideas for little montages for your yard. There is one in there described that might work very well for your yard, a combination of a red japanese maple, a Sargent Crab, and a dwarf mugo pine, with a couple of boulders and some iris and ferns thrown in, and azaleas for color. There's also hinoki cyprus, but I don't know if that grows in your zone, but you could easily substitute some type of arborvitae. You are pushing the zone with azaleas, but apparently there are some more northern-hardy varieties. This garden also had a weeping cherry, but I don't see that working in your raised bed, but perhaps somewhere else around the foundation. There's a shrub called "purple sand cherry" that has red leaves and pink flowers that might work, I don't know how deep of roots it has.

Wow! Thank you, I am getting lots of great things to check into here! KarinL don't feel bad at all.... I hope you don't think I was offended in the least about your opinion....I asked for opinions! I really wish we hadn't had to worry about covering that spot up at all! We agonized over it for quite awhile...and that is what he came up with. It works for us! I did dig up a picture...still haven't found the "before" photo yet...but I found a "during" photo, shows the hexagon built, but not filled in yet, so you can see what it is now covering up. Two concrete tank lids and a white pipe.... the pic should now show up on that link I provided to pics of my front yard...
Thanks!
Angie

Ok, just testing this out.... see if I have figured out how to post photos here. If so, this would be the photo showing the hexagon, and what it is meant to hide...
http://lh3.google.com/image/GrullaBlue/RmLKpLxM74I/AAAAAAAABwA/g01svGcPdRU/5sept05%