ah yes, the infamous photo of snow ;-)

Dax

hey

i understand the GG's are a sightline issue..

but i ask why the second jelly bean bed.. is also straight down the property line ... just in so many feet ... why not at a 45 degree angle to the GG's ...

and cant you do better than a silver maple??? i have no love for maples in my own yard.. but isnt that one of the worst there is ... girards has trees also i think.. i got an amazing variegated sweetgum form them a few years back.. the downsides of the gum are offset with a veritable riot of color ... you can do so much better than that ... and if you want a real tree.. call van wade in mansfiled OH.. and try to get a bare root OAK in april ... he offers many kinds from his oak humidors ...

what is the diagonal line across the map .. power lines maybe...

and palms out front.. whats that all about.. lol .. i love your landscape visualization drawings.. just a cheap shot.. lol ..

you need to help us out here with full latin names... cypress weeping blue means nothing to me.. except that no cypress is going to live in OH .... which leads me to think you are using a common name ... and in my caffeine fueled morning peruse.. i dont have time to look up the plant ...

and i dont recall your zone.. in my wind blown z5 prairie ... i have a very hard time with JMap .. if you are ekeing out a z6 ... all the power to ya.. but you have no winter wind protection there.. so i throw out a caveat ... how fast do the winds off lake erie go.. and do they make it to you that far inland??? .. maybe in a few years.. when the GG put on some height.. you will have the wind break that the JM would love .... its all about your micro climate ...

whatever you do.. will please me.. so take it all as constructive criticism ...

ken

Thanks for the reply, I'm not sure why I put in it a straight line... Here is a a quick chop at a slight angle.

Unfortunately I have to keep the Silver Maple. If I could go back and change this, I definitely would. Back in 2008 my brother got me the Silver Maple and The Flowering pear as a wedding gift. If it gets to messy in the future and what not, it'll definitely come down. Right now it does put out a bright yellow fall color.

The diagonal line is the start of my septic. The property goes back 700 feet.

Palms out front? lol yeah now that you mention it I should have labeled those... Serbian Spruces (not planted yet).

The cypress Weeping blue is actually Chamaecyparis Nootkatensis 'Glauca Pendula'

The cypress Green Arrow is actually Chamaecyparis Nootkatensis 'Green Arrow'

I'm in zone 6, south of Lake Erie by about and hour. I'm not concerned to much about the wind. About a 100 feet in front of our house we have woods, then directly to the west 80 feet we have hundreds of pine trees.

{{gwi:644396}}

how big is the silver maple.. and how long planted.. as soon as the ground thaws ... MOVE IT ... since you have to keep it.. unless you can re-gift it to him ... rotflmbo ...

try slanting that bean the other way .. so the far end is more visual angling away from the GG ...

and think about another bed.. 20 feet in following the septic angle.. and fill with dwarves ... trees/confers with large potential ... should not be too close to the septic.. but dwarves should be RELATIVELY OK ...

as far as i am concerned.. the front yard is too close to the spetic for the maple ... but a good alternative.. check out the neighbors septic fix and what i think is also a silver maple ...
{{gwi:234645}}
{{gwi:208954}}

also .. your jelly beans are placed.. from other beds .. on a multiple of your lawn mower ... not some number that randomly jumped into your head .... most of my paths are about 6 inches less than my 52 inch deck ... ergo ipso presto.. one ride thru .. not 1.5 .. 2.66 ... etc ... i think whass found some old post about that .. if only he would have bumped it up.. i will go look for it ... and also the curves of the beds are designed with the mower ... no use making flowing curves which require you to pull out the weedwhip.. been there done that..

wrap your head around this.. with 700 feet back ... you are creating a ROOM that begins at what i think is your deck on the back of the house.. and ends at the septic field ... design the vistas as you would design a room.. so that.. no matter which deck chair you sit in .. you have a different wall to contemplate ... NOT FORGETTING the long views back 700 feet ... the depth is what make it not a room, per se

as of right now.. all i see is the GG's and one jelly bean ... WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO GO FROM THERE??

and BTW... whatever bean you prefer.. MAKE IT TWICE AS BIG WHILE YOU ARE AT IT ... it is a lot easier to make it bigger.. than to came back and do all the work again.. to expand it.. TRUST ME ... you will be so happy with your plan.. that there will always be need for more plants ...

look into these pix.. and see if you can glean what i mean.. hey the rhymed ... almost a haiku ???
{{gwi:644398}}
{{gwi:197745}}
{{gwi:240153}}

ken

bing maps link below ...

thats my ugly teal deck ... circular drive.. note the bean beds.. note how i moved away from beans.... septic is straight out the front door which is opposite the teal deck ... think about me on my riding lawn mower ... how i cut mowing time from about 6 hours to 2 hours .... on 500 feet square .... if you spend enough time. you can actually see the property line .... that arch at the top is 50 GG's ... i swear to God ... when i moved in in 1/2000, but for the large hardwoods it was barren horse pasture ... so.. get to work.. lol ...

the plan keeps evolving.. until you put the shovel in the ground.. and even then.. it just keeps going ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Wow... Looks great. I definitely want to do my entire backyard... I just need to do it in steps so I won't have to try to water and take care of all the plants at once until they get established. It's pretty ugly behind my septic. We have an acre with these nasty looking plants (When you cut them, it's almost like they have threads and little brown curly weird hanging flowers if thats what you can call them. Little by little I'll take my yard back farther.

I'm not sure if I'd feel comfortable moving that tree. It's about 60-70 feet from the septic which is a little close now that I think of it. It's about 10 feet tall. I'm almost positive the one tree in our front yard is a Maple and it looks great. Changes from red to yellow in the fall.

Do you mind if I use a little of your circular idea and incorporate that a little into my design? I think I have a pretty good idea now on a design that might work and be faster to mow.

Here is another chop that I really like. You can't see it in the below picture, but I've extended the yard the entire 700 feet. I'll work on those beds little by little after I get these beds in place this spring. I can't do it all at once, the cost would be huge. Especially since they will mostly be rare conifers.

The only downside to this is that I don't think it'll look right to put a flagstone path like in my other design. But I could put a few chairs/benches a long the way. Walking in a little mulch won't hurt anyone.

I do want to keep the middle and right part of my yard free for only for some play room for our future kids not to mention that's where my drain pipes, electric lines, etc are running to the septic.

How do you keep all of those beds edged or do you? Last year I bought a small edger for this upcoming project. I don't need a crisp edge, just something to separate the grass from the mulch. I learned the hard way last year not to just toss mulch on top of grass and expect it to stay like that when the mower comes around lol.

{{gwi:644399}}

your weed out back.. brought the linked plant to mind... WAG .... let me know ...

steal my ideas ... if that were a concern.. i would NOT post ....

my goal.. is to make you think more long term.. even if it is a multi-decade budget ... its about a 'vision' .. not getting it done this year ...

edging ... generic roundup ... again.. design with riding mower.. the deck overhangs the wheels by about 6 inches ... so mulch is held back from the dead zone by about 8 inches.. darn robins dig into the mulch.. and spread some in the dead zone..

about 3 times per year.. i roundup the edge.. low pressure .. spraying into the mulch ...

you are nuts to think you want to waste hours every week to go edge your beds mechanically ... as the number of beds grows ...

what you did in suburbia.. on a small city lot.. will not be time efficient on your 700 foot deep lot ...

the way out back.. simply mowing it over and over.. will break the weed cycle .... changing it more to a meadow ... though it may take some hard work.. to reclaim the area ... removing stuff so you dont harm the mower ... like saplings.. etc ... again ... this could be a project that takes years ... unless you were willing to pay some dude with a gang mower to knock it down the first time ...

i hate maples.. but dont worry about yours.. its far enough away ....

frankly.. the best thing you could do.. is when the snow is gone.. but before planting time ... go visit some collections .. mine.. hidden lakes .. girards .. i cant recall where you are in OH ... i think you are in OH ... lol ...

not as a buying spree .. or a wishlist spree .... but to just look at garden and bed structure.. layout.. design ... as great as the WWW is... seeing can help your design ... sense ...

i have to take boy to school.. i think i addressed everything ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Plans should show what's on the other side of the property line, after all, that should influence how you design. When you are on your back deck making decisions, your lawn should go closer to the property line to keep good views, and further away from the property line to block bad views. By being further away, you have more room to plant more trees to block things you don't want to see. Start with evergreen trees. Be sure to maintain 'line of sight, from your deck to the good views off property. Plan your lawn shape so that it has a sense of flow. Treat it as a body of water and, as Ken says, make it easy to mow.
The 'chunked up' jelly bean looks awkward in my opinion and the over all plan is a bit disjointed.
Maybe you could go back to the drawing board and revise your plan and show us why you have things where they are, instead of it looking like you just plunked them here and there.
My advice comes from many years of designing gardens. I also want to save you from making some mistakes I made on my large garden and all the work and hard decisions rectifying those mistakes. Some I have to regretfully live with....too busy, for one. (Too busy is the way I am though.)
Mike....playing catch up in the garden.

I definitely like the most recent sketch I made with Ken's "Lawnmower Width" idea. I can see a lot more of those types of paths at the other end of my property to allow me to ride my buggy through. I really like how it curves as it goes up the green giants and back around the septic system. The jelly bean idea is out.

The only thing now I think I might have a hard time with is seperating the mulch from the grass without actually edging. I understand the "dead zone" idea, but I'm not sure how well that would look with darker colored mulch. Light colored mulch you couldn't really tell since it matches the dry soil more. Your right though, it would take forever to edge each bed. Although I wasn't planning to do it weekly, only yearly. Now I have a $300 edger that I have never used lol... I guess we all make mistakes now and then.

As far as designing past the septic right now... I think I'll hold off until I get the back yard landscaped. Only because it's going to take years to clear a lot of that off. Once I get the backyard completed, my design for past the septic might change. I definitely think it's best to do one thing at a time. The backyard will take at least 2 years, maybe more.

The jelly bean idea is out. ====>>>> HOORAY!!!!!

but I'm not sure how well that would look with darker colored mulch. Light colored mulch you couldn't really tell since it matches the dry soil more. ===>>>> if you go with an artificial colored mulch.. then you will have to retop it every year.. or buy spray ... and respray it every year ... over the years i found that NATURAL MULCH ... turns a natural color.. and mimics nature.. and avoid a lot of make-work ... in fact.. all my mulch comes from local tree guys .... ITS NATURAL ... get the point .. lol ...

Now I have a $300 edger that I have never used ===>>> not really.. what you do within eyesight of the deck.. can be wildly different that what you do 500 feet back ... and lol on edging once per year ... yeah.. you work on that assumption ... lol ... NOT!!!!

As far as designing past the septic right now... I think I'll hold off ===>>>>> HMMMM ... there are things that will become the BACKBONES or structure of your future ... like trees ... and perhaps.. you could plant some way out back ... and get a head start ... might only need a 3 foot circle... and PROPER WATERING OF TREES ... includes NEAR drying in between watering .. with proper mulch ... its not like you will need to be out there 3 times per week ...

the best money you might spend.. would be a one inch water supply pipe.. 650 feet straight out the back .... where you could put a spigot very 50 or 75 feet .... trust me.. its much easier to drag a 50 foot section of hose ... rather than 700 feet ...

in fact.. if you have a compressor ... and can blow out the pipe in Oct .... it doesnt even need to be buried .... a lot of mine.. is simple buried in the mulch in various beds ...

even just getting the house connectors.. and putting in a supply to the drain field ... would be a good start ... as you can add to the system later ....

i paid a guy.. 500 bucks.. to 'pull in' [not trench] about 2000 feet of pipe [i bought the pipe] .. based on my design .. and he showed me how to make one connection ... and i did all the rest.. think spigots in a cemetery ...

in the alternative.. perhaps a water tank for your rider might be an investment ....

refresh my memory.. where are you????

ken

Yes, a one inch waterline is well worth the investment in money and time if you have a large property. Dragging long hoses around is not much fun. It gets old quick and the garden suffers accordingly. So do your options.
They sell automatic drain valves that let the water out when there is no pressure. (spring loaded ball) Less than three bucks last time I checked. Connect them into the pipe at the low end, or low places. No need to blow out the system in the fall.
I've installed several hundred irrigation systems over the years as a landscape contractor. Hooking buried soaker hoses up to sprinkler heads won out in the long run. More efficient use of water.
In my own garden, I try to plant plants where they don't need supplemental water. I'm lucky in that I have a varied landscape to deal with. Hilly with twelve ponds. Nothing is flat. I like it that way. Flat is trouble, unless you're gardening in sand. I have eliminated most of my lawn for several reasons. Water bill, for one. Mowing time, for another. Plus, I get all the free chips I want because I let the tree service guy park his truck here. At the end of the day when the truck is full of woodchips, he says, "Where do you want it dumped?".
Mike
{{gwi:47176}}

I wish I could give you guys a tour. I guess I am with my pictures.
Mike

Mike, you have a great sense of design....you must have started with a keen eye,
but I can see that practice makes perfect, as well. Thanks for the tours, in this Thread
and others.

Josh

Josh, I had a few good teachers, and few good books.
And yeah, a lot of practice.
Thanks.
Mike

hey botann... be honest ...

how much was design.. and how much was.. extend arm.. lift thumb .. and say .. that will look good there ...

what percent of what is there now.. was in the original design???? my guess.. the backbones you referred to in another post ....

ken

Ken, the design went along as I planted it. Nothing drawn up ahead of time. I knew I was going to change it anyway. If it was a backbone plant, I planted it in a backbone position. Some I planted with the intent to move, and never got around to it until too late. Two choices then, leave it or cut it down. I have quite a few buried stumps. If left, sometimes limbing it up was the answer. If I had stuck to a plan I might have drawn up 30 years ago, it wouldn't be anything like it is now. I'm still changing it. I just can't see a garden that doesn't change.
Mike