Sorry, forgot to mention I am in Vancouver, BC. Zone 8.

I just redid most of my front garden which also faces north and is mostly shade. I've planted some new sarcococca, skimmia, rhodos, azaleas and transplanted a 6' yew to give some height. I kept three leucothoe shrubs, a few clumps of carex morrowii variegata, hostas and a false cypress. Added in some ground covers and I'm pretty happy with it.

Dawn, do you have any photos?

I'm struggling more over shape and placement of the new beds I want, and not so much on plant choice.

Sorry I don't have any photos of the front. My bed is in the same position as yours to the left of the stairs.

Were you wanting to do more plantings at the front of your property?

Yes, I'd like to add some beds along the pathways somehow, and maybe closer down toward the street. I'm really struggling with how these should be laid out/shaped.

I'm not too concerned about the foundation beds as I think I've got enough ideas for that area.

I just don't want so much lawn in front. I'd like it to be more natural, in keeping with the ravine around us. And also to gain some more privacy.

I have so many ideas in my head, I just can't get a handle on where to start!

Use your hose to get an idea of the shape you want. I just bought "Gardens of Vancouver" by Varner & Allen cheap from Chapters.ca. Lots of beautiful pictures plus they give the layouts and plantings used. Lots of neat ideas.

I also just had someone from my local nursery come out for 2 hours and help me plan. Only $50/hour and well worth every penny. I know David Hunter Nursery has a store in Vancouver as well.

I've got so many books and magazines you wouldn't believe! LOL! I'm a book junkie. It's getting started that's the hard part. I'll go out and play wiht the hose this weekend.

Glad your consult went well. I had an hour and a half one a few weeks ago and I was very disappointed. Though she was supposed to be a trained horticulturalist/designer she misidentified several of the shrubs I was looking to ID (a major objective of the consult) and her ideas were far from original or inspiring. Maybe I'll try again.

I'll also look up the book you suggest -- one more can't hurt!! :-)

Cute house, Kailleanm. Have you thought about trees? Trees really help anchor a garden bed. Our native Dogwood (Cornus nuttallii) or Western Crabapple (Malus fusca) or possibly Paper Birchs (Betula papyrifera) along with some vine maples would look great in the curve of your path. Then you can arrange your shrubs around the trees.

Good luck!

Jeanne,

I'm definitely thinking about trees! Shrubs too.

We have a wonderful dogwood in the backyard. It's about 35 ft tall. It wasn't looking that great last fall, and I suspected anthracnose, but its beautiful right now. I was told if it does have anthracnose it could take years and years to die.

Anyway, I digress. In the front, I'd ideally like to keep trees/shrubs to around 20' as we get a peekaboo mountain view in summer.

Although I do really love the Paper and Himalayan Birches. How close do you think I can take these to the house? I like the vine maples too, and there are lots in the ravine, so the blend would be good.

Any ideas as to shape/placement. That's where I'm having the most trouble. I will do the hose thing this weekend, but first impressions would be great.

I was thinking of one bed on the right of the path (looking at the photo). You can see how the lawn was damaged when the walk went in, so I thought I may as well do something there instead of spending more energy on the stupid grass! :-)

The walk slopes a little in this direction, so it would be good for plants who like the extra water. Of course we have our dry summers to contend with. I was thinking maybe some rocks/boulders here, too, and a little gravel(mulch?) path leading to the right side where the ravine lookout is. Too much with the main walk? Some red-twig dogwood -- what goes good with that?

I'd love a dry streambed look with shrubs around, but I think it will look too contrived there.

Basically, I just want to look out the window and feel I've got a little bit of a forest in my front yard.

I'd like to add some evergreens/conifers too, but don't think I have the room for full size conifers. Suggestions for slow growing or dwarf varieties. I particularly like blue/grey foliage, especially with accents of bright colour like the red-twigged dogwood. Or maybe a Paperback Maple?

OHHHHHH. HEEEELLP MEEEEE! ;-)

I agree with starting on the right side of the path. I'd probably make a bed that goes from the house and ends in some sort of curve about where that damaged section is. I'd also probably put a few drawf trees in along the property line/trial side on the west side picture. Give yourself some seperation from the trail as well as some height but not get in the way of your views.

As far as placement unless you have someone knowledgable that can help with that on site I find that it is often trial and error. It seems about half the time that the first place I put any plant is wrong and I have to move it!!

Good luck!
Cathie

Your house is darling.

Paperbark maples are really nice little trees.

I remember how difficult it is to get started when you have a bare, flat yard. I kept staring out the windows, trying to imagine what I could plant where.

It helps if you have someone stand outside while you look out the windows. Have your helper walk around from place to place, waving his/her arms, and maybe even holding a broom up overhead. Try to imagine your helper is a bush or a tree. When your helper gets to a spot that looks good from the inside, make a note of the position, or have your helper plant a garden stake (much easier to move than a tree!) Then go stand outside, or across the street, and see if that really is a good place for a tree. Use pots of annuals which you can move around until you find a space placement that suits you. THEN dig a bed.

You can always set out empty boxes, or laundry baskets or even chairs to find spots for a shrub. Anything of a similar size that's easily movable will do.

Here are some general principals I've found helpful.

If the front is your main entrance, plant things that you will be happy to see when you come home. Start planting close to the walk and steps. This will encourage you to expand.

Take it slow. I read once that you should live in a house though one set of seasons before you do any major changes. I translated that into planting annuals at first...which will have to be redone anyway. Fall is really the best time to plant trees and shrubs, as then they will get lots of rain. And, they will be cheaper at the 'year end' sales.

Plant evergreens and long season perennials in the front as you and the neighbors will be looking at this area every day.

Don't be afraid to take out something you don't like. Try to transplant it, or give it away. If it lives, fine, but you don't have to put up with something you don't like. Bare ground will make you feel better than a plant that irriates you.

Don't plant acid loving plants close to the foundation of the house or near the cement path or sidewalk. They won't thrive. I figured this out after losing a row of azaleas, one by one.

You can buy spray paint that is specially made to be sprayed holding the can upside down, so you can mark the edges of the beds. Just make sure that it isn't 'clear' paint. (Yes, it does come that way - a friend did this!) Or take a container of flour out and use that to mark plant placement or bed edges if you want a very temporary marking.

The front yard is your house's public face and a place to show off your gardening skills. Rather than screening off the street, plant so that people driving or walking by will have something pleasant to look at and your visitors will find inviting. And for safety reasons, you don't want to 'hide' your house. Burglars go for entrances that are screened off from the view of the neighbors.

Re paths: Make sure you leave good access to the utility boxes. Make sure you can get a lawnmower and wheelbarrow everywhere they'll need to go. You won't want low branching trees too near paths, either.

If you don't have a pleasant view out the windows, one small patch of bright color will draw your eye away from the eyesore. Try a few pots of color, just set out on the ground, and see how they draw your attention.

You do want to 'hide' the foundation of the house with taller, more solid shrubs. This will help transition the house into the lot, and help it look 'planted' rather than just 'plopped' onto the lot. Place lower plants further away from the house, along the path and sidewalk.

You don't have to have ANY lawn in the front, but you don't have to take it all out at once, either.

Have fun!

Daphne in Tacoma

Daphne, what a wonderful "primer"! There's some great advice for us who are redoing things too. Thanks...

Thanks everyone for your ideas and comments. Great info, Daphne. I'm going to get my husband to act like a shrub when he gets home tonight! :-)

I'm laughing at the image of your husband acting like a shrub already!

I just found an article that might also be helpful. The topic is fragrance in the garden (good for along walkways and near an entry), but it also has some good tips when starting a new garden.
Daphne in Tacoma

Here is a link that might be useful: Designing for Fragrance in the Western Garden

Thanks for the link Daphne. You've just given me another excuse to procrastinate on starting work today. I'll go have another coffee and read this article, instead of writing the proposal I'm supposed to be doing! ;-)

Since you are in Vancouver, I suggest you check out my favorite gardening book of all time, The 12 Month Gardener--

I know it's a big space, but I wouldn't put in any grass. Mowing little bits of lawn amongst beds is a bother, and with chafer beetle spreading across the Lower Mainland, you could just be planting chafer grub food. No lawn also saves you edging beds and having grass creeping into the beds.

We spent last weekend at my sister's in Vancouver, pulling out the last her front lawn and replacing it with large beds. We put in rock piles, brick stepping stones, a little bricked area with a garden chair and planter, etc. to break up the space and provide focal points. Your idea of a 'stream bed' could work, leading to a garden bench in a gravel area, in a spot shaded by one of your future trees.

LTS -- I do have that book, it's great.

Cangrow - I'd love to see pics of your sister's lawn. We do have chafer grubs already. We turned up a few when we were cutting in the area for hte new walk. It's not too bad so far, but I would like to get rid of the lawn long term. I just don't want to bite off too much work at one time. I need to be realistic about how much I can get done with a 17 month old son! :-)

I'll see if I can get some pics tomorrow.

I remember when my son was that age; 3 p.m. both of us still in our pyjamas; it was all I could do to get in the shower, forget landscaping.

We had a two-day blitz with 4.5 adults (the .5 was a surly teenager) and 4 yards of topsoil. We raised the whole area; it saves taking the turf off. In 'lasagna bed' style, we covered all grass/weed areas with either 1 layer of cardboard or 6-8 layers of newspaper and put the topsoil 6-8 inches deep on top of that. The paper is extremely effective at killing the grass.

There is still room for plants, but we're waiting for the New Westminster Horticultural Society plant sale (May 6) to fill the gaps.

Here is a link that might be useful: Plant sale