Where is the evening sun? And how much sun will this area get.

Let me offer this about that grass.

Here is a link that might be useful: Grass what is it good for

esther, the evening sun moves to the back of the house. I get the sun in the monring for about 4 to 5 hours. Whats wrong with my grass :-). I think I need to have my lawn aerated. Whats wrong with my grass :-)

Personally, I think you have a simply pretty landscaping happening there! But this is a hosta board and you were asking about hostas. Is there a way you could plant a hosta garden without replacing plants have or are you tired of what you currently have?

P.S. I love lawns too!! We are particular about ours. To us it is something to be proud of.

Kristy :)

Grass is work!

thank you both. Yes, you are correct in that maintaining a lawn is work. Saturdays is the day of lawn work. We have an irrigation system which runs Mon, Wed, and Fri...20 minutes for each zone. I try really hard to take pride in my lawn but no matter how hard I try I just cannot seem to get it the way I want it. At the beginning of spring it is just gorgeous (so green) and then in the summer the sun, I guess is just to hot. The grass is cut 4 inches high. I have only been in my home for 2 years and I have never had it aerated and I think that is what I need to do. The area I am from is nothing but clay and the grass type is Augustus (spelling). Esther what do you suggest?

Also I love my plantings the way they are and I guess I could start a hosta garden in the back of the house along the tree lines.

Actually you can plant as many hosta as you like in those conditions.

I would make a couple groupings of 3 liriopes, and find another home for the rest of them. Your grass is nice, but hostas are better. (Keep in mind that you are posting this at a hosta forum, where we live and breathe hostas and anything else comes in second.) Take out more grass to make room for hostas, of course. A larger irregular area around that crape myrtle would be a nice home for some additional hostas too.

-Babka

I love your curvy borders but to me it looks like it's too mushed up against the house relative the amount of lawn you have. The begonias are pretty but a hosta border would look serene,

Since you mentioned it, irrigating the lawn 3 times a week doesn't encourage deep roots. Try watering deeper less often. Do you mulch mow your lawn? The grass clippings feed the soil and keep it cooler. also suggest you top dress with compost at least annually. What zone are you in?

babka/maryann, thank you both so much for responding and giving me suggestions. I just love hostas. I have some along the side of my home and they are doing well. One of them is so large it seems to have 4 or 5 that can be divided. I am in Zone 7, VA.

babka - love the idea of putting hostas around my crepe myrtle - should I remove more grass for planting the hostas?

maryann - thank you especially for your remarks - I to thought when the landscaper did the design it was not wide enough in width. I initally has Azaelas (spelling) in the front - they were called Mothers Day Azaelas becaue they bloomed right before mothers day and dropped their leaves 2 to 3 weeks later and just looked untidy after that. I had a landscaper come and remove the 18 azaelas and move them to the side of the house with the hostas. I planted the begonias myself but I think I planted them to close. Any way I have admired this hosta board from the very first time I found it here and you guys are fanatics about your hostas and all of you should be because they are absolutely GORGEOUS...JUST GORGEOUS.

As for the grass...my husband always mulch. He stated as you did the clippings feed the soil and keep it cooler. Initially I was bagging when I cut and he found out about it when he returned from work and saw all the garbage bags out front for the trash collectors :-).

I am calling a nursery tomorrow to set up an appointment to have them come out and aerate, seed and spread compost. This is the perfect time to do this according to a show we watch yesterday morning by Merrified Garden Center.

I plan to strip away grass from the curve line before winter set in to make it wider. I know it takes plenty of room for hostas. What kind of hostas do you suggest to replace my begonias; how far apart should I plant them and when should I plant and should I plant bulb hostas?

Thank you so much...I hope I am not to much of a bother by asking all these questions but I want to get it right by preparing properly.

Whatever you decide to do- your house is built in formal style so cottage type garden in front of it will look ridiculous IMHO. Going with more formal arrangements seems more appropriate.
Also to remember- hostas in your areas about this time start looking pretty ratty and going into decline.
Going with plants that have long season of appeal like your maples or evergreens is probably where you should mainly stay.
Check out pics on website of another poster- Dansgardn- I love the way those gardens styled- see if you like it.

Thanks lindalana. How do I find Dansgarden?

"I am calling a nursery tomorrow to set up an appointment to have them come out and aerate, seed and spread compost. This is the perfect time to do this according to a show we watch yesterday morning by Merrified Garden Center."

I'm convinced this is a waste of time and money. Go to the lawn forum and ask these grass questions and filter thru the compulsives that will spend a fortune and those who do nothing.

same page that your post -there is subject- Message for Dansgardn- there is link there for his pics
or do a search
totally support No grass idea- bad for ecology... all those fertilizers- people rarely realize how expensive "perfect lawn" is...

When we built our home, i planted grass,just because i did not want all the mud,i needed some kind of soft cover,until i knew what i was going to do.
THEN, i slowley removed the grass as time went on,and planted lot and lots of hosta.Still adding and still removing grass.
With all the room you have ambitiousbeginner,you could go crazy,hire a landscaper if you must,you could have a really lovely hosta garden, with paths,some evergreens,a pergolia,you have a clean slate to work with,,unless,of course, you like the grass,was this even a question?I am getting carried away sorry.

Carol

Carol, no you are not getting carried away :-) I have stood in my front yard with pen and paper trying to get some idea of what I want it to look like. I am not in love with that grass although I do want to leave some in place :-) But as lindalana stated earlier I will have to be careful about planting hosta's becasue they do start to look rather ratty in my zone (7). I have three planted in front already and they seem to be doing okay. I will take a picture so you can see what they look like and give me your thoughts. There are so many different types of hosta that it's hard to choose :-).

I really do not have to hire a landscaper because I love planting myself and I think I'm pretty good at it....took me sometime to learn but I love doing the hard work myself and standing back to see the fruits of my labor :-).

Ambitiousbeginner - you're not thinking big enough. Too much grass - give following photo to landscaper.

Glad to Help - Paul

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOW ON EARTH!!!!!!!!!!! Did not see that coming, Can it be a little neater and organized :-)

I think it was Wayne ?? who posted pictures of a great looking (and organized) border along his front entrance. Recently he was losing his mature Paradigm to rot. Does anyone remember?

Ambitious, I agree with Maryann that it looks like the current border is too small against your large house. You could almost double or triple that border and then as Babka stated do some sort of irregular island border around the crepe myrtle. In the pictures, it looks like you have another tree at the end of the driveway. You may even be able to incorporate your front walkway border all the way along the driveway to link up with that tree so it is a continuous border along the driveway.
I like grass and think a certain amount of grass adds a nice foil to the rest of the borders/plantings.
P.S. I love your urns!

"Can it be a little neater and organized"
ambitious

I've been thinking that hosta will not fit the "neater and organized" in the front. Hosta can be neat if you use a lot of one or a few but we usually plant them in bunches of many varieties. Even then "neat and organized" is not exactly how one would describe the finished product.

See link below for a new planting to see the sorta un-neat start of a hosta bed, this will be un-neat for 3 years then it will over-grown and become un-neat again.

I'm just saying think carefully about your personal taste.

Here is a link that might be useful: new bed

Good girl, D, I love the entire look of Wayne's gardens, glad you found it.

OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM SPEECHLESS.....JUST ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS. Wayne seems to have nothing but shade which is a good thing for hostas from what I have read. I wonder will be tell me what kind they are.

Thanks all of you for posting Wayne's front yard...I know he is a proud Hosta Papa :-)

Paul,i am impressed!

You have a talent beyond growing hosta,how on earth did you do that?Loved it,and really made a statment.

Carol

okay, my suggestion after looking at the photos is call your gardener and tell him what you want.
EO, too funny on the link, copied it and am giving it to my husband (after I till whats left of the grass).