thankayou

Another 'Houzz' inspiration example:

Contemporary Remodel in Tiburon, California · More Info

We started some plant removal and it's already looking better. I can finally walk up to my front door and not feel closed in or be attacked by the limbs.

Thank you, I like that! On a side note....I love the flamingo! :)

Jenn, remember you are in fl, no flamingos

Haha ok, ok! I'll settle on the raccoons and opossums.

Well that escalated quickly!

I'm deleting now you saw, shorten yr thread. :)

well, if you can get a real flamingo to come swim in the water feature that would be cool. more likely a python and a few gulls will move in.

No need to get snakey lol ;)

Aww it's like are houses are siblings! Lol I wish we had the low brick wall/planter! We haven't been able to do anything else since it decided to rain everyday. Hopefully once the "hurricane" passes we will be back in business (looks like Sunday).

i told you. Look at the materials I am going to try hacking for a new awning. I have a thread, but not really getting any good answers

This is a pvc privacy panel, I would take 2, and i can get in the black

Amazon.com : Acurio Moors Ellipse Black Vinyl Lattice Decorative Privacy Panel : · More Info

Amazon.com : Acurio Moors Ellipse Black Vinyl Lattice Decorative Privacy Panel : · More Info

Then I would attach this florescent shade over/under to diffuse the sun light.

Lithonia Lighting T12 Troffer Clear Replacement Diffuser L2GT PLTS R5 · More Info

Hi, I was just stopping by, saw your house and plans and wanted to make a couple of comments. I wanted to suggest that before you plan on any wall in the front yard that you check with zoning in your town to be sure it is okay. A lot of areas would not be okay with a wall blocking off a portion of the front yard. I understand that this is off into the future if it happens at all, but just wanted to put that bug in your ear.

About septic... I believe that when you have a septic system, you have both a tank,,, and a field. The tank is where the solids settle out. The water runs out the top of the tank into a series of underground piping runs that are laid out in a grid. This is your septic field. It is an area in your yard where you cannot disturb the ground because your used water is being absorbed into the ground. Dirty water. You can't dig in this area and you can't garden and eat produce grown in this area. You need to know where the tank is and where the field is. This is how septic systems worked where I grew up. I cannot say for sure that they are the same everywhere, but it is something you need to know before you start landscaping in the back yard.

Have fun, you have a beautiful house and a fun project and it is a great time of life to enjoy!

kinda sorta, Jenn, but it is going to have that cool pattern, which pattern you think? white or black? Also, should I put one over the front door?, that would look like that the awning has to have a huge slant to keep out the sun.

Nancy is partially right, I don't know what kind of septic you have, but there are several kinds.

eek, I do not know lol I'd start off with the one and see how you like it. Are you still making the outdoor light? If that's black, maybe black will help keep "uniformity". We went around an awning by buying black out roman shades for those windows.

Thanks Nancy! I told the hubby that the backyard is his deal. Haha

Well, I had not decided on the color of the light yet, but if i go black on one, i will have to do black on both. Maybe better idea is to go white and keep light fixture silver. I know you are busy with your house. But you know how it is, they started talking about building arbors across the whole front of the house, and sending me off to learn how to make an awning. I just wanted to know if anyone thinks I am nuts, and what color and pattern to choose. they probably do think I am nuts, that is why they are sending me off in other directions. lol

yes, it is blue now, that awful screen door is gone too. i am sure that under all that white stuff, on the house anyway is red brick, the entire house is red brick, but since we really don't know what that is there, hubby is not nutty about pulling it off, even for a little peak. lol

thanks a lot for your input. i think that is a really unusual style too. Keep your fingers crossed. Cause i really have not tried this yet. wish i could get it locally but, such is life. keep on plugging.

I don't blame your hubby! Lol

Well if it doesn't work, you'll have something for wall art, patio, or a headboard. One lady mentioned on the review to go to "arcurio" website, it has a bunch of ideas to use them for.

darned programs, sometimes, i get a million posts, then an important one like this, nothing! I will go look. i think would look great as a headboard, there are several styles, including more curvy ones, just did not think they were very mcm, though I love that style. Headboard, I am afraid you cover too much, so that you are comfortable, but they would be great as little dividers, bet you could attach plastic and track it for a shower curtain affect. Mind just boggles, they now make little squares that you link together as room dividers. off to arcurio!

wow!, just wow!

Hahaha I'm afraid to look and spend like crazy!

thanks, how is yours coming? Maybe you might wish to look at some concept for your front wall instead of wood? allows more air passage and it does not mold and rot. What all wood does in fl.

I wish I could, my husband hates it. He grew up in Los Angeles and that's all he saw growing up. I feel the same way about the color beige lol. Horizontal wood was the compromise (sigh).

Jenn, checking-in to see how things are in the land down-under.

it seems to be making my mother very tense. She said a neighbor down the street went to plant a plant and water gurgled out. the cement foundation of her home is actually beginning to get wet.

Oh wow! Hurricane season puts a damper on everything.

she says it has never rained like this before, I think like two months now?

Exactly, It's crazy! Of course, it's right when I was ready to move forward with the front landscape. Now I'm going to have to research plants that can be planted in the fall season and survive.

you are in fl you know, you pretty much plant all year round. tehehe silly snow bird.

roses love to start when it is cooler. if you are talking shade, you know impatients grow all year round down there.

Haha I know nothing when it comes to plants. Growing up, we always had a couple of palms and that was it. No snow bird, just unintelligent about plants lol

Well, given that, I will let you know that the stress of summer heat can be the worst time to plant trees and bushes. Spring and fall are best, and when you have a winter like you do in Florida, you have time in the winter for the roots to grow and prepare for a healthy explosion in spring, then to withstand the stress of summer as a fully rooted and settled-in plant. For flowers, some cannot stand summer heat and sun, like the pansy. They are cool season flowers that you can grow in the winter in Florida. Different plants like different conditions, and by taking advantage of that, you can always have something interesting going on. If you ever want to learn more about gardening in your area, check out the GardenWeb. It is now part of Houzz. Go to the Advice tab on the upper right corner of the Houzz page and click, scroll down to GardenWeb and click on Gardening Forums. On that page you can choose Florida Gardening or even maybe find a forum specializing on the kind of plant you want to know about. Then start reading. When you think you know enough to ask a question, people are very nice and love to help.

yep nancy is right. and heck you can only grow pansies in MD/DE in the winter. For less work, I would try to stick a lot to perennials. Hibiscus, throw a few roses in, oh and plant mexican heather in between, rosemary and thyme do well if you have some dryness - in other words not this year. In shade, hostas tucked between azaleas, then a flat of impatients, tucked in between those.

Hi Jenn. Thought I'd weigh in on plants a bit to give you some info. Strangely enough, planting in summer is not necessarily a bad thing down here. We get lots of rain (as you well know ;0) and the plants get a chance to root. In the winter after it cools down, you can still plant but because the rain slows way down-sometimes only once every two weeks or so, you have to keep up with watering if you don't have an irrigation system. Even then, they don't always get enough water and you have to water on top of the irrigation. If you're far enough north, you can also have issues with colder temperatures at night in the winter. I've planted fountain grass, fakahatchee grass, chenille plants, oyster plants, hibiscus, croton, and bromeliads in both summer and fall and had them do well. A good local nursery is a wealth of information! Hope this helps!

i always planted all year, i was a little more exotic though. dwarf poinciana are gorgeous. Golden dewdrop, several types of cassias-masses of flowers-4 types, jatropha-5 types. Yes i had a planter, nothing grew there got a bunch of free bromeliads from a man clearing them, and they loved it there. they are primarily air nutrition. These you sort of have to look for though. Thanks for reminding Kat. I was just trying to give you basic, so it looks good quick and easy, get everything else going then you can look for all the cool ones. Another one i love is the one with the blue flowers? little guys kinda mound like mexican heather? Blue daze I think. Oh, and in my case, unless i gardened in the thunderstorm which i often did, much to the upset of my family, fall & winter were far less stressful on the gardener. tehehe

Rock Gardens were big in the 1930s and are coming into vogue again, I hear.

well, of course there was the woman in the country up here, a bed all around the front of the house and one down by the ditch. chock full of silk plants! had to pull ever few years due to fade. never did figure out what they were supposed to represent. lol

I have 2 houses where i live now, full of mums, not even different colors, one all orange, one all yellow, up both sidewalks and all around the houses.

Now that is funny!! (Silk plants) I'm not that desperate. I think I'm going to keep it simple in the front and go crazy with the back. I have twin girls that are going on 3years old and they are super girly. I imagine having all sorts of colors in the back for them to appreciate. They love flowers (just have to keep them from picking all of them).