My idea is to drive around ur local area and find the nicest garden U see. Then politely knock on the door and ask the occupants if they used a landscaper to design their garden........If the garden is beaufiful Im sure they ll know the names of most of their plants and might like to give u some useful info.................hope u recycle some of the plants cos most plants u ll buy wont be as mature as the ones u have Let us know what progress U ve made

Whenever I have designed for others, I always (1) send them to all the local nurseries and have them write a list of 3-5 different trees, 3-5 different shrubs, and 3-5 different flowers they want and LOVE. That takes some time because many people need to see the foliage and bloom in different seasons and stages of growth, sometimes. Others recognize what they like and what it is right off, if you're lucky.

And (2) have them save every photograph of everything landscape related that caught their eye. Pictures can be online or from magazines or library books! If you are designing, you can walk in someone's vision very quickly if their picture hold all the answers they are not able to verbalize.

Then (3) I usually want to know the LAYOUT they are most agreeable to. Let me see if I can explain this one because it really is important. You may want straight lines or curves or heavy on one side or tall over in one spot or something. But in the end, I'm looking for a MAP of the design plan. I'll send up a few so you can get this because I am not awake yet.

(4) Combine all the ideas the previous has told you. Get feedback in detail and then rework.
(5) Hire someone to execute the final plan (hardscape, sprinkler, drip, lighting, dirt, sod, plants, etc.).

Does THAT makes sense? Above pictures show the theme of the layout by space. The black square is the front door (shiny black, that is!).

We have a rule in my family and it is that the DAY you move into the new house, you meet with local landscapers and get quotes while the movers are grunting and groaning inside. I stay OUT of their way!
I usually buy myself a collection of spray paint colors for the excitement of it all. I draw the layout (above squiggles) all over the dirt. Once I get it right, then we work together on the picture to get my vision incorporating their expertise. You save a freaking bundle this way . . . did I say?

By the time you unpack all the moving boxes, your landscape will be nearly done and will grow with the house. By the time you move out, it'll look SO pretty that you can add 20K or more to the home AFTER you add the landscape cost to the home's value. Curb appeal is critical!

Sagicat, you can work out your plan HERE. You can post until you are numb in the fingers and we'll all put it together for you. So you know you are in zone 6 and have nearby nurseries. You have a camera and can hit the streets armed with purpose and photograph plants and trees and landscapes you love. Go online to see-and-save until you need glasses!

ALL the ideas you have been given are really excellent, now all you have to do if jump into it to use them (which, thanfully, you have been doing!!!!!!!!!!!!!). Then provide all the goodies in your must-haves here and we'll put it together for you. Virtual landscaping! Sound fun?

Drive carefully.

Oh this is really frustrating! I just wrote careful responses to all who have commented recently. Then I was distracted for less than five minutes and came back to find that my iPad had deleted all my efforts! Drat!

Well let's see if I can recreate.....

First of all, I want to say how much I appreciate the continued interest/comments about my dilemma. What a wonderful experience!

@ vickingboy, your ides sound quite attractive but I fear we aren't as far south as you think...for example, I looked up the windmill palms and really like them. They would be dramatic and unusual in our neighborhood. Then, I noticed they are best In zone 8 and higher. We are in zone 6 . I haven't looked up info on hydrangeas or dwarf southern magnolias but I know that I like them and I know there aren't any magnolias around here. (We go South every year on vacation. Lol)

@ Rare Bird, what a wonderful idea to drive around the neighborhoods. We did some of that this afternoon but everything still looks pretty wintery around here right now. We will drive around some more!

I know that I admire the landscaping at our church so this morning I inquired and learned that the landscaping was done by a church member who also owns a large nursery in Charleston....only 20 miles from here. We will definitely be visiting there.

@ mrstinylady, I especially appreciate the detailed and continuing help you are providing. I want to work the plan you have laid out. And, while I understand the concept of the plan, I'm not sure i understand the diagrams. I'll study them some more.

Don't give up on me. I'm conflicted right now because I want and need to concentrate on moving forward with my dilemma and resolving it with help from you all, BUT I am also in the middle of planning a birthday party for my 95 year old Mother and selecting a gift from the whole family. In the meantime, my husband wants to make a decision and get landscaping done SOON!

So.....I will continue to try to multitask. Lol

Happiest of birthday celebrations for you mother.
love the designs Sweet Caroline & mrstinylady came up with, since I have limited 'vision' it is helpful to see all of the plants and their layering.
For those of you who might have been concerned about the original landsc(r)aper suggesting Heavenly Bamboo. This is another name for Nandina which is a nice, if pedestrian, evergreen that resembles bamboo. It is not a relative of Bamboo and does not have the running habits of many bamboos.
good luck on your planning. i look forward to following your design decisions.

Thanks bevh...I followed so many discussions before I got the courage to post. And I value ALL of the comments!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to G'ma! Since my major obsession is genealogy, I hope you have had many conversations about her life and times.

About your landscape worries: Ya know how that magazine model's outfit and jewely and hair style is the one yoiu crave or want for some event but with your waste line going OUT instead of IN and YOUR neck , in comparrison, is decidedly half the length of the model's? And the color is in bright inky blue but you want deep rose? Her new hip frosted layered haircut is great for an egg-shape face and long dangley diamond ear rings, but you have a long skinny face with bangs, no money for diamonds and wouldn't do long straight dangling earrings anyway. To get that look, you have to adjust the style you fell in love with for the reality of what you are, right? Same thing with landscape.

So . . . let's see what you crave and then make it for what you have and what goes with your home. Right? Those squiggles are just an idea of the positioning of the plants. A landscaping floorplan, so to speak. Nothing more. Since you have a colonial style house, your landcaping should be more formal and symmetrical to go with the house style. That would generally mean that one side of the landscape mirrors the other. However, you can still have the feeling for formal and symmetrical by using lush landscaping and some color for pop, which is what I did with the virtual landscaping pictures.

So if we know what you like and can plant in WV and know what appearance or design your preferr, then we can easily draw a landscaping design map for you. You have the landscapers take the map and quote it out for you, You said there was a picture above you wanted to sopy? DONE! Which one?????

Nandina is one of my favorite plants! Had it in every landscape so far! LOVELY. It's IN!
What type of tree is out front??????????????

This is a great discussion! I am posting for moral support and so I will be able to follow the discussion. I will say that I like the azalea idea; but there are different varieties and some are not evergreen. I planted a huge number around my yard and thought they all died over the first winter. But they didn't. I wasn't counting on their being evergreen, luckily. I got a cart of about 70 perennials for $25 at the local home improvement store, so I wasn't being picky. So if you get them make sure they're evergreen. :-)

I'm out and about today, monitoring comments but can't respond right now. Later.......

http://www.greatgardenplants.com/index.php?pageId=470

Just lost another long reply before I could send it! Very frustrating...I'm sending this before it "poofs away" so you will know I am still here, still interested.

Sagicat, you should report this to Houzz; their iPad application should not be doing that. It has other problems as well, I have trouble with it sporadically. You can send an email to support@houzz.com and hopefully they will be able to figure out what's wrong.

Trying again to answer some questions and offer some random thoughts.....

The tree in the front yard was called "Twisty Baby" when we bought it. I read on the Internet that it is called "Lacy Lady" now that it is, I hope, mature. We bought it at a good nursery and were told that would be about 12 feet tall max. It is taller. It has soft lacy leaves. I like it. My husband doesn't - said that to him it looks like a common locust. It does have a few thorns.
Several people have said it's beautiful - husband would still prefer to replace it.

Sending one thought at a time so as to not risk losing everything again. And thanks, vacox. I may contact Houzz.

More than a couple of you have said our house is southern colonial and the landscaping should be symmetrical and formal. I had thought this house was a Cape Cod. I am neither formal nor symmetrical, so this is new thinking for me. Husband does like symmetry so this should work out fine. I like mrstinylady's comment that it can be "lush landscaping, even if formal and symmetrical.one reason I don't like boxwoods is that so often around here they are so perfectly round or square. And, I remember the comment about boxwoods getting a blight.

Colors: should we be thinking about colors as shrubs and other plants are chosen? I liked the reds in Sweet Carolina's ideas. We will paint the front door shiny black, as suggested. Someone suggested e also paint the adirondack chairs. We have fairly new, fairly expensive custom cushions for these chairs. They are dark (or Hunter?) green, like the shutters and the roof. So, I was wondering if reds and yellows would work better than pinks and blues,etc. Would like your thoughts on colors - or is that not important in landscaping?

mrstinylady, your analogy about model's outfit and jewelry made me laugh out loud! I felt almost like you know me or were peeking in the window. Anyway, I will let you all know more about me/us and that will help you all to help us.

I already said my husband (9 years now) is probably more formal and symmetrical than I. We are different in other ways as well. I love to research and analyze before making decisions. He makes decisions more quickly. And, in the case of landscaping, he thinks if we don't decide and get things in the ground before it gets hot we won't have good results. He is likely right but I want to be sure we have a good plan before we commit to something.

I'm waiting now for a return call from a landscape designer recommended to us by a local builder. Also, we plan to go tomorrow to the nursery that landscaped our church.

I want to devote large blocks of time to this project - because of the help so generously given by you Houzzers and because of the stress of the time constraints, but I have several other things competing for my time. Know that I appreciate all the help and would like to acknowledge each commenter separately but, with the time pressures and with my computer/iPad frustrations, I may not.

Forgot to add that I really like the idea of azaleas if they are evergreen. Also front of house is shady most of the day and I like hostas. I love the idea of pavers for the front walkway, making it wider and extending it further down the yard and either staining the driveway or having a border on it. Don't think my husband is agreeable about the pavers and driveway, though. He thinks it might be too expensive. I say "let's find out".

Sagicat! Sitting here watching a blizzard come in, so I'll be at my computer off and on. Hope you don't mind, but since I'm STUCK for the time being, I'm gonna send you some zone 6&7 plantlife. Pick all the ones you like (or not) and get a concensus with the mister on each series. When you are done, then the plan can be drawn!

This is SHRUBS-coral series followed by SHRUBS-purple

SHRUBS-orange

Well, the above is called "orange" but they aren't, are they? Ha.
Next is SHRUBS-pink

SHRUBS-white

Tree time!
TREES-pink

TREES-yellow&white

TREES-red1

TREES-red2

Okay, I'm going to burden you with more . . . but take your time on this.
WALKWAYS1

WALKWAYS2

WALKWAYS3

A personal favorite . . .WALKWAY-brickrimmed

Successful garden design principals are universal in concept and process. If you drive through most suburban neighborhoods you would think there are state laws that all landscaping must be located within three feet of the foundation of the home and you must select plants that are going to scratch the side of your home late at night in the wind to the point you think someone or something is outside of your home or keep you trapped inside your car because the evergreens along the driveway won't allow you to escape from your car.

We could balance the federal budget (ok not really) by saving money on the quantity of plants installed in most gardens which after 5 years need to be removed to allow the other plants to grow correctly.

The challenge most homeowners face is if someone says "We are going to put drywall and baby blue #5 paint on the wall", that is pretty straight forward to understand. When you go outside and work with the parameters of garden design such as soil content, orientation of the house, prevailing winds, shadows, what the definition of full sun is and on and on things get pretty complicated.

The challenge for our industry is there are a lot of people like the "designer" who stopped by and drew a quick sketch on a piece of paper. Did (s)he check soil conditions, ask about drainage, determine NSEW orientation of the residence, ask about your preferences, ask who was going to maintain the garden and what your budget was?

Successful garden design/installation/maintenance when done correctly on a 50 sq. ft. area or several acres is very involved.

I would suggest that you collect ideas form magazines/online sites that you like, contact an independent garden center with a great reputation and ask them to come out (they may charge a fee) or bring pics, measurements and such to them and develop a starting point.

When gardens are designed and installed correctly they should require minimal maintenance, especially minimal pruning when the right plants are chosen and spaced correctly to allow them to develop and grow into a garden. I know we here in the USA like things bigger, better, faster, now and gardens are like slow cooking. Better left to develop and mature over the years.

A short list of design considerations:

6' wide walkway to allow to people to comfortably walk next to each other or past each other with larger meet and greet areas by the drive and front door.

Color throughout the year, bulbs, annuals, perennials, ornamental trees, grasses for color and movement.

Water feature, pondless or simply a large container with water plants and a bubbler.

LED lighting

Plantings on both side of the walkway which is hopefully pulled more than 3' away from the residence and curvilinear (you look down more to navigate the walkway and notice the plants) vs. rectilinear.

Simple benches/chairs along walkway or meet and greet areas to sit and truly enjoy the garden

Inexpensive drip/micromist irrigation system throughout the gardens.

Well spaced plant material to allow for growth not closely spaced to increase short term sales commission of designer.

And lastly an outdoor speaker somewhere to enjoy soothing jazz, blues or your favorite music when you are simply being "in" your garden.

Remember, gardens are not like homes where everything needs to be done at once. It can be an evolution over time.

Just my two cents of doing this for the past 45 years.......and as my long time mentor has prefaced each of our discussions for the last 25 years......I am 100 years old and what I am about to share with you may be worth exactly what you are paying me.........nothing :)

MKEGreenworks! LOLOL "evolution over time" who knew? :)

Please add "Whirling Butterfly" to your flower list! Add "Heavenly Bamboo" too. I was thinking of one dwarf red tree, maybe a white blooming tree, lilace, crocosmia. The colors I think will set off your house are lime green, dark green, burgundy, reds and red-oranges, white and purples. Splash of yellow and pink. Oh, I guess I just mentioned the entire rainbow.

mrstinylady, I so appreciate all the work you are doing for me! So many good ideas....

MKEGreenworks, I've read your comments several times and find them very helpful. I would imagine that others reading this might also benefit, even if they are just "lurking" as I did for awhile before I posted.

UPDATE on progress: we've had the entire house pressured washed and it is sparkly clean. We've visited a couple of reputable garden centers and we have appointments with two designers. I am quite hopeful. Husband doesn't think a black door will look right, so I have to work on that....he said if I really want one, we can do it, but I'd so much rather that we both want it.

You all have done so much to prepare me to meet with a designer. Thanks!

You are welcome. You could paint the front door red (cherry, wine, or burgundy), too. You could always repaint the shutters a bit brighter or in a more noticeable shade of green (or another color), take new photos and post for a collaborative effort amongst readers (us)..
Clean house! WOW! You have a nice space there and it'll look lovely real soon (please post progress!).
Good luck.

Yes, we will definitely refresh the shutters and I'll be putting hunter green chair cushions on the furniture. Now I have a protocol question: isn't it good practice to get 2 or more estimates before contracting with someone to do the work? It seems like both designers who are coming assume they will get the job. And, I'm pretty sure the first landsc(r)aper who already came thinks he is going to do the work. What approach should I use in talking to these people? Should I ask if they charge for the design, whether or not they get the job or will they make this clear from the get go? Or, should I be able to tell, ahead of time, which one would be best for us and then cancel the other one? Of the two that are coming, I have met one but do not know her credentials or experience. She works for a good garden center so I feel sure the plants will all be good quality. And, I liked her. They can't plant until late June or perhaps wait until Fall.

The other one works for a landscape contractor who has been here (NOT the first one who quickly drew up a plan.). This one was here only briefly before he said he wants to send his designer out to test soil, see orientation, etc. I was impressed that he said she would prepare two designs, give us the computer generated plan along with detailed information about each component and maintenance directions. Then after we agree on all plants they would cost it out and be able to plant in May. He said the designer had previously been a landscape architect for a big engineering company here. ( This after I asked about her background.) He also suggested we may want to begin with the backyard since we have a screened porch and spend much of our time back there. In his opinion, the front yard, while overgrown, is not as unbalanced as I thought it was.

Anyway, I want to get this right. I want to hire the right person and I understand that probably no one wants to spend a lot of time drawing up plans only to be told someone else got the job. And, of course I have no idea what this will cost.

Any advice?

GOOD QUESTIONS! I have a business (unrelated to landscaping) and I can offer you this r-e-a-l-l-y basic advice:

1. It does NOT matter if everyone on your block THINKS her or she will get your landscaping job (bid or not); that is for YOU to decide. The end!

2. YOU get to decide if and when you want to do the front or the back and who is going to perform the work for each place. Your contract should state the job itself and the details of the job to be performed, time, delivery, errors and refunds and re-dos and your APPROVAL of the finished work and final payment and YOU are satisfied.

3. Plans (computer-generated simulations, lists, or whatever) are often part of the bidding process. The company can use this expense to them (their time or materials or whatever) as a write-off as the cost of doing business. You might ask if there is a charge and if there is any other consulting fee of any kind. So, it is really refreshing that you are such a good girl, but you need to fulfill YOUR interests with each dollar and each hope and each dream you spend. Companies and employees and independent contractors KNOW this to their core, so don't get sidetracked. And the entity that REALLY knows this one is a business owner. If you suffer, they suffer.

4. Regarding the plans and your interests being served: make sure you want what you agree to! YOU are paying for the privilege. In my business I will often point out that if I do what they just asked me to do, the result will be . . . X . . . and is that what they want? To avoid all kinds of catastrophes, I NEVER use industry jargon for work! It almost promises that someone will walk away without a clue or be un-served or whatever. I do NOT let my employees use business terms either and the effort they have to put into their job to to extract just what the person wants. Aspirin. It's a real tricky line--that line--but if you are getting a wholelatta terms you don't understand, STOP, and address that with your sales rep/landscaper/maintenance person.

5. READ and UNDERSTAND YOUR AGREEMENT. Make sure it reads in YOUR favor rather than in theirs. Make sure if you are unsatisfied that you can cancel and receive NO repercussions, but that you WILL pay for service and materials, etc. Be reasonable and breathe deeply and keep your own records for payment (that you make sure are reflected on invoices). Periodically check to make sure you are ALL on the SAME page with what was done, what is to be done, what was billed and what was paid.

You'll be fine. You are the type of customer that can communicate!!!!!!!!!!!

and what about warranties? or do landscapers have those? also, for the time they are working at your house, what about possible damage to your property? not that it would happen, but you never know. they need to show they have insurance. And will they be leaving vehicles or equipment overnight at your house? will you be responsible for those? will the workers have access to your house or will they be bringing their own "facilities" ? :)
I would make sure they know you are going to make a decision and get back to them. Give them a time period, say this week, or within a week so they know too.

Well.........Let me give you the contractors view. There is no such thing as a free lunch or free design and if there is...that company will not be around to service you in two to three years. If you are not charged a design fee up front, you will pay for it in the prices of labor or materials, the contractor is not supposed to be a non-profit entity.

We do charge a % of cost of the project for our design fee, which includes visiting your site initially along with the second meeting to review the plan as well as out time to locate great materials for your project. IF your designer asks the correct probing questions including a budget window (s)he should be able to meet your goals.

IF you do not provide a budget window, that is kind of like asking a home builder to build you a house without a budget. Should they build you a 1,000 sq.ft home or a 15,000 sq. ft. home? Now some clients thought process is well, I don't want to give them a budget because they will go right up to the max on the budget and there will be no money left for cocktails on the deck :)

We use completely transparent spreadsheets for our projects. Our clients see what we pay for materials, how much we markup those materials (we have fixed overhead to pay for) and how much we charge for our craftsmanship. We tell our clients this is a live document and we may have less labor but more materials and in the end, this is the max you will pay for the overall project. IF we use less labor and materials you will only pay the lesser amount. We come in under budget 90% of the time. And from our clients view it is easier to see what the worse case scenario is and then be pleasantly surprised.

One comment above said to make the contract in your favor which I STRONGLY disagree with because then it will be a win-lose for someone vs.truly win/win. You want a great garden, the contractor wants to create a great garden for you and needs to and is entitled to make a PROFIT.

We have found our open book accounting system to work great here in the midwest as it did for us on the east coast for 20 years until my sister died and we chose to sell that busiess to move back to the midwest to be closer to family. There are a lot of successful people who want great gardens...they just want to know how you got to $40,000 or $10,000 or $3,000. And when they see everything involved line by line, they truly understand what it takes to create a great garden. We also use an app on our ipad which allows us to track all cost related to a project and with a couple of swipes of my finger I can give the client a daily update as to where the project stands. We then invoice directly off of the app.

Clients who choose to work with us also know we are not a bank and we require our clients to pay for all materials two weeks prior to us starting the project and we in turn write our vendors checks when they deliver product to us so they can also feed their families. My father-in-law taught us this over 25 years ago. As you can guess we get great service from our vendors. You can't go to MCDonalds and say I would like a happy meal and then pay 30 days later:) Well actually you can if you use a credit card at the Golden Arches but that is another conversation :)

This win/win system has worked well for us and for the past 15 years we have been booked for the entire year come March 1st including the last three years during some of the worse economic times for contractors. We will deliver great quality in a timely manner and be your friends til we drop over behind a shovel 30 years from now :)

And one last comment on warranty. There are companies who have 1 year to 20 year prorated warranties. We educate our clients to understand part of the very high prices you may pay for garden construction is because the contractor may have a high loss rate for plant material due to poor installation, poor sources or poor follow through. It is kind of like buying an insure plan for your plants. Sometimes you win (high losses with replacements) and sometimes the contractor wins (minimal replacements more cash in pocket) once again both win/lose scenarios.

We explain to our clients we lose less then 1/4 of 1% of our plants. So if something should not be thriving the second season our clients pay for the material and delivery fees and we supply the labor and equipment to replace the material. This one approach will save our clients 20-30% of the cost of the project. And truth be told.....for the very small percentage of material we may lose, we normally replace it at no cost to our clients. We have never spent a penny on advertising and feel that jumping through hoops for our clients is the best form of advertising and helps keep us booked throughout the season.

OH yeah...damage to your yard. As much as you work to minimize disturbing existing turf, guess what it will happen during a project and the cost to repair that disturbance is part of the project cost. We do not use helicopters to bring in trees, mulch, or soil and the like....well at least not most of the time :) Do be sure to require your contractor to provide you with a certificate of insurance and proof of calling your local digg number to locate utilities. In fact we have the utilities located prior to our first visit because there is nothing worse than designing a great water garden only to find a telephone wire runs right through the middle of where you want to dig........a lot of wasted design time.

Once again......just my two cents from 45 years standing behind a shovel........OK not so much a shovel anymore.....I stand behind our Toro Dingo Mini Skid Steer...the best thing since sliced bread.

MKEGreenworks, i'm so glad you spoke up and gave us all a contractors view. It's easy for us to go off the rails in our conversations. I did not mean to be disparaging in my comments, only cautionary. I have read quite a few postings where projects did not turn out well for either side. I have been on both sides, so I do understand.
Somehow, I did think you had helicopters :)

mousemaker....I actually have a mini RC helicopter that I fly around my office when I am bored, have designers block or just want to have some fun. I still can't land it on top of my filing cabinet without clipping my weather radio.....yes, I could move the weather radio, but that would take all of the challenge away :)

And you are right that there are lots of horror stories on both sides of the contract. Contractors who fail to follow through and clients who change their mind 10 times or ask you "since you are here could you just haul these branches away" with no expectation of an increase in cost.

I think we all know the best way to find good contractors or clients is by referral, you know Old School "likes" and pick up the phone and actually call some one instead of "Tweets". I love technology in our business but with the exception of Houzz we spend no time finding people to like or connect to. That's why we have family and true friends..........

Boys! MKEGreenworks, that was a great discussion from you! Transparent accounting/spreadsheet sounded so perfect (never heard of it before) for the customer. Your advice is fantastic. And NO, I am a free-market subscriber (God Bless the USA!) and sincerely WANT to guys to have a profit. But there are a number of people who sketch out the plans (basic and to your budget) and budget it and then get on it after you give the deposit that covers their costs. In the end, though, you are usually the happiest if you find someone you understand and can trust and who is reasonable and fair in their business/personal dealings . . . aside from their talent.

Yes! Take it all out.

Do planters with flowers, mondo grass boarder.
Dogwood on garage side.

Maybe a couple of ferns on pedestals?

House id much too beautiful to be hidden.
Open it up...

Aaarrrgh!

Is, not id... :)

I would remove the evergreens by the front door and replace them with a lighter ornamental variety (Contorted Hazel) I would then build a berm at the elbow (where driveway meets walkway to front door). Put in a decorative lamp pole and a variety of small shrubs. I am not a professional so I can't give you plant names (but I can see them in my mind :-)

This was 2 years ago. Has something happened to bring it forward? I'd like to see what choices the owner made. Pretty house, lots of suggestions.