OT: Landscaping my home

[615dawg]

I figured someone on here could tell me some things that look good in Central Mississippi.

I bought a home a couple years back. It had been vacant for 6 months, so the landscaping was not in good condition. The first spring I just cleaned it up a bit. Last spring I cleaned it up a bit.

In a word, its a mess. Its not the worst in the neighborhood, but its not good. I want to try to tackle it next week. I'm going to take a couple days off and make a long weekend and just do it. I've got professionals to quote - its around $3500. I got a consultant from a nursery to come out that intrigued me with the fact that I only needed about $500 in plants. I don't mind getting dirty and doing it myself, I just don't know what I need.

House faces northeast if that matters.
I don't want just green shrubbery. There is some shrubbery that has red/blueish tints right? What are these called?
I'm pulling up everything save a couple of flowering trees that are still in great shape.

What's going to grow well in this Yazoo clay? What do I need to stay away from?

To make it MSU related - I figured there are a bunch of landscape architects on here.

 

[615dawg]

I figured someone on here could tell me some things that look good in Central Mississippi.

I bought a home a couple years back. It had been vacant for 6 months, so the landscaping was not in good condition. The first spring I just cleaned it up a bit. Last spring I cleaned it up a bit.

In a word, its a mess. Its not the worst in the neighborhood, but its not good. I want to try to tackle it next week. I'm going to take a couple days off and make a long weekend and just do it. I've got professionals to quote - its around $3500. I got a consultant from a nursery to come out that intrigued me with the fact that I only needed about $500 in plants. I don't mind getting dirty and doing it myself, I just don't know what I need.

House faces northeast if that matters.
I don't want just green shrubbery. There is some shrubbery that has red/blueish tints right? What are these called?
I'm pulling up everything save a couple of flowering trees that are still in great shape.

What's going to grow well in this Yazoo clay? What do I need to stay away from?

To make it MSU related - I figured there are a bunch of landscape architects on here.

 

[615dawg]

I figured someone on here could tell me some things that look good in Central Mississippi.

I bought a home a couple years back. It had been vacant for 6 months, so the landscaping was not in good condition. The first spring I just cleaned it up a bit. Last spring I cleaned it up a bit.

In a word, its a mess. Its not the worst in the neighborhood, but its not good. I want to try to tackle it next week. I'm going to take a couple days off and make a long weekend and just do it. I've got professionals to quote - its around $3500. I got a consultant from a nursery to come out that intrigued me with the fact that I only needed about $500 in plants. I don't mind getting dirty and doing it myself, I just don't know what I need.

House faces northeast if that matters.
I don't want just green shrubbery. There is some shrubbery that has red/blueish tints right? What are these called?
I'm pulling up everything save a couple of flowering trees that are still in great shape.

What's going to grow well in this Yazoo clay? What do I need to stay away from?

To make it MSU related - I figured there are a bunch of landscape architects on here.

 

[seshomoru]

Azaleas obviously. You can go with the Encores to get a Fall bloom as well.

Hydrangeas are the "shrubs" with huge bulbs of flowers that are either blue or pink depending on soil acidity. Can't remember which way it goes.

Crape Myrtles are pretty damn hardy around here, and you don't have to prune them into a tree. You can just let them become a flower bush looking thing if you want.

ETA: And be careful with they clay. I planted a bunch of stuff last year, and the clay was so compacted that it acted like a concrete bowl. Root rotted a bunch of my plants because they were just sitting in pools of water.

 

[Shmuley]

We must be talking a very small project. Or you're intending for the plant material to be quite immature.

Suit yourself, but my advice would be to let the mexicans do it for the 3500. Best money I ever spent. And when a few of the plants die, the dude sends another mexican to replant.

I went ultra low maintenance. Miscanthus, Indian Hawthorne, Gardenias, River Birch, Sweet Bay Magnolias, Crepes, Parson's Juniper, Loropetalum. At an older house we had a couple Japanese Maples. Striking.

Northeast exposure may be a little weird. I'll defer to the LAs, but it seems to me this might affect the maturation of the plant material.

 

[rem101]

Contribute to the board for once Ghost.

 

[Shmuley]

if you decide on gardenias, be aware that those MFers get some kind of black mold **** on em and at some point you'll find white aphid looking bastards all over them. But otherwise they look decent, grow fast and smell fantastic when blooming.

 

[615dawg]

but its a typical suburban neighborhood house. Maybe 50 feet of frontage that needs the attention.

I went out to Lakeland Lawn and Garden and priced out what I think I'd need plants wise:

Great: $750
Good: $490

Obviously I need other things like mulch, weed treatment and such, but $1000-$1200 if I do it myself vs. $3500 to have the Mexicans. I'm going to give it a shot. My retired dad said mom wants to come see the grandbaby, so he might come down. He knows more than I do.

That northeast exposure thing is killing me. If I spend $500, $750 or whatever, and they die, that would suck.

 

[bulliegolfer]

if you decide on gardenias, be aware that those MFers get some kind of black mold **** on em and at some point you'll find white aphid looking bastards all over them. But otherwise they look decent, grow fast and smell fantastic when blooming.

I planted some when I built a house a few years ago and they can get pretty big. They do smell good though.<div>
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[Yossarian39]

#1 Hire a Landscape Architect (or even a Landscape Designer) to prepare a plan. The price of this can vary significantly depending on who does the drawing, but you are going to end up with a much more cohesive finished product. I am sure there are many landscape design / build firms locally that would quote you a price for design. Some retail nurseries have on staff designers. These guys will push what the nursery sells, but at least you will have some structure in your garden. Cant Stress the importance of a plan enough.

#2 Don't skimp on good quality planting soil. Do not plant without amending the soil. Do not use loam. Put in at least 4" (6" - 12" is better) of good quality planting mix. You want a good organic content with sand or DG so that it can drain. Your garden is only as good a the soil it is planted in.

#3 Install an irrigation system if you dont have it.

#4 3" of good quality mulch. This helps the soil hold moisture for the plants use & provides organic matter as it decays.

Landscaping is much more than just picking up $500 of plants and sticking them in the ground. If you are unfamiliar with plant materials, you really may be much better off to hire the entire project out. You will get a better result & can relax on your days off.

 

[EAVdog]

Barberry (red foliage), Forsythia (yellow blooms, gets big), Rhododendrons (similar to azaleas), Rose of Sharon aka Hibiscus Syriacus (hibiscus blooms all summer, grows like weed but will spread), Spirea (lots of cloud like blooms in different color options), Hydrangeas, Viburnum (snowball varieties are commonly mistaken for overgrown hydrangeas, very hearty), Wiegela (colorful foliage and blooms).

Throw in some Daffodil bulbs next fall to keep it MSU related.

 

[AzzurriDawg4]

I have seen multiple varieties of this but basically I am looking for something that spreads on the ground just to cover some pretty big bare spots near my door. I have some kind of Ivy on one side of the door, so I was looking for another vine/creeping plant for the other side. <div>
</div><div>Edited to add: the area is shaded.</div>

 

[615dawg]

I don't have the multiple level thing going, but I like the colors and the balance here. What is this?

 

[TeedOff]

nm

 

[Shmuley]

"Hey, I'm looking for some trim! Nothing real fancy, just solid trim, clean, shaved or unshaved doesn't matter.

Edited to add: I don't have a dick."

 

[msuJD164]

Nt

 

[Shmuley]

and a crepe myrtle in the foreground. The stone work and plant material in that photo is easily $10,000 (using undocumented labor). Again, I defer to the LAs on board.

 

[DawgatAuburn]

I don't have the multiple level thing going, but I like the colors and the balance here. What is this?

Expensive. You won't win enough in the Extravaganza to cover that.

 

[AzzurriDawg4]

nm

 

[615dawg]

I just like the colors of these plants.

It sounds more and more like I need to fork over the $3500 and sit on my ***.

 

[Shmuley]

there are some flowering hostas that would probably look great in the spot you describe. But they don't really "spread."

 

[AzzurriDawg4]

http://hcs.osu.edu/hcs/TMI/Plantlist/vi_minor.html

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[GuvmintDawg]

615dawg wrote:
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I don't have the multiple level thing going, but I like the colors and the balance here. What is this?
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This looks like an amateur attempt to sell some wall block and a bunch of random plants. But if you like it, who am I to judge. Looks like some Boxwoods, Spirea, Barberry, a Jap. Maple, and some various other plants. The Boxwoods and the Jap. Maple can get pricey but the others are fairly cheap plants.

If I were you, I wouldn't try to do a complete landscape with that kind of budget. Just work on your house an area at a time.

To become familiar with plants that grow in your area, go to a local nursery and ask questions. You could even go to the local extension office. After graduating, I worked as a LA for design/build firm in the midwest where I knew none of the plants. I learned a lot just from walking around the local nursery and reading tags.

 

[ShrubDog]

Once Im off the road and purge my brain of this meeting......lil after 5 C.T.

If your wondering what the magenta blooming trees are in central MS, its the Red Buds. Damn its been 10 years since I have been in MS during Spring.

 

[Yossarian39]

Get a plan then have the pros to do all the hardest work of bringing in soil & installing larger shrubs & trees.

Once you have this done just go to the nursery & buy whatever looks good to add color & flowers. Ask someone that works there about sun / shade requirements but plant what you like. If one or two of your smaller accents don't work out, no big deal. You can always make additions or changes as the garden develops.

 

[Hansome Jimmy Valiant]

damn!

 

[Yossarian39]

But most LA's (who have completed the education & internship requirements for their State, and have passed the L.A.R.E.) don't make their living on suburban residential front yard planting plans. There are some that do quite well with this, but by no means is something that requires a LA. It is much more appropriate for a local landscape designer or design build professional to work on this type of job.

Unfortunately, much of the general public has no idea what Landscape Architects really do.

 

[landscpdog]

Hire a landscape architect! They will be able to direct you to getting the best bang for your buck. As mentioned, soil amendments, and prep are far more important that the actual plants you put in in the long run. Shumley's plant list is a relatively good one. You will not go wrong with 'Morning Light' Miscanthus, or 'Knock-Out' Roses. I would also recommend 'Klem's Hardy' Gardenia. Look into perennials that will give you variable color throughout the year. Stay away from the red mulch! Hire a Landscape Architect!

Meant for Jimmy Valiant's post

 

[ShrubDog]

Just PM me your email address. I need pictures or a survey of your yard. Need to know what is existing, soils, how your yard drains, overhead/underground utilities, easy to maintain, how are you going to water, use only container grown trees not B&B, what material is available etc.

I will consult with you cause it will not take me anytime to do so. The key is to keep it simple yet functional. These small time landscapers/contractors are the biggest con artist around, they make most their money off plant materials

So hit me up, Go look up FishHawk Ranch I did years ago, from theming to construction Docs. Hell we can put that waterpark or in your yard if you want too.

 

[Indndawg]

I would add, don't neglect your fall landscape. Even in C Ms it can be amazing. If there's room, sugar maple and or autumn blaze maple are great and hardy trees.

 

[idog]

just do it yourself and if you don't want annual maintenance issues plant something hardy that will withstand a frost, flowers and grows in any kind of soil (i.e. crepe myrtles, indian hawthornes, lorapetalum, boxwoods). azaleas are overrated. then, just use roundup on weeds and grass that pop up in your beds. you can use a couple layers of newspaper instead of garden fabric and just use roundup on weeds/grass that pops up. all trees are hardy if planted correctly. make sure and break up the root ball when planting and loosen up the soil in the hole you are planting it in. don't overwater(once a week is fine). after each step have a beer.

 

[seshomoru]

I kind of stopped caring so much when I realized how much our S/D developer and builder skimped on the landscaping. This means I'd have to spend a crap load to get my soil to even half decent, so I can spend even more money on plants, only to have my beds look nice in a starter home subdivision right next to a house that has never weeded and across the street from a guy who still has his Christmas lights up and has nothing but mulch in his beds.

I tilled mine up with some top soil, hummus, and manure. Left the two crapes. Stuck in some very young azaleas (over rated or not, they're my favorite), got some iris bulbs cut from my bosses yard on one side, and some juniper to fill in some stuff. I hit up sams for the fabric. It covered all my front beds and a 12x12 paver stone patio I put out back. Took the saved money and build some raised boxes for the back to grow some veges and stuck a willow in the back corner mini-swamp I get when it rains because, as I mentioned earlier, the developer half-assed it.

When I'm in a house in a nicer area, with neighbors who care as well, I'm paying somebody to make me look good. Because when it counts, I'm gonna buy the knowledge, and maybe even the labor.

 

[NashvilleBulldawg]

nm

 

[CdawgNHouston]

but I like the colors and the balance here. What is this?

besides tacky?

 

[Roy Munson.sixpack]

I am looking at doing the exact same size.

 

[ColMuldrow]

They might be everywhere but they're beautiful and easy to maintain. Al Qaeda hates azaleas. Are you Al Qaeda?

 

[HotMop]

17ucrabgrass17u

p.s. I'm converting to a Bermuda Grass this year due solely to Crab Grass migration into my St. Aug. If you can't beat it, till it under!

 

[Dawgpile]

Blooms in spring, likes water, spreads like mad.

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[Dawgpile]

asdf


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[neshobadawg]

Call Barry Landscape on Lakeland.