My Phase 1 landscaping plan for this year

But I actually ended up redoing the layout and plan to reprint it. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it the first time, but I really wish there was a printed and displayed version to have the plant legend. I considered printing it separately and displaying it in a separate frame, but after playing around with a few options, I decided I’d rather have the legend and landscape plan printed and framed. And since the plant legend had to be printed on the same 36 x 48 paper, it would cost the same whether I printed it separately or reprinted the whole thing.

Yesterday at lunch, my mom and I were talking about landscaping, and I started thinking and dreaming about the landscaping I hope to complete this year. I’ve been putting off landscaping for a long time and I’m hoping this is the year I can get some plants in the ground.

There was no way I could tackle the whole plan. Landscaping our entire lot can be decades of planning with a lifetime of maintenance and care. But the immediate plan I want to focus on is planting things in the front of the house and on the home studio side.

There’s a whole lot going on! So I took some time to look up each of those plants in Plant Legend to see which plants the landscape designer suggested. One challenge we have is that our huge oak tree in the front yard shades most of the front yard most of the day. The front of the studio is the only part that gets direct sunlight most of the day.

As I’ve been walking around town and observing landscaping, I’ve realized that I like planting beds that have a little more space between plants and include larger plantings like large rocks and some plants- ground planters. While I plan to use this plan as a general guide, I will not use the number of plants he suggests.

So yesterday, I told my mom I was going to do a little crowd sourcing for information while I tackled each section of this landscape design and before I started buying plants. Since I’m completely ignorant of plants (ie, I can’t even identify basic plants that most people can name), I’m going to rely on all of you for information. I now live like some of you and inhale plants daily. I also know that I can contact organizations in my area that specialize in this zone. But since there are so many of you and such an incredible resource for information, I need your input first.

I know some of you warned me about certain plants when I showed a landscape plan in the past. Maybe they are aggressive. Perhaps they are harmful to certain wildlife, such as butterflies or hummingbirds. Or perhaps some kind of plant disease is susceptible, but there is a great alternative. I don’t remember, I was still in the “dreaming” phase at the time, so that kind of specific information overwhelmed me. I didn’t take any notes.

But now I’m ready to start taking it seriously. I prepared my notepad to jot down some notes. I’m willing to put some of this plan in place rather than dream about it. As soon as I finish my studio, I want to get my hands in some dirt and start preparing a bed in the front of the house for plants. And I want to be ready to buy plants and get them into the ground.

So, give me all your knowledge of the plants he suggests for the bed before rolling out to the front of the house. What do you know about those plants? Are there any caveats? Suggestions? Let me hear you!