Landscaping: How to landscape this tiny city yard

Replies: 33 Views: 445

Author	Comment
ebrunner76 Indianapolis, IN January 31, 2008 4:00 PM	I have a narrow city yard that is fenced in but also has a mini barn, an ugly car port and a flat slab of concrete for patio furniture. I don't know how to landscape it to look like a beautiful garden getaway. Any suggestions? I have posted the only photo I have right now, but maybe this will help. How would I start with this - View Larger
sundaisy Madison, WI January 31, 2008 4:16 PM	I'm not an expert landscaper - but I have to say, your yard looks really sunny, which is a very good thing and starting place :) I think I'd plant something along the fence - I have kind of the same thing going on in my yard. I'm going to plant a climbing rose along my fence. And maybe a tree or 2 at the very far end of the yard.... You can always do container gardens, too, on the concrete/patio part Michelle
psychw2 Boise, ID (Zone 6a) January 31, 2008 4:23 PM	How much upkeep do you want? How much grass do you want to take out? How much money do you have set aside for this beginning project? What zone are you? Those are all factors in making some choices. The good news about a tiny lot, is that it does not take as much money or time to create a lush full garden! The smaller space looks more "filled" with a lot less! ~Pat (And I agree, that fence is crying out for LOTS of good stuff climbing on it! Some garden art too!!!)
ebrunner76 Indianapolis, IN January 31, 2008 5:11 PM	Thanks for the beginning suggestions. I didn't think of the climbers. I had morning glory take over the back fence area. Then it spread to other plant areas. I definitely do not want that to happen again. I still don't know if it will come back next year even. What climbers do you suggest? I live in zone 5. I have some bulbs planted around the house foundation which I can't wait to see come up. When would you lay the mulch for those? Before they come up in the spring or after they have grown? I'm not sure how to handle some of the soil out back either. It looks like it was once a gravel drive of sorts, but whoever owned the house before me, planted grass seed over it. So the soil is really rocky. Should I sow it with something before planting things out there? So for this spring and summer I am looking to spend under $500. I can take care of it after work in the evenings and on the weekends. However, I would really like to enjoy it rather than work on it all the time. I will post more photos of the lawn to give you a better picture of what I'm dealing with out there. I have two dogs, on of which is very big and hyper, so that is another thing to consider as far as delicate things go. Thanks again!
terichris Naples, FL (Zone 10a) January 31, 2008 5:38 PM	Check your phone book to see if you have a brick supplier or plant in the area. They usuall sell extra "blocks" (like a pallet) of bricks that were overages for a job. You can get those thin brick "veneers" to cover your slab. That would make your slab more appealing. I just got a block of pavers for $130 delivered!
psychw2 Boise, ID (Zone 6a) January 31, 2008 5:42 PM	You could put a relatively low rail fence around a portion of the garden to keep the dogs out? Low enough to see over and thru but enough to discourage Rover from romping thru the flower bed? A cement bench mold would be about a $100 but you could cast a LOT of benches from it! I love mine. No weather issues and the dogs would not damage it. I'm sure you can find some honeysuckle that is hardy to zone 5. SOME clematis are hardy zone 5. Flowering BUSHES would be a natural with the dogs in the yard. Not as apt to get trampled, Forsethyia, Rose of Sharon, lots more... I always thought you mulched over the bulbs when you planted them, but here we don't need to at all so I'm clueless where you are. I don't know what I'd do about the rocky grass without doing a complete overhaul! ~ Pat
pastime Waterman, IL (Zone 5a) January 31, 2008 7:38 PM	I have the same problem here with grass growing over an old driveway. You can chip away at the gravel until you finally reach soil. Not recomended. We rented an auger and that thing worked great. I took the gravel that the auger threw out and put it in the real driveway and put good dirt in the holes the auger made. If course you will have to know exactly where you want your plants to go before you dig. I laid them out and marked the spot and let hubby go at with the auger. We have to do that everytime we want to plant a tree or even a small shrub. The farmer who used to own the property must have hated grass. He put gravel everywhere. A little Japanes Maple would be happy in your yard. Nice and protected.
gessiegail Taft, TX (Zone 9a) January 31, 2008 11:08 PM	I will try to get this weekend pictures of a very small yard in Houston belonging to my cousin. Her son's best friend is a landscape architect and did a fabulous job on her smaller than your backyard. She has a little adorable cottage in Bellaire, a suburb of Houston on a corner lot. I had the pictures but didn't save them. I can get them from my cousin this weekend to share with you. Her fence line is just too great.
sundaisy Madison, WI February 1, 2008 10:02 AM	I second the flowering bushes idea. I ordered a gigantic hydrangea for my yard this year after the squirrels completely dug up everything I planted last year... and also the raccoons that trampled the flowers and hostas and the rabbits that chewed all the heads off the marigolds and sunflowers :( Sigh, darn wildlife. The squirrels here are something else - very hyper energetic and not timid at all.
ebrunner76 Indianapolis, IN February 1, 2008 12:58 PM	Thanks to you all! I am new here and really do appreciate your feedback!
psychw2 Boise, ID (Zone 6a) February 1, 2008 1:03 PM	WOW Daisy, you got real Wildlife going on there! You practically could have your home declared a wildlife preserve from the sounds of it!! What no deer? LOL
gessiegail Taft, TX (Zone 9a) February 1, 2008 8:02 PM	My cousin only had the pics from the construction with no plants.........I told him I would email him in a month or so and get pics in the spring.........be back in a month......
sundaisy Madison, WI February 4, 2008 4:05 PM	No deer - thank God! I live in a pretty densely populated neighborhood, with really kind of a small backyard (big enough for me though), a postage stamp for a front yard and maybe about 10 feet between the next door houses. So, I'm a little surprised with all these wildlife activities. I'm thinking of domesticating the squirrels and training them to weed. I think I'm going to have to rabbit-proof a lot of fencing this spring. Michelle
sundaisy Madison, WI February 4, 2008 4:51 PM	Oh yeah, and I almost forgot. Last summer, I had a sad and unfortunate accident with a possum. Word to the wise: Do not store a bag of bird seeds within a stack of garbage cans outside.... How the possum got in there in the first place, we'll never know.
psychw2 Boise, ID (Zone 6a) February 4, 2008 4:57 PM	Eeeeeewwwwwww Daisy... I am guessing your possum met an ugly end. Brings new meaning to "eating yourself to death".
WeeNel Ayrshire Scotland (United Kingdom) February 9, 2008 1:22 AM	Hi ebrunner, things always look daunting at the start, for my penny worth, I would spend my first dollars on building up good plants for your zone that will grow up against the fence, you dont want things that will completely blank out the fence as that would cause too much shade onto your garden, but things like Clematis, there are so many different heights, colours etc to mention, but very few are perfumed, you could add a few roses so the clementis can scramble into the roses for length of flowering display and combinations of flower colours mixing together, try large tub or dig into the earth Banana plants, these have huge leaf and grow fast, offering shade and movement as the large leaves move in the breeze, but you would have to give them protection from frost in winter, either wrap them up into bubble wrap but insulate the stems first with say straw so the plastic wrap dont stop the banana plants from breathing, add some Butterfly bush and some other tallish growing shrubs of different contrasting textured foliage, once you have the fence planted, then next year you start to buy plants to grow in front of these larger plants, like shrub roses, Acers (small) nice cut leaves and coloured leaves, Hydrangeas, Hebe's large and small, Philadelphus (smells like orange blossom) then come autumn, you can buy bulbs that will flower in spring for early colour looking out into your garden from the windows, as you get more money, you can decide how much more grass you want to cut into for other plants, but hold onto the grass till you decide what you want by way of borders etc, once you lift the grass, you have to start battling with the weeds that replace it, for now the gras is at least green and can enhance the new plants you add till later on when cash comes along and planting is done, large pots with shrubs or summer bedding can soon take over the area, at least pots with shrubs can be found a place in the borders when they outgrow the pots, Don't whatever you do, get sucked in by all the plants you see on display in the garden centers, we all do it, but if you have a limited budget, choose the right plant for the place you want to plant it, we all get carried away in these places and the next year you throw away the plant as it died because you never got around to either planting it or it was the wrong plant, best do one area at a time doing it well, than scattering the odd plant here and there, you just get so fed up when you dont see where your well earned cash has gone, a good part of a border or bed filled with nice plants is best, it encourages you to add to it as you can manage cost wise. Try the book store for a book called either Small Town Gardens or Gardening on a small plot etc, there are loads of books to give you ideas as to landscaping a small area and how to build up your plant list, better still, go to the library for free books to borrow, the pictures alone will inspire you. Good luck. WeeNel.
ebrunner76 Indianapolis, IN February 13, 2008 12:11 PM	Thank you! That is very helpful!
wood_fern Urbandale, IA April 10, 2008 11:40 AM	Have you considered large containers? That's one way to get plants to "grow" on concrete. Lot of folks don't think of it, but you shrubs and even small trees look good in containers. Very unique looks with relatively inexpensive, commonly available plants. Good luck.
psychw2 Boise, ID (Zone 6a) April 10, 2008 5:33 PM	WOW Wood_Fern, combine YOUR container idea with some strolling thru the hypertufa & concrete forum and LOOK OUT! Get some AWESOME ideas rolling without spending the years budget on a container! Do you have new pics for us Ebrunner?
tcinmb Myrtle Beach, SC (Zone 8b) April 10, 2008 10:23 PM	Will your zone accomodate ornamental grasses ? They are relatively care free. I wouldn't recommend pampass grass.
ebrunner76 Indianapolis, IN April 17, 2008 4:14 PM	I will post some tonight. Although, I must warn you all, my lawn is over grown. I still need to give it the first mow!
zenpotter Minneapolis, MN (Zone 4b) April 18, 2008 9:14 AM	A dream of mine is to have a house with a small garden like that when I can no longer take care of the house and garden we have. I picked up three books to help me out. One is in Dutch that I picked up in Holland. Here are the names of the other two. 20 Best Small Gardens author- Tim Newbury ISBN 0-7063-7819-9 I bought this in London, but it is available in the USA This book has some wonderful garden layouts that include plant lists. Town Gardens author- Valerie Bradley ISBN 1-85967-586-7 This I bought here in Mpls. This is a link for espaliering trees, shaping them to grow against a fence. [HYPERLINK@www.backwoodshome.com] You could try a living fence along it. [HYPERLINK@www.gardenideas.com] A living sculpture. [HYPERLINK@www.pooktre.com] There is a lot of fun things to do in a small space. Remember hard scape first. There are ways to color stamp brick shapes onto cement. I will let you google that one. You need a good working plan before you start it really helps to get it right the first time. Of course you don't want to do it all at once what would you do next year?
ebrunner76 Indianapolis, IN April 23, 2008 11:50 AM	Here are some pictures of my yard finally! View Larger
ebrunner76 Indianapolis, IN April 23, 2008 11:52 AM	Backyard in early morning sun View Larger
ebrunner76 Indianapolis, IN April 23, 2008 11:52 AM	another one This message was edited Apr 23, 2008 11:53 AM View Larger
ebrunner76 Indianapolis, IN April 23, 2008 11:53 AM	another one View Larger
zenpotter Minneapolis, MN (Zone 4b) April 23, 2008 11:54 AM	You should see if your library has one or both of those books I mentioned they are perfect for your yard.
ebrunner76 Indianapolis, IN April 23, 2008 11:55 AM	one more View Larger
ebrunner76 Indianapolis, IN April 23, 2008 11:56 AM	last one View Larger
zenpotter Minneapolis, MN (Zone 4b) April 23, 2008 12:09 PM	This site has a good way to approach your new garden. [HYPERLINK@www.hgtv.ca] I googled "small city gardens"and came up with a lot of sites you may want to try that as well.
psychw2 Boise, ID (Zone 6a) April 23, 2008 5:51 PM	Zen, that was a nice link. Thanks!
zenpotter Minneapolis, MN (Zone 4b) April 23, 2008 6:31 PM	You are welcome.
tcinmb Myrtle Beach, SC (Zone 8b) April 23, 2008 7:38 PM	Try this site [HYPERLINK@www.taunton.com] Click on Fine gardening. Then search A tale of two side yards. This is what I am striving for.
ebrunner76 Indianapolis, IN May 27, 2008 5:22 PM	Thanks! I have since added some hanging plants and a patio set. The garden will come together a little bit at a time.