Landscape Design for Small Yards

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

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I like my big projects, but there’s also something really rewarding about taking a “normal” sized yard and making it something special. I just stopped in at a year-old landscape install in Fredericksburg, and I think it’s a good example of what can be done on a fairly modest budget. Here’s the before picture:

A rather unimaginative landscape company reworked some of the builder-supplied plants, and at least made an effort to do a little more than the standard little bed tucked up against the foundation. Still, it wasn’t quite a win.

Front Landscape Plan

Here’s the landscape plan:

FW Completed June 3 2009 (2)

A few changes were made here and there during the installation. That’s really just par for the course. I try to think of everything during the design process, but sometimes I’ll see an opportunity to make things just a bit nicer. Here’s the finished product:I like how it turned out. We were able to keep costs down by reusing almost all of the existing plants. Everything was transplanted in July and is doing great, which really illustrates how important good transplanting practices can be- last July was HOT. And from a design standpoint, the house no longer feels like it’ s hiding behind a little plant bed. The liriope curves around to the sidewalk, connecting the house to the street; and by sweeping a large curve to the right of the front door, we balanced out the visual weight of the garage door. Once that crape myrtle grows up and really becomes a tree, the transformation will be complete.

Who’s next?

2 Comments

    July 24, 2009 REPLY

    Nice job Dave. I also consider small projects really fun. The challenge can be even greater because every single plant and its positioning matter. Thanks for sharing your project. Hope your season has been successful thus far!

    March 13, 2010 REPLY

    Lots of Good information in your blogpost, I bookmarked your site so I can visit again in the future, Thanks

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