In the sixteen years that we’ve lived in this house we’ve renovated and remodeled every single square inch at least once. My wife’s ever-changing colour moods are to blame for some of the transformations, others have resulted from nothing more exciting than wear-and-tear and then there are some projects which started with one small purchase (OK, a flat screen television) and have mushroomed into something bigger and more expensive than we could have imagined.
Just as we remodel the inside of our homes, the landscaping outside can benefit from positive change as well. In fact, we can all benefit because the landscaping is the first and last impression those of us on the outside will have of your home.
No one may ever know that you have harvest gold appliances in the kitchen, wood paneling in the living room and orange shag carpet, but all of us who pass by your property notice the overgrown junipers, the massive globe cedars which cover half of the sidewalk or the border of flowering shrubs that have melded together into a formless mass of foliage.
Landscape plants grow, that’s a fact. For every plant that sulks miserably and never seems to do anything, there are nine that grow far quicker and far larger than you ever dreamed. After several years these need to be pruned, shaped or cut down.
“Foundation plants,” typically evergreens planted around the base of the house, are meant to soften the lines of the walls and accent these lines, not hide them entirely. Remodeling the overgrown landscaping close to the house is the best thing you can do for improving its appearance.
Cut back the evergreens, take out the shrubs that are completely overwhelmed by other plants, thin out growth to allow light to reach in, or start fresh by removing everything. I love the sound of three metre tall cedars coming out of the ground, chain wrapped around the trunk and tires screeching in the driveway.
I’ve written before about lawns that face out onto the street and how sloped lawns in particular are a complete waste of good landscaping space. Perhaps now is the time to start a project to turn a piece of turf that nobody uses and is hard to irrigate and mow into something that passersby will admire.
A few evergreens for year-round presence, some well-chosen flowering shrubs and perennials for colour and foliage makes a statement. Weed-filled lawns with brown spots invite us to speculate on the colour of the homeowners appliances.
Your home may date from the 1960’s or even earlier, but the landscaping doesn’t have to reflect a bygone era. There are so many excellent choices in flowering shrubs which perform well in all seasons and each year there are scores of new introductions of shrubs and perennials that would look so much better than the overgrown and neglected plants that are doing their best to hide the front of your house.
If your landscaping is suffering from a mid-life crisis the solution is much cheaper than buying a convertible and getting hair implants. All it takes is some trimming and cutting, an infusion of some newer generation plants and a commitment to transforming your garden to make a positive impression.
