Would You Plant Just One More Tree If You Lived Here?

I'll let YOU decide!

This photo of the front of our house was taken in May 2004. The two large trees at the left of center were removed by mid-June 2005. There was a problem that I cannot seem to recall.

As an aside, you might notice my "Sunny Corner Bed" was not so sunny then. It used to be a bed of iris that had become overgrown and crowded, resulting in very few blossoms. We'd moved into this house in October 2002, so the previous Spring had shown the need for reworking this bed! :-)

Now the photo below was taken April 23, 2008. You can see the cluster of three shagbark hickory trees was still standing in the front yard... they provided a wonderful shade canopy, as well as a beautiful accent.

Here's are two more photos, taken July 31, 2008 of these beautiful trees.

This one might give you an idea as to the proximity of the trees to the front of the house.

However, they were three separate trees competing for root space and light source. They were just WAY too close to the house. Hence, they had to leave the premises (especially after I'd watched a wind storm push them around and nearer the house!) See this post from last Summer.

The photo below was taken November 27, 2008.
Does it look a little bare over there?
Even with my sister's little tree in the foreground?

I thought perhaps you'd agree with me. :-)
My next post will show you what I had done just recently!

Garden Bloggers’ Design Workshop - Front-Yard Gardens

I'm a "slow-comer," but I really like the looks of this Garden Blogger's Design Workshop series. Check it out at Gardening Gone Wild! And Join In! :-) This month's subject deals with Front Yard Garden Design.

Not only do I love to garden, but I love to design! Usually it's "by the seat of my pants," in that I am inspired with an idea, give it a bit of thought, and then I do it. At this point in time, we are in the very early stages of Spring (and every day gets better!). These first few photographs are from last Summer.

This is a bug's eye view (August/2007) of the very "frontest," looking from the driveway through the gardens in front of the deck/walkway. In
the foreground is a Water Hyacinth in the tiny "pond."

Of the pictures below, the one on the left was taken after I first sank the pond June 1st. I also put the birdbath nearby. The beds themselves, complete with rock edges and both the rock and slab walkways were built in the Fall of 2005. About half of the plantings were done in 2006.
The rest of the plantings were added last Spring/Summer.
The photo below continues to look down the front bed... this photo was also taken June 1, 2007.
I'm sure you can't tell, but the bed behind the bricks and in front of the lattice holds some upright varieties of sedum. The entire rest of the bed was filled with flowering annual vinca and impatiens. They were just beautiful! I plan to yet add some upright plants in front of the lattice. There's a little concrete slab "walkway" edged in sideways brick. This wonderful waterway was designed and built by my husband. We're on the "downside" of a fairly good incline. When it rains, we get a LOT of water. The "walkway" takes it away from the house. These photos were taken this morning. Remember, there's an absence of plant material, yet! And the little white specks are actually daffodils planted last Fall.
Looking East (my new little wall edges the front bed)... Looking Southeasterly









There's much that is not yet apparent. I'm sorry I didn't take more photographs last Summer!
You'll soon be seeing many more photographs!
Looking south - here's the waterway. There's a rock-edged bed around both sides of the evergreens.










Here we're looking towards the raised beds... see the birdbath? The bed in front of the evergreen has astilbe and hosta.

The little bed around the Shagbark Hickory is filled with pachysandra, flowering Spring bulbs, and short iris.







The following are photos of various plants within the front long bed. I was having a lot of fun with the close-up and macro settings on my digital camera last year! :-)

water hyacinth & duckweed; sedum on rocks, miniature rose nearby; sedum and heuchera beside birdbath.












This peach daylily is behind the yellow one, when you stand looking towards the house.
Looking carefully at the yellow daylily, perhaps you'll see buds of the peach one.









I'll apologize for not having providing the names of the plants. I'm currently involved in mapping all the flower beds with the current plantings. An achievable goal if I continue to persist every day. :-)