Your front yard should not be over-stuffed with planting; neither should you starve it of trees and shrubs. There is a happy medium.
It results from good landscape design where every tree or shrub contributes in some way to making your house more attractive, either by emphasizing its good architectural features or by softening the effect of poor ones.
Practically – dollars and cents wise – good use of trees and shrubs on a carpet-like green lawn can increase the value of your property.
More important is the satisfaction you will have in living in a house you can be proud of.
Looking At Front Yards
As we enter the fall planting season, let us critically examine our front yards. New homeowners must make a beginning to tie their houses to their surroundings.
If yours is an established planting, now is the time to make the necessary improvements.
To guide you in looking critically at your front-yard planting, we have cut a house in half on the next page. You see on the left side—the result of poor planning.
On the right side, you see how plants improve the appearance of a house. Study the two sides of this house to know where to begin to make your house more attractive.
In looking over the drawing, remember that there is not just one design solution for your property. Make several sketches of possible ways to plant your front yard. Then, weigh the merits of each and select the best plan before digging a hole or buying a tree or shrub.
Principles of Design
You will find as you begin to plan your landscape that the principles of design indicated in the drawing do not limit your originality.
Bear in mind that everything you plant or build in the way of fences, walks, and drives should be in harmony with the architecture of your house.
The drawing of the good side of the house shows how you might want the full-grown trees and shrubs to look. When you decide this, you are ready to make a list of the actual plants you need.
Selecting Plants
In selecting plants, you must know their full-grown height and spread, outline form, and cultural requirements, such as exposure to the sun, soil type, etc.
Your nurseryman will be glad to assist you. Use descriptions in catalogs as a guide and refer to other gardening references.
Plant Materials
If the house shown were in your community, the plant materials that would create an effect similar to that in the drawing will. found in a series of plant keys for various sections of the country beginning on page 46.
Compare the drawing of the good sick of the house with the planting plan and the key to plants for your section. By doing this, you will see how a landscape designer works.
He begins with an elevation sketch of the house and a rough planting plan. Then he lists possible plant materials to create the desired effect.
Scaled Planting Plan
Last, he makes a scaled planting plan on which each circle represents the full spread of the plants at maturity. Thus he determines the actual number of plants required.
Well-known plantsmen selected the materials listed in the keys, and they are all available from your local nurseryman or mail-order sources. Large plants are expensive but create an immediate effect.
Small plants cost less, but it takes time before they will create the picture you desire. While you are waiting for the shrubs to develop, annual flowers may be used as temporary fillers.
If you had a landscape designer make a planting plan, he would reserve shrubs of unusual form d coloration for planting in the private areas of your grounds. He knows that simplicity is the keynote of good design.
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