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landscape design

Help for Landscape design

8 years ago

Hi, we are in Dallas, TX zone 7/8 and want this Ranch to have authentic texas feel. Considerations are drought tolerant plants, who can also survive mild but real winters (temps of high 30s/low 40s with snow/ice 1-2x/season) and I'd like the garden to have blooming purple colors in all seasons. Would like perennials that don't require much trimming and maintenance

. Thanks for your help Houzzers :)

Comments (5)

laceyvail 6A, WV
8 years ago
Try the perennials and shrubs forum. Your question is one of plant choice, not really landscaping.
PRO
Successful Garden Design
8 years ago
Hey Toby - STRONGLY suggest you consider a design layout (shape of lawn etc) BEFORE you put in a single plant!

A good design layout makes such a huge difference to the end result. We liken it to plants and features being the icing on the cake - they are the finishing touch, not the starting point.

I know lots of gardening books only discuss planting, so it's easy to confuse planting with design.

We have a ton of free resources that help you with DIY design layouts including a free landscape design workshop that's coming up soon - let me know if you'd like the link and I'll post it here.

Good luck with your yard!
Toby Grossman thanked Successful Garden Design
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Hi Sally I would agree with Sonia here - your main challenge is to deal with the soil compaction. This will have occurred due to all the traffic over the soil and the storing of materials on it. This causes all the air spaces in the soil to get squashed away. Normally soil is around 25% air spaces. This has two very detrimental effects: 1. It stops water being able to drain away so you get flooding and if you have clay you often get a hard crust on the surface which can be very hard 2. With no air in the soil, all the beneficial bugs and bacteria etc will die making the soil itself dead and not able to support plants. Similarly plant roots need air too, so this also prevents them growing. The other thing to look out for is that digging trenches etc pulls up 'subsoil' to the surface. Subsoil cannot support plant growth either. Looking at the piles of earth in your photos I believe you can see the subsoil on the top - it is usually lighter in colour - often yellowy if clay. You need to make sure that if this subsoil is put back that it goes at the bottom of the holes and that the top 300mm of soil is proper topsoil. Any remaining subsoil should be got rid of. So, as Sonia says a rotivator can be helpful to to break up the soil. Because of the rotivators blade action it can often compress the soil at the bottom, so watch out for that. It is also an ideal time to improve the soil and feed it. I would suggest: If you need to top up the soil then use Multi-purpose topsoil - make sure it is BS standards compliant and buy from a good source. It is pretty cheap in 1 ton bags. You don't need to use expensive potting composts. To feed the soil dig in some form of organic manure. Options include well rotted horse or farmyard manure. I would suggest that you lay a 7cm depth of it over the soil surface and then dig it in with the rotivator. You need a lot to improve clay soil and this may feel like a huge amount; however you will be amazed at how quickly it seems to just disappear when you dig it in. It will feed the soil, help lighten it and improve the drainage. On clay it is also a good idea to dig in horticultural grit (not gravel/pea shingle) as this helps break up the clay and improve drainage. Again I would recommend 25kg per meter sq and dig it in with the manure. If you are planting a flower bed, spread a 3cm depth of the organic manure over the top when you have planted the beds. This is all hard work, but is much easier to do from a blank sheet and should give you a good soil that your plants will love, and is easy for you to work in the future.
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PRO
Yardvaark
8 years ago
I think there are design questions here, but they can't be answered based on this photo. Designing landscape for a building is planting in the space around the building, so the photo can't cut off this space and still be useful. (Also, the lighting is bad.) Stand in the same place but pivot the camera also left and right and take overlapping pictures that also show yard space beyond each end of the building.
Toby Grossman thanked Yardvaark
Toby Grossman
Original Author
8 years ago
I would love links to your landscape design workshop! I am trying to come up with a cohesive plan before planting. I will take more pics tonight. Thank you
PRO
Successful Garden Design
8 years ago
Hi Toby, here's the link for the workshop http://www.successfulgardendesign.com/free-workshop - hope it helps - let me know once you've seen it! :o)

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