DIY Network

The Northups: Their Plan, Costs and Products Meet the family and find out the gardening challenge plan. From "Garden Sense" episode DGAR-409

Host Walter Reeves (left) with Jeff and Laura Northup.

Meet Jeff and Laura Northup and their daughter Madeline. They need help with their backyard. One side is overgrown and wild and the other is bare.

They've asked Walter Reeves and the DIY Garden Sense team to help them balance it and to add some year round interest. They don't want an overly manicured yard. They're more interested in a natural, wooded setting. They also would like it to be child friendly and low maintenance since they have limited time to take care of the new landscape.

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Gardening Challenge

Before — long view

Before — close-up

After — long view

After — close-up

Required Project Timeline

The Northup backyard project took one day to complete.

Project Details

When planting a natural landscape in a wooded area, Walter Reeves has some sensible guidelines to keep in mind. First, remember Mother Nature can use some help. Amend hard soil to help with moisture retention. While the soil in the woods may be good, your backyard is probably another story.

Next, plant new shrubs in front of existing older trees to help bring the scale down. This will really help bring the existing natural beauty closer to your home.

And finally, pay attention to what works. If something is thriving in the landscape, the sensible thing is to plant more of it.

In the Northup yard, the first step was to remove some struggling trees. We then started the planting with shrubs. Specifically, we used two bluebeards with fuzzy leaves and bluish-purple flowers. Close to the deck, we planted an English Roseum Rhododendron.
We also added a Summer Snowflake Viburnum, which will bring flowers from spring until fall.

Then, we added Japanese Forest Grass, a plant that's already thriving here, and nearby, an Ostrich Fern.

On the right side of the yard, we brought in a new tree, a Crimson King Norway Maple.

Gardening by Zip Code If you're looking to start a gardening projectbut don't know your gardening zone—visit the National Gardening Associations's USDA Hardiness Zone Finder. Enter your Zip Code to identify the proper zone.

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