DIY Network

Foundation Planting

Gardening expert Walter Reeves is at a home where the front yard has been neglected over the years. Here, Reeves cleans up old problems and makes some new additions. You'll get ideas on good plants and shrubs that will help add curb appeal to your home.

advertisement

Curb Appeal

1. We removed all old plants in front of and under the porch. We had to dig a little deep to pull everything out. Once the area was clear, we added some dirt to level out the ground where it was needed.

2. For the area in front of the porch, we chose a Taxus...also known as a Yew. It’s a popular evergreen shrub. It is very low maintenance, keeps its color most of the year and will fill an area nicely. Once established, it will tolerate drought conditions and will handle pruning.

3. We needed to level out the path area in front of the shrub’s bed. The ground wasn’t level because of water runoff.

4. To solve several problems at once, we added a short block retaining wall along the top of the yard. This allowed us to level off the area between it and the house by adding backfill behind the retaining wall.

5. Using the top step to determine the front edge of the wall, we dug a trench parallel to the shrub bed. The wall only needed to be two blocks high so we dug the depth of two blocks; 17 inches.

6. We made sure each block was as level as possible then filled in each with stone. Tip: Fill the top row of block with one third gravel and two thirds soil once the wall is up as high as you need it to be. This will allow you to put plants in each block so that they can trail down over the top and add color to the front of the wall.

7. We thought cascading plants would look great trailing down the wall. Here are several we considered:

• Moss Phlox is a great choice especially in the spring when they bloom. The colors are beautiful. However, the remaining 50 weeks out of the year it doesn’t add much color or texture.

• Periwinkle creates a green carpet with glossy oval leaves and flowers for several months. A very popular ground cover that can also cascade over the edge of window boxes. Because it grows about six inches high, it wouldn't cover much of the 17-inch high wall however.

• We decided to use a ground cover to add color to our wall; Thorndale English Ivy. Thorndale displays better cold hardiness than regular English ivy. It needs little attention and as it matures it will form a textured carpet over the wall.

• To help add even more contrasting color, we added five Limemound Spiraea about two feet back from the wall and along the path. Small pink flower clusters will bloom in the summer. The bright lemon yellow foliage will turn orange-red in the fall. These were tall enough to be easily seen from the street. We added red geraniums which look great against the light and dark greens.