let's talk landscaping

While we're waiting for the plans to be prepped for permits, I thought I'd talk about the landscaping.
I know, the house hasn't even been started yet, and the landscaping is the last step, but, it needs to all fit together. You don't want to have to bring a bulldozer in twice to just move rocks, and we also want a cistern to collect rain water for our garden, and that needs to be buried too.

We have a full acre of land, and that's a LOT. When I first started thinking about what our landscape plan would look like, I knew I wanted to incorporate a labyrinth in there somewhere, preferably in the front yard where I could share it with my pilates clients. It is, after all the "pathway" in Pathway Pilates. I also knew I wanted a lot of peonies, a nice veggie garden, a shade garden, room for my little greenhouse, and DH insisted on NO GRASS. (he hates to mow). We did compromise on a little grass, for the doggies you know. Deer are also a HUGE consideration here, since they'll eat anything and all of it.

We chose a local landscape designer, known for her deer proof and low water use plants. I met with the designer, she scoped out the site, listened to my wishes and went back to work up a preliminary plan.
No pics of that, but it didn't quite work. WAY too much grass, according to DH, and the labyrinth in the back in kind of a weird place. I scratched around on it a bit, and came up with this:









Better, and more what I had in mind. The designer came back and we discussed the plan again, as well as some plant choices. After a couple more meetings, and a whole bunch of plants, the plan looks like this, the final plan:







Look ambitious? It is, but we're looking at it as kind of a 3-5 year plan. We'd like to have the hardscaping - paths, veg garden, etc., in place the first year and then just keep building out from there. The great thing about a garden plan is that it's just a suggestion. When you plan the house, the tub pretty much has to go where it is on the plan, or you have trouble. In the garden, you don't like a fern there? plant a hosta, it's all good........
Think it'll work? You have to use a whole lot of imagination.........









Next week, what makes a kitchen.......