View ChannelsFeatured: Finance
View ShowroomsFeatured: Radiantec - Radiant Solar Heating

BobVila.com

Home

Landscape Design

Bob talks with landscape architect Clara Bachelor about the condition of the yard and the final landscape design.

Get Adobe Flash Player to see this content.

Chapters from this episode

Planting a Shrub Now Playing

Planting a Shrub

Landscape Design Now Playing

Landscape Design

Garden Nursery Visit Now Playing

Garden Nursery Visit

Clip Transcript For:

Landscape Design

computer-generated transcript - may not be 100% accurate

" This planet you've drawn up really underscores the importance of bringing a landscape architect into play when you've got this much or renovation. -- your job is not just to pick the pretty bush -- and flowers but to really blend the architecture with the land right I like to think of it is giving the land structure yes -- we can see on the plan here. That the structure is the drive up and then the new walk which we just put in a couple of weeks ago. And of course the new approach to house where once there was -- That's right never receive the front door in the structure hi to the front door Roger -- and that's you know that's the place to go well there was a lot of stuff to study on this site. Let's watch a couple of weeks ago Clara was here and she looked that the plant material that we had figured out what to -- and -- to get rid of well glad we have about a quarter acre lot here and the house really sits on the edge of that land what's your assessment of of what to do with the landscape."

" Well if you're walking out the door and you want to have an expanse in front of human right now. You're -- blocked by this dogwood and azalea so hot and you really want to open this up and provide a fourth court. That you can enjoy from the house and get the house really something to set off indeed could practically the whole quarter acre is right in front of us -- but you don't see it. From the house because of all this stuff that's -- right and this is wonderful plant material and we can use that. And planted around the edge and provide a shrub border so you can transplant bushes that are this big and and kind of scraggly. Oh sure these -- make great. On perimeter nineteen. -- give you a nice shrub border we'll give you nice privacy around the perimeter of the property OK and with a backhoe they won't -- very difficult to change so that it I have the equipment you actually can transplants I think."

" I know that Paula the homeowner. Had the contractors move a lot of the foundation plantings what is this this is an Andromeda -- And so he has saved them during the course of construction. And just heal the men here and you're saying you can -- material like this and and move it anywhere you want."

" Right we can move all all the betrayal it's been heeled over we can move it again we can take the Andromeda. We can take. The use. That -- Camelot that we see here this big one behind the oak tree that's right that's. A great screen it really shields the neighbor's house yeah that's a good place to begin your screening and then extend the shrubs all along. In front of the neighbor's play area so the idea is to bring lots of this plant material that took him to play along here maybe even an -- that's right -- And nice sweeping curve will make it very attractive make -- soft. So give a real definition to the land what about -- you can't grow anything in this kind of shade can you assure you can't you got clover growing here so it must get enough sunlight for. For lawn yeah and it. And the land needs to be wrote -- chilled air raid -- line fertilized. But then you could choose a a shade tolerant seed OK on one heavy in fast you. And seed this this land and you should get -- nice nice line have to keep the kids off of it for a awhile Bert Goodman is -- what would you do up closer to the house it's so bare now. Well it's you know it's a simple. Farmer's porch and they want to confident nice -- feelings would really look lovely things come up. Early in the spring and last late into the fall we have some right we have a bunch of -- are these are so easy to transplanting to stick them up and practically from a -- front porch in the fall and in the fall that's a great time to plant so what you're saying is that you could create a bed with something as simple as day lilies. Right you could around here."

" And we've taken some of those things -- to begin what is known as a shrub border right that's right most of this material -- transplants."

" What's this -- here for example this as a Mongolian."

" Azalea and azalea yes it gets rather big what color to the -- it's a light purple and it blooms very early early in the spring great that's right and what about that huge when that was under the dogwood in the back there."

" This is one of my favorite this as a slap them box is -- its deciduous it'll lose that sleeps. But it's magnificent it slow growing so this as a a wonderful specimen has a beautiful shell pink -- did you call it shall -- them back yet. Slept in he show up and back."

" That's quite a handle than what the new things that we're putting it."

" These are Delaware valley white as aliens that they will stay low and they form -- second layer of your shrub border and help it step down so that the idea is to step down from the big called older specimens down to where the lawn begins that's right and these will also hide some of the -- of the transplanted."

[-]

More Videos »Related Videos

Planting a Perennial Flower Garden

Ruth Foster, a landscape consultant, oversees the planting of the perennial flower border in the yard. Smaller plants fill in the front, moving to the tallest flowering plants in back. Foster has chosen deer-resistant plants like summer asters for the front, with echinacea or cone flowers behind. Foster has also selected a vivid, neon autumn joy for the garden. She and Bob look at the early blooming magnolias that have been planted in the yard and the euonomous hedge that will grow to eight or ten feet and turn red in the fall.

Composting 101

Here's another great tip from BobVila.com. Compost is known by gardeners everywhere to be the best insurance you can have for a great garden. But making your own gardener s gold has acquired a stigma it doesn t really deserve. Successful composting requires four things: carbon, nitrogen, water and oxygen. A good way to remember how to keep a balance between carbon and nitrogen is to think of them as brown and green. Brown materials are things with lots of fiber like straw, fallen leaves or woody plant stalks. Green materials are things with lots of nutrients like kitchen scraps and lawn clippings. Try to keep a balance of three parts brown to one part green. Contrary to popular belief, composting is not the same as rotting, and it shouldn t be smelly. Keep it moist but not soggy and turn it every week or so to keep it processing evenly. Avoid attracting animals by keeping it tightly covered and don t compost meat or fatty kitchen scraps. Even in colder climates, you can compost year-round. Add kitchen scraps even if they freeze and leaves and lawn clippings when you ve got them. For composting to happen quickly, the pile needs to be about a cubic yard of material. Too small and it won t heat up. Plastic tumbler type composters provide the fastest compost, but you can also just use wire bins covered with a sheet of plastic or a tarp. If you don t have a good place for a compost bin, try sheet composting. You can spread shredded materials up to 6 inches thick over your garden beds in the fall, till them in and let it all process until you plant again in the spring. No commercial fertilizer, even organic, can provide the range of nutrients, enzymes and helpful microorganisms that compost provides. It s impossible to over fertilize with compost. And it puts worms and other insects to work for you as laborers in your soil improvement project. Find out more at BobVila.com: The ultimate home improvement web site! BobVila.com 2008

Planting Bulbs and Overseeding the Lawn

Bob watches as Kelly Brothers plants bulbs while Ruth Foster explains how to do it well. The small, blue scylla are planted in the front fo the garden, with taller alium behind. Foster shows the pointed end that should aim up and suggests that they be planted as a group, in bouquets, so they will blossom in groups of color. Bob uses a bulb planter to prepare holes for the bulbs. These bulbs, from DutchGardens.com can be purchased as good quality, double-nose, and bargain bulbs. Foster tells Bob that the deeper they are planted, the less likely they are to split. If they are planted too shallow, there will be no blooms in the second year. Once planted, the bulbs will be mulched and left to sleep for the fall and winter. The turf that was damaged during construction is ready to be reseeded. Foster suggests a relaxed approach to lawn planting, using perennial rye and fescue scattered over the surface and raked in. Foster stresses that a "freedom lawn" is mown high and overseeded in the fall and again with the melting snow. Foster uses fescue for shade, blue grass in sun, and perennial rye everywhere.

Landscaping Plans

Bob talks with horticulturist Ruth Foster about landscaping for the barn. Ruth explains a few techniques used to assist in drainage and weed control. She outlines the plants she has selected that will thrive in the Cape Cod climate, including a few wild flowers already existing on site.