# Landscape shrub suggestions for small cottage?



## Jj375 (Feb 25, 2011)

I just planted some dwarf boxwoods, very slow growing compact and not too big when mature maybe 3•3


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## yardlady (Sep 3, 2011)

Are you done with your project? If not I like those box woods, I have several green velvet box wood's lining my walkway. They grow slow, and are easy to sculpt. 

For the Roses, check out Knockout roses...and double Knockout roses...shrubs. They are easy to maintain.


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## Thunder Chicken (May 22, 2011)

Nope, project is still ongoing. I am hoping to have the junipers pulled next week, and the beds will be cleaned out for planting soon after.

I like those double knockout roses, they would be perfect under the windows! Thanks for the suggestion!

I like the boxwoods as well, they would frame the door nicely. The only concern I have is that we have acid soils and pines everywhere, which is fine for the roses and azaleas, but I have heard that boxwoods don't do well in acid soils. If this is true, are there any similar alternatives? 

I also worry a bit about the textures - these are all waxy-leaved plants and I wonder if it will look all monotone planted together? Maybe the scale of the leaves will shake things up enough.


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## Thunder Chicken (May 22, 2011)

Is anyone aware of a dwarf holly with growth habits similar to boxwood? It is evergreen, it would fit the soil profile and play nice with the rose and the azaleas, and the leaf texture (depending on cultivar) might add some visual interest.


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## yardlady (Sep 3, 2011)

I have holly's, I think they are evergreen. Can't remember exact name, they were a little tricky to start, lost one due to some kinda fungus. Repalcement plant did well. I'm not sure if they are a dwarf, but they are growing slow we could easily trim back if desired without it being a chore.

I have in front of my garage window, 3 knockout roses, 3 Holly's (two male one female). We had a designer come out and draw up the plans, so those two plants work well together, go around the corner and we have the velvet boxwoods. Velvet box woods sit in same view at the corner as my roses. 

I love Holly, the leaves are a dark green, waxy, but with the red berries they really look nice next to the roses (my roses are red).


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## Thunder Chicken (May 22, 2011)

What size are your hollies? I think a 4' diameter knockout rose under each window next to the azaleas will work, which leaves a 3-4' gap between the rose and the front stoop. The stoop is brick and the holly would look nice against it. If it can be kept topped to about 3-4 ft that would be perfect.

The roses lose their leaves in the winter, right? Do they look bad in the winter?

Also, in the picture you can see that there is an electric meter behind the yew that we would like to screen, also with something that won't exceed 5-6 feet. This side of the house gets all-day sun and tends to be hot and dry.


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

I would like to shift your thinking from planting all so near the house. Why we Americans think we have to do so amazes me. BORING. A nice, slow and low growing flowering tree pulled out into the yard will make the cottage look bigger. Ask a nursery what would do well in your climate but some sort of flowering dogwood could be a start? And a nice window feature. You want something with interesting bark and trunk growth that will look like a big tree but only grow to say roof height. A dwarf conifer could work too I guess.


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## Thunder Chicken (May 22, 2011)

We are actually looking to plant a dogwood in the side yard off to the left of the house in the picture. However, I don't think putting one in the front yard is such a good idea. First of all, we get wonderful morning sun in the front windows that brightens up the inside of the house. Also, the front yard is tiny (~20' by 24'). Contrary to your suggestion, I believe putting even a small tree in the front yard would make the house look smaller (the overgrown junipers are already doing this). It would also block the front view of the house from the street. Also, there are phone lines just out of frame above the picture that eventually would cause problems even with a small tree.


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

Thunder Chicken said:


> We are actually looking to plant a dogwood in the side yard off to the left of the house in the picture. However, I don't think putting one in the front yard is such a good idea. First of all, we get wonderful morning sun in the front windows that brightens up the inside of the house. Also, the front yard is tiny (~20' by 24'). Contrary to your suggestion, I believe putting even a small tree in the front yard would make the house look smaller (the overgrown junipers are already doing this). It would also block the front view of the house from the street. Also, there are phone lines just out of frame above the picture that eventually would cause problems even with a small tree.


How about something light, airy and lacey like a Japanese Maple if it would survive your climate? I guess I am trying to force Japanese Garden 101 design on you where trees, rocks and things are placed so that a small cottage appears in perspective as larger. Planting things up against it just draws attention to the smallness. There is no visual path to confuse or set the perspective. Your eye is drawn immediately to the lines of the cottage and the plants in context with it.


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## Thunder Chicken (May 22, 2011)

What you are proposing is actually something we are trying to do with the rest of the yard. Until recently we had a small purple plum in the back and the feel of the back yard was similar to a treed Japanese rock garden.

However, we don't want to put a tree in the front yard for the reasons I mentioned, so the best alternative is to have front plantings appropriate to the scale of the house to soften the foundation lines (an ugly concrete foundation). We're not trying to hide the house, we *want* people to look at it, but we don't want people looking at it and thinking "Look at the tiny house buried in the bushes!"


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## yardlady (Sep 3, 2011)

To answer the question about the size of my Hollies. The tallest one I have is 3ft for the highest branch (just measured) and about 2.5 ft wide, its the male Holly. We planted them in 2008 and have not trimmed them down yet they probably started around 1.5-2.0 ft. high and not as wide.

Our home was a mess with overgown plantings that just looked bad. We had our local nursery come out and they made a landscape plan for us to follow. Cost was about 120.00 for just the design to scale. For the front of our home and one side of our home. We pretty much followed the plan and it looks great. 

Might ask if your nursery will make a plan, based on the plants you like, and they might even make you a deal on some of the plants. 

Note the hollies look great year round, the roses have no leaves, but just look like a bare bush so not as pretty. The green velvet might get a little brown, but stay mostly green for my zone (midwest).


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## Thunder Chicken (May 22, 2011)

Those hollies sound like the perfect size, even if they were to grow in a little more. Are the leaves on yours lobe shaped or are they the typical pointed leaves?

The garden plan is pretty simple - the azaleas, knockout roses and hollies would pretty much fill the entire garden when they get to full size (and with some judicious pruning to control size). The hollies, being the smallest and lowest, would go by the door and the roses in the middle. My wife likes this idea and the layout. Right now the junipers are partially blocking the path to the front door, such that few people attempt to use it.

I think this is a plan. I'll update with pictures as it comes together. Thanks all!


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## Thunder Chicken (May 22, 2011)

Quick update on the front garden - the junipers were pulled last week and I finished cleaning all of the rock out of the bed. I actually dug down to clean soil and ran everything through a sifter to get the junk out (there was a ton of trash as well as rock). Anybody need about 4 yards of track ballast stone?

I just cut in the new bed outline and put mulch down around the rhododendrons and the yew. A picture is attached.

My wife's mother somehow got a hold of two pink Double Knockout roses from Lowes for our front garden. My understanding was that fall is NOT the season to plant roses, so I don't know what Lowes is doing selling these things (and what my mother-in-law is doing buying these things). 

Anyway, my wife likes the roses and they are free to us, so my plan was to mix in plenty of compost and plant them now and give them a good layer of mulch to give them a chance to set roots before the ground freezes. I plan to put them in front of the windows in the picture, about the same distance from the house as the rhododendrons. 

I figure at worst if they don't make it through the winter we'll just replant in the spring. Does anybody have any better ideas for the roses?


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## michigan girl (Sep 10, 2011)

You can plant knockouts in the fall. due to bare ugly in winter maybe adding a small bush that turns red in winter or with berries next to the knockouts would look great...especially in winter. we have knockouts at our northern Michigan cottage that are still blooming. plant from tallest to shortest, back to front. I have seen decorative trellises up against bare walls that look beautiful...just to break up the spaces...a mini weeping tree would look pretty at the left front corner next to driveway...trellis would be pretty on the side of your place ! I always sort of draw out different scenarios to get an idea...day lilies around the mailbox...hardy and they grow like weeds


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## Thunder Chicken (May 22, 2011)

I'm thinking of dwarf Chinese hollies on either side of the door, and maybe some wintercreeper euonymus for low fill in front of the roses and the other plants. I'd like to find something with more color that will contrast the house color a bit, maybe more reds. From what I understand Dwarf Chinese hollies don't tend to fruit, but I like the leaf texture and the size is right.

Having had the big old junipers blocking the front door, what we want to do is have the garden go high to low toward the door so people see it and want to use it.


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## Thunder Chicken (May 22, 2011)

Finally made it to the nursery and checked out the plants I was thinking about. I don't think hollies are the plant for that particular spot. They tend to grow bigger than I want and they aren't a lot of color. As I was walking out I saw two 2 gallon red chrysanthemums for short coin, so I grabbed them. Purple rhododendrons in the spring, deep pink roses through the summer, and red chrysanthemums summer through fall.

If it doesn't work out, at least these plants are easier to pull out than junipers.


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## downunder (Jun 13, 2008)

My apology for getting in this thread a little late, haven't been to the site in a while. If I miss something and comment on information already posted, my apology. TC, my first suggestion would be to consider (as I think you are) the mature size of any planting.

1. I think I would take out the azaleas on the corners as well. I'm not a big fan of repeatedly having to prune to make something fit.
2. You want to hide the concrete foundation but it really isn't all that noticable. I would perhaps paint it a darker color to make it less so. Maybe a quick post on the painting forum might yield some suggestions.
3. Smaller columnar plants could break the boxiness without overpowering.
4. I would not suggest Knockouts here. My philosphy in the landscape with them is to give them 6 ft by 6 ft. Plant and get out of the way! I like them in moderation but they are getting too "commonplace" now.
5. If you like to garden, I would go with a perennial/annual bed at the front. This would be a perfect size to plant different things season to season without being overly labor-intensive.
6. I could really see a rose garden in front of the car. Looks like plenty of sun there, good drainage improved with raised beds and presumably close to a backyard water source (?).
7. If you want hollies, try Ilex glabra 'Soft Touch'. VERY similar to boxwood.
8. Can you thin out the woods behind the house. In my opinion they contribute to that "dwarfing" effect.


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## Thunder Chicken (May 22, 2011)

Thanks for your reply. Sorry to reply in-line, but it makes sense here:



downunder said:


> 1. I think I would take out the azaleas on the corners as well. I'm not a big fan of repeatedly having to prune to make something fit.


I happen to like the azaleas, and don't mind doing pruning maintenance. Yes, we're forcing them a little more compact than they tend to be, but I think it will work. If it does turn into a hassle they will come out easily enough.



downunder said:


> 2. You want to hide the concrete foundation but it really isn't all that noticable. I would perhaps paint it a darker color to make it less so. Maybe a quick post on the painting forum might yield some suggestions.


I think it will disappear once the plants are in. It isn't the greatest masonry work in the world and expending effort to paint it really doesn't excite me at all.



downunder said:


> 3. Smaller columnar plants could break the boxiness without overpowering.


Placed where? On the sides of the door?



downunder said:


> 4. I would not suggest Knockouts here. My philosophy in the landscape with them is to give them 6 ft by 6 ft. Plant and get out of the way! I like them in moderation but they are getting too "commonplace" now.


Again, a matter of personal taste. They do have this amount of space available to them in the bed, and my wife likes roses. I just work here. :laughing:



downunder said:


> 5. If you like to garden, I would go with a perennial/annual bed at the front. This would be a perfect size to plant different things season to season without being overly labor-intensive.


I see a perennial shrub garden as being even less labor intensive. But to your point, my wife is suggesting perhaps ditching the plantings on the sides of the door for seasonal plantings in containers, something that can take spring and summer annuals and fall perennials like chrysanthemums.



downunder said:


> 6. I could really see a rose garden in front of the car. Looks like plenty of sun there, good drainage improved with raised beds and presumably close to a backyard water source (?).


My wife thought the same thing. This is in progress. Both the front and that side of the house get excellent sun.



downunder said:


> 7. If you want hollies, try Ilex glabra 'Soft Touch'. VERY similar to boxwood.


I'm not so sanguine about hollies or boxwoods anymore. Even the dwarf varieties are pretty big, though they can be pruned just as readily as the azaleas, I guess. 



downunder said:


> 8. Can you thin out the woods behind the house. In my opinion they contribute to that "dwarfing" effect.


They are not on my property, though I have been surreptitiously removing saplings and dead falls that have been encroaching on my property. I did remove some wildly overgrown privets on the back side of the house (the bright green growth to the right behind my house in the first picture). I also pulled the purple plum in the backyard and made it open lawn. That has really opened up the back side of the house and help minimize the smallness.


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## downunder (Jun 13, 2008)

FYI- My philosphy of landscape design is similar to one's wardrobe, i.e. some like jeans, some three-piece suits. Some like grays and blues, some like colors. Notwithstanding appropriate siting, very few ideas are wrong.

Azaleas- Are you familiar with smaller Japanese azaleas?

Columnar plants- At each corner and either side of the front door.

Knockout roses- With respect to scale, I think that these guys are a little big against the house but would make a great background in the back yard or as an attractive privacy screen between neighbors.

Perennials usually refer to those plants which go dormant during the winter but return the following spring. For example, daylillies. Shrubs usually refer to woody plants and can be either evergreen or deciduous.

There are hollies which get only a couple of feet tall.


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## Thunder Chicken (May 22, 2011)

Here is the front of the house this spring (a little grainy but you get the idea).

The azaleas are flowering like mad - I'm surprised given how hard I cut them back last spring. The roses went in last fall and are all budded out and growing. They have plenty of room and tons of sunshine up until about 5PM, so I have hopes for them. Looks better than my first picture anyway!


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## downunder (Jun 13, 2008)

WOW!

But I'm still can't get too crazy about those boxwoods. If you want to keep them, may I suggest that your pruning is the same mistake many make (including some supposedly "professionals"). Evergreens do not like getting shaded out, even by themselves. Always prune slightly wider at the bottom or, if you prefer, slightly more narrow at the top. This lets light in to the interior and will give an overall healthier, greener shrub. I would post citations here but I think you will learn better through your own research on how to prune boxwoods/evergreens.

Also, and this is just my *personal* thinking: as a rule I generally use planters on hardscape. In other words, a patio or deck where one wants planted color but where there is no physical planting area available. An exception would be the multitude of small pots I see behind the boxwoods where you could use a grouping of small containers functioning as one unit. Or, if the planter was the featured item and the flora was incidental.

That said, I am really seeing a nice trellis with a climbing rose (probably) to greet you every morning and afternoon when you get home.

PS I like to make before and after, including progress shots, of my projects. Hard to remember just how big, ugly, etc that XXX area was.

Again, great job so far! BTW, I'm impressed with the edging shown in your earlier photo.

Richard


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## Thunder Chicken (May 22, 2011)

downunder said:


> WOW!
> 
> But I'm still can't get too crazy about those boxwoods. If you want to keep them, may I suggest that your pruning is the same mistake many make (including some supposedly "professionals"). Evergreens do not like getting shaded out, even by themselves. Always prune slightly wider at the bottom or, if you prefer, slightly more narrow at the top. This lets light in to the interior and will give an overall healthier, greener shrub. I would post citations here but I think you will learn better through your own research on how to prune boxwoods/evergreens.
> 
> ...



Thanks for the kudos. The beds were once dug out and filled with several feet of gravel right next to the foundation. The drainage was non-existent and the plantings were baking under the hot gravel in the summer. I dug it all out, edged it, and backfilled with clean fill. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it.

What you are seeing as boxwoods under the windows are actually the knockout roses - they just leafed out but are still pretty small. Things will look a little thin until the roses bush up, so we have the planters for spring bulbs and some summer color just for some temporary fill. The roses should have plenty of room - we'll see how big they get, then we'll consider some other plantings that may augment/complement them. This all will take a couple of seasons to settle out.

The azaleas flowered really nicely. They got a little cockeyed after I rejuvenated them, so once they drop their blooms I'll give them a light shaping and a little feed. They seem much happier without the gravel burning their feet.


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## downunder (Jun 13, 2008)

I expected the roses to be small. I can tell which ones they are by the size. I was talking about the chest high evergreens along the side of the house next to the drive, right in front of the power meter. Guessing they are boxwoods?


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## Thunder Chicken (May 22, 2011)

downunder said:


> I expected the roses to be small. I can tell which ones they are by the size. I was talking about the chest high evergreens along the side of the house next to the drive, right in front of the power meter. Guessing they are boxwoods?


Oh, that is a old hemlock that was there when I moved in. I know what you are saying about the shaping to get sun on the bottom branches. I did trim it last year to make it more vertical on the sides (it was worse when I moved in, believe it or not). It got knocked around a bit in an early season snow storm last fall, but its shape is rebounding. It filled in pretty nicely last year, so I am going to try to slope it back a bit more (fat on the bottom, narrower to the top as you mentioned) so they get some better sun exposure on the bottom.


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