Building A Home, A Design For Your New Landscape Area

Building a home can be stressful. Take a look at this design for a new landscape area. Think of all the decisions you are faced with from the very moment you sign the contract for a new construction. One of your last thoughts may be, what type of trees or shrubs do I want in my yard? Lets think about two ways to approach a building design your new landscape area. First, do you want your trees and shrubs to be evergreen or deciduous? In a new home, I like to see a variety of both. Ornamental and colorful deciduous trees are great for the front yard. Some examples are, Purple Plum, Crabapple, Yoshino Cherry, and Red Bud. Maple, Cypress, Oaks and Birches are nice for providing shade. Along the front of your house, you can plant all evergreen shrubs, which will provide you color year around. You can also plant a combination of deciduous and evergreens. Make sure you surround deciduous plants with some evergreen, so you won't have a dead space in winter time. The second thought, do you want to do base planting or incorporate the whole design? A lot of this will depend on your finances and how much allowance is made for landscape materials and labor. Below is a landscape building design I did for a client who ended up doing the whole design in one phase.

Building A Home, A Design and Key For Your New Landscape Area

1. Purple Plum Tree - (Thundercloud) deciduous - beautiful purple leaves that contain some green tones. Can grow 30 to 35 feet high and ten to fifteen feet wide. Great color when building and you are using blue, gray, or purple tone brick or stone. Will keep the leaves from spring until late fall. Leaves and branches can be harmed due to windy conditions. I use this specimen in houses that have blue, gray and purple tones from their brick, stone, siding, or shutters.
2. Dogwood Tree - deciduous - green leaves from spring until late fall. In spring white pink, or red flowers bloom and the tree is fully covered with these flowers. It will grow 20 to 25 feet high, and 10 to 12 feet wide. In the fall some of the dogwood varieties, such as the Kousa, will produce red berries. Great looking tree and attracts butterflies and birds.
3. Mop Cypress- evergreen shrub growing well in zones five through eight. Variegated leaves of bright yellow and green. The leaves are long and skinny, and their texture and flowing pattern resembles a mop. Grows three to four feet high and three to four wide. Can take full sun but will also do well in part shade. A wonderful shrub for any garden area. Good shrub to accent next to a solid green plant. Very well received shrub in most home settings. This is the baby of the false cypress family.
4. Chinese Pizazz - (Loropetalum) - evergreen shrub with purple and green leaves year around. Pink/red flowers will bloom in spring and summer. The Ruby Loropetalum is a dwarf and will grow 3 to 4 feet high and 3 wide. The larger versions will grow 8 to 10 feet high and 4 to 5 feet wide. The larger variety will need to be trimmed, unless you have it in an open area and want the shrub to grow naturally. Grows well in zones five through eight. Nice shrub next to the Mop Cypress.
5. Mardi Gras Abelia - evergreen shrub with white flowers in late spring and early summer. Grows three to five feet tall and two to three feet wide. In the fall the branches and leaves turn red/pink tones and create a colorful area for a bed. Abelias, like the sun. Prune off the dead flowers after blooming. This shrub does well when it is kept pruned.
6. Carolina Sapphire - evergreen teal tone tree - Beautiful flowing branches with skinny leaves.This is a zone seven through ten tree. It will grow 30 to 35 feet high five to seven feet wide. When it rains, the leaves shine. Great privacy tree. You can substitute with a Leyland Cypress, Emerald Green Arborvitae, or a Tea Olive.(Osmanthus) This is a great plant specimen to use when building.
7. Holmstrup Arborvitae - evergreen shrub with an upright pyramid shape. Grows three to six feet height and three to four feet wide. Bright green skinny leaves. Great near an Abelia or Loropetalum. The Holmstrup Arborvitae is in the middle size range of the Arborvitae family.
8. Lemon Thread Cypress - evergreen with variegated yellow and green leaves year around. Grows six to eight feet high and three to five feet wide. Larger specimen then the Mop Cypress.Also a great look next to the Loropetalum.
9. Gardenia - beautiful shrub with white flowers in the springtime. A wonderful fragrant shrub. Will grow four to six feet high and four to six feet wide. It can be harmed by frost or cold in zones seven. The dwarf Gardenia, is a little more hardy in the winters. A substitute for the Gardenia is an Indian Hawthorn.
10. Maple Tree - deciduous - many varieties of maples. Green leaves throughout spring, summer and vibrant orange, red or yellow leaves in the fall. One of the most popular trees all over. Can grow 40 plus feet and fifteen to twenty feet wide.
11. River Birch Tree - deciduous - Beautiful multi trunk with a white,brown and black tones in the bark. The bark will peal off. Green leaves appear in the spring time. This tree needs a lot of water. It will grow 40 to 80 feet high and 40 to 60 feet wide. There are also other varieties of Birches available. Another wonderful tree when building a new home.