Posted on Sat, Oct. 11, 2008

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Neil Sperry: For unusual landscaping areas, try a creative or simple remodel

If you’re taking advantage of the fall weather to get some landscape remodeling done, perhaps you’re encountering difficulties with unusual spaces. Here are some of the common ones and suggestions on how to deal with them.

Bland approach to the front door. Start the fix-up with a fresh coat of paint for the door and its trim. Next, add a few pots of seasonal color. (And promise yourself that you’ll change them as the old plantings fade.) An attractive new welcome mat is functional, as is soft landscape lighting positioned to focus attention on the entryway. Those simple changes along with a general tidy-up will probably be enough to give your visitors a nice lift as they arrive.

Narrow spaces between walks and walls. They may only be a couple of feet wide, and what you’re left with is two dimensions in which to garden.

The best fix is to let a vine or espalier trace its way up the wall. If you want to use a twining vine, install a durable trellis a couple of inches out from the surface. You can also use hanging garden art anchored into the wall or wall pots filled with trailing plants.

What you’re trying to do is break up the wall’s verticality. Use a clumping ground cover or stone mulch to keep soil from washing out across the walk. Collections of medium-sized pots filled with flowering and foliage plants can bring attention down and away from the wall.

Or use a long-handled sledge to knock out the walk and start over with a better design. It’s not all that difficult, and it can be a good afternoon’s exercise.

Gas meters, street signs, electric boxes, fireplugs and utility poles. Most professionals will advise you simply to let these beasts exist. Don’t glorify them by planting flowers around them. If you can conceal them with strategically placed shrubs, that’s fine, but remember that workers will need easy and safe access to them periodically.

Utility spaces that contain storage sheds, compost bins, trashcans and other unsightly aspects of human life. These spaces are the closets of our gardens, and just like their interior counterparts, they need to be screened off by some type of walls. If you use fencing, soften it visually with a tumbling vine planted inside and trained to spill over and out. Best shrubs for a screen include Nellie R. Stevens hollies at 8 feet and taller and glossy abelias, elaeagnus or willowleaf (also known as needlepoint) hollies at 6 to 8 feet.

Dog pens and exercise yards. I get this call a lot on the radio: "Neil, my three retrievers keep beating down my lawn. What can I plant that will hold up to them?" The only truthful answer begins with Bermuda grass. That’s why it’s used for football fields. If the lawn is shaded, or if you’ve already tried Bermuda and failed, a hard surface such as pavers or gravel may be the only option. You can use low shrubs and entangling groundcovers to discourage their traffic, but big dogs can be really rough on their surroundings. You may even want to consider a low-voltage cable and collar system to keep the dogs in their designated places.

Adjacency to an unkempt landscape. Run a bed out from the corner of your house. Place three or five anchoring shrubs that will grow to 6 to 8 feet tall. It’s better if they don’t touch one another and grow to fill in. Then, plant color and ground cover in front to keep viewers’ eyes in your own boundaries. If you’re unclear, let a nurseryman help with the planning.