Coaching Advice on Blending Styles of House and Landscape

As you approach your property, it should be pleasing to the eye. Creating an entrance that is appealing, one that works for the style of your home and a visual feel to capture the essence of comfort , is what “curb appeal “ is all about.

On each garden coach consultation, I start off by photographing all angles of the front entrance plus the surrounding border landscape.

Many times while the client is with me, I step back and ask them to look at what I see in my photos, while standing live in front of the same shot. The picture speaks a thousand words,” that is what the front of my house looks like”?

From that moment I can start to create a new imagine, with suggestions that can frame the front entrance, and look at the design problems that are more obvious to a first time visitor.

Almost every house has a foundation planting; this is something that should somehow blend with the natural landscape and be in scale with the house. What I do know, is when foundational plantings become humdrum, half dead and unsightly, it is time to be creative and restore a successful foundation planting.

At a minimum the walkway should be clean and durable to walk on, free of tripping hindrances and guide you along to the front door with plantings that provide year round interest. A pleasing entry garden gives a home context and living lines, which can connect your house to your landscape.

Since we at “Keepers of the Garden” design, install and maintain properties, we are extremely conscientious on installing plantings with minimal maintenance on behalf of the home owners. Choosing foundational planting that are more compact in nature can help reduce yearly pruning.

The blending of hardscape lines and living plant lines is the best combination to creating any garden regardless of the size. A motto I often lend to our clients, we can take a” nothing space” frame it with clean flowing lines and you have a “something space”, ready to be redefined.