Including Existing Trees & Plants In Eliot Neighborhood Front Yard Landscaping
Existing overgrown front yard in N.E. Portland’s Eliot Neighborhood . Our new planting plan will showcase this bungalows’ best features.
When revamping a landscape I like to start with the existing trees. The tiny front yard of the Eliot Neighborhood property features two prominent trees: a young Dogwood, approximately 12 feet tall and wide, in the lawn area, and a young Serviceberry, about 10 feet tall and wide, situated in the parking strip.
Plan for the mature size of your trees
When evaluating trees in a landscape, I can realistically envision what size they will be in 10 or 20 years; most homeowners have a disconnect from what the tree tag says about growth rate and size when they buy the tree. So, happily in this case, the trees my client planted 5 years ago can stay with a bit of professional help.
This is a similar form of tree now as mature Dogwood trees in N. Portland. These very mature trees +30 years, were slowly limbed up a long time ago. Look at the nice big trunks that developed. Never remove lower branches from a young tree without knowing what you are doing. You can stunt their growth forever.
This fairly young lovely dogwood tree will grow into the parked car area in the near future. It’s beautiful with all its lower limbs isn’t it? N.E. Portland parking strip.
Professional Tree Pruning
Leslie already has an arborist who comes every year and he is pruning our Dogwood with minimal cuts due to its young age. But now that we are putting a path between the dogwood and the house, he will come in and prune some additional low branches out so we can walk through this area to the office. Eventually this tree will be crown raised also called limbed up. My photos give you a better idea of how big these trees get.
Practical Tip for DIYers: Avoid pruning young trees too early. I generally advise against any pruning for the first two years after planting and then only very minimal cuts if at all. This ensures the trunk develops adequately. Too much pruning can stunt your trees growth and cause harm to its structure. If your tree is tiny, wait until it has developed a much larger caliper trunk before limbing up. This process, is typically known as “lifting” or Crown Raise . It involves the removal of some lower limbs by a certified arborist.
Plants
The backdrop features a trio of golden Italian cypress, while the garden itself includes a peach-toned rose and perennials in Leslie’s favorite colors; sky blue, apricot, lavender, and strong pinks. Leslie knew exactly where she wanted her apple tree Belgian Fence (this is a pruning technique similar to espalier) and it will be part of the barrier for the west side of the backyard. I selected compatible plants, such as Echinacea ‘White Swan,’ and several fun self seeding annuals (Love in a Mist also call Nigella the sky blue flowering form will be seeded into this bed.) California poppy and honey scented alyssum are some of the self seeding plants on our list. Self seeding annuals and bi-annuals like Forget Me Not seamlessly integrate the garden.
Lady of Shallot Rose David Austen in her apricot stage in a NE Portland garden design.
Selecting a rose is tricky. While trial and error might be fun for some, most of my clients want me to pick for them. Leslie wanted a fragrant peach apricot toned rose that is disease resistant. For some reason there are very few disease resistant roses that are in this color range and that are also fragrant.
The rose I recommended is called Lady of Shallot and the flower changes color as it matures showing yellow, apricot, orange and warm pink. It is fragrant, disease resistant and can be 5′ tall. I have several clients who now feel this is the best rose ever for its beauty and fragrance.
Leslie was delighted with the backyard garden design, appreciating the magical customized garden we created.
Continue reading about Leslie’s dream garden in our upcoming Part 3 blog.
Do You Have A Dream Garden?
A dream garden comes from careful crafting with the client, in the form of practical design. This includes, making use of existing trees and flowers, paired with a planting plan that delights the eye (and suits your garden care skills). This is my passion—creating custom landscape designs for small city properties.
