Ideas for the land in front of the house?

[greenmojo]

I'm a huge fan of low maintance. I'd say get some grass growing up close to the house. I wouldn't want a lot of trees, it seems like you have a good view that would be blocked.

Same here, I don't want to be spending all of my time on upkeep...

Speaking of upkeep, what about ponds? How much do you all spend on upkeep and what are the tasks usually involved with them?

I'm considering grass with a pond.

~Moses

 

[truckdiagnostics]

Dang!

That would be impressive, but you've obviously over-estimated by dozer skills, let alone my mower skills!

But now my wheels are turning, hard to get a vision sometimes.

~Moses

That is what the sheep are for.:laughing:

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

I think it's beautiful, with the exception of the areas around the implements, which look pretty bare. I had a landscaping company for a number of years in an arid climate; trying to establish and maintain a typical suburban lawn with 10" annual rainfall will be water-intensive, labor-intensive, expensive, will likely fail, and will look out of place to boot. It's usually easier and more attractive to strive for a naturalized landscape; i.e., similar to what grows naturally, just a little more artistically arranged, so to speak. For example, although your picture shows a treeless expanse, there are probably some native trees that thrive in your region. Possibly they were cleared from your area, so why not put a few back? A few native trees strategically placed will add height and interest, help "frame" your beautiful view, and require little or no care once established. Is your area rocky? A few large boulders are another way to add interest and they blend well in an arid landscape, as do cacti and ornamental grasses. I'm a big fan of ornamental grasses, as there are species that will grow in almost any climate and they're generally extremely low maintenance as well as beautiful. Everyone loves ponds, but unless you have a flowing spring, it will be difficult to keep it filled or at a consistent temperature in your climate. There are 3 kinds of ponds: natural, semi-natural, and artificial. Lacking a natural water source, yours would be artificial (pond liner, refilled from a water hose). In a large acreage like yours a small artificial pond just looks wrong IMO. Of course if you have a ravine, or perhaps a wet-weather streambed, then you have more options. It would be useful to see the rest of the property, as well as the view from the other direction, toward the house, as you'll want to blend the house into the landscape as well.

In any case, I hope you have nice deck or patio to enjoy that view!

 

[NorTracNY]

My opinion is what you have is wonderful. I think a monoculture of grass would actually look horrible. I have to agree with bcp, Dodge Man, and GirlWhoWantsTractor. Spend time with the family and enjoy your great place. Spending money and a huge amount of time with a lawn is a waste in my opinion. I live where you never need to water grass, and I still wish I designed the place with less lawn and more natural area. I'm slowly looking to get rid of some of my lawn, but we didn't lay out the place to allow it to be much smaller.

 

[greenmojo]

I think it's beautiful, with the exception of the areas around the implements, which look pretty bare. I had a landscaping company for a number of years in an arid climate; trying to establish and maintain a typical suburban lawn with 10" annual rainfall will be water-intensive, labor-intensive, expensive, will likely fail, and will look out of place to boot. It's usually easier and more attractive to strive for a naturalized landscape; i.e., similar to what grows naturally, just a little more artistically arranged, so to speak. For example, although your picture shows a treeless expanse, there are probably some native trees that thrive in your region. Possibly they were cleared from your area, so why not put a few back? A few native trees strategically placed will add height and interest, help "frame" your beautiful view, and require little or no care once established. Is your area rocky? A few large boulders are another way to add interest and they blend well in an arid landscape, as do cacti and ornamental grasses. I'm a big fan of ornamental grasses, as there are species that will grow in almost any climate and they're generally extremely low maintenance as well as beautiful. Everyone loves ponds, but unless you have a flowing spring, it will be difficult to keep it filled or at a consistent temperature in your climate. There are 3 kinds of ponds: natural, semi-natural, and artificial. Lacking a natural water source, yours would be artificial (pond liner, refilled from a water hose). In a large acreage like yours a small artificial pond just looks wrong IMO. Of course if you have a ravine, or perhaps a wet-weather streambed, then you have more options. It would be useful to see the rest of the property, as well as the view from the other direction, toward the house, as you'll want to blend the house into the landscape as well.

In any case, I hope you have nice deck or patio to enjoy that view!

I see your points, make a lot of sense. What I was going to attempt to do was bring some sense of green to the mountain, but you've pointed out some things that I didn't think about. And I DON'T want to be spending my days maintaining it, rather enjoying it.

Grass does seem to grow well, of course watering morning and evening to keep it healthy. Here's the picture I posted earlier in the thread of the side of the house last year.



There are trees on the 2 sides of the house and a small timbered area on another portion of my land to the west. They are mostly from what I can tell Ponderosa pines. Some are small, a few feet tall and others are 60 feet tall.

We have on average about 3' to 5' of dirt, before it begins to hit a rock layer of broken basalt. The empty area in front of the house is a low area where there was rock exposed and last year I used the dirt there to build up in front of the house and fill in around the foundation.

Who would I call to find out what native grasses and plants would thrive up here? Just a local landscaping company or is there a term to search for?

I really appreciate everyones insight, this is exactly why I posted. Some great thoughts and ideas have come out of this.

~Moses

 

[greenmojo]

My opinion is what you have is wonderful. I think a monoculture of grass would actually look horrible. I have to agree with bcp, Dodge Man, and GirlWhoWantsTractor. Spend time with the family and enjoy your great place. Spending money and a huge amount of time with a lawn is a waste in my opinion. I live where you never need to water grass, and I still wish I designed the place with less lawn and more natural area. I'm slowly looking to get rid of some of my lawn, but we didn't lay out the place to allow it to be much smaller.

Interesting. I grew up in this environment, but spent the last 7 years on the Seattle side of the mountains where of course, there is never a reason to water grass. I might be wishing the best of both worlds here.

Town is down below over the cliffs and of course green grass is quite normal there with watering, but they are at about 600' elevation and my property is at 4,000' elevation, so things are quite different.

~Moses

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

I would start with your state/county extension office website. These days, the ag extensions are really onboard with using native plants wherever possible, for a variety of reasons. Our state website has recommendations for native grasses, flowers, shrubs, and trees for each microclimate found in Virginia, including where to buy. They won't recommend any invasive species, as that can be bad for agriculture. So that's a good place to start. There are several online seed stores that sell native grass/wildflower mixes for specific areas of the country. As for ideas, start googling and you'll find plenty. I think if you google "native grasses" "landscaping in arid climates" etc., you'll be surprised at the beauty and variety. Visiting local nature parks and preserves will show how your land would look in its natural state.

Sure grass will grow anywhere if it's watered, but morning and night every day is crazy! You might try to wean your grass off slowly. There are turf grasses that are more tolerant of drought such as buffalo grass and bahia grass; not sure if those grow in your area but your extension will tell you.

Will look forward to seeing what you do.

 

[greenmojo]

I would start with your state/county extension office website. These days, the ag extensions are really onboard with using native plants wherever possible, for a variety of reasons. Our state website has recommendations for native grasses, flowers, shrubs, and trees for each microclimate found in Virginia, including where to buy. They won't recommend any invasive species, as that can be bad for agriculture. So that's a good place to start. There are several online seed stores that sell native grass/wildflower mixes for specific areas of the country. As for ideas, start googling and you'll find plenty. I think if you google "native grasses" "landscaping in arid climates" etc., you'll be surprised at the beauty and variety. Visiting local nature parks and preserves will show how your land would look in its natural state.

Sure grass will grow anywhere if it's watered, but morning and night every day is crazy! You might try to wean your grass off slowly. There are turf grasses that are more tolerant of drought such as buffalo grass and bahia grass; not sure if those grow in your area but your extension will tell you.

Will look forward to seeing what you do.

Awesome, thank you! Going to do some reading and calling here in a few moments.

Thank you again,

~Moses