I really like your home!
Where are you in Georgia? Are you in or near Atlanta? If so, you can get mulch and composted manure for free from many places....all you need is someone with a truck!!

GGG

Is that a circular driveway? If so, I'm so jealous! VERY cool! And, you've got the perfect set-up, in my opinion. Sunny in the front yard (great for the flowers!) and looks like some shade in the backyard to relax in!

Thanks for the comments! I love my house and the front yard is litterally a blank slate. There is nothing there except a few foundation shrubs and grass. I am going to make several flowerbeds this weekend!

Mk87 - Yes it is kinda a circular driveway. I do like it but I wish so much of my yard wasn't taken up by concrete. BTW - any suggestions on what I should in the half moon space created by the driveway? It has no grass - only weeds and it is on a slope or else I would mulch it over and try and plant there. I was thinking a ground cover like monkey grass but that is so boring.

GGG - I am in Athens and I do have a truck. I generate a good bit of compost from my fall leaves but usually only enough for my veggies. Do you know of somewhere on my side of Atlanta I can get mulch or compost for free? I found a place around here that had partially composted mulch for $20 a cubic yard.

katy bug -- Wow...you are so lucky, in my opinion! I'd build a rock garden or terrace the area. Slopes are good for rock gardens as they naturally assist with drainage. It would also keep you from having to mow in that space. And, a rock garden is very much in keeping with the style of your home. With your sunny location, you could have some BEAUTIFUL flowers in that space...I'm not exactly in your zone, so not sure what all would work, but I know others on GW could help with that.

If you don't like the idea of the rocks, you could use timbers to terrace the space.

Or, if all of that sounds like too much work, you could plant a ground cover there for now. (You can always dig it up and do something else later, if you feel like it.) I'm like you...not such a big fan of the monkey grass and so many of the varieties seem to like at least some shade anyway. But, there are lots of other options.

Another thought would be (I can't tell from the pix how much slope, how large the area, etc, etc...and these things would come into play) to plant the top edge of the slope with a shrub...perhaps something that flowers like shrub roses or hawthornes or abelias. The shrubs would sort of hide the edge of the driveway. Then, plant a ground cover or series of ground covers the rest of the way down. If you look at a lot of commercial developments that sit at the top of a slope, you'll notice this is the way they are often planted.

Whatever you do, you are going to have so much fun! Congratulations!

It's hard to see the whole thing, but do consider making a specimen planting in that half moon shape. Depending on the size of the space, that would be a small ornamental tree or large shrub. A lot of times people use small japanese maples, but there really is a lot to consider besides those.

You definitely want to consider getting rid of a lot of that grass - wonderful sunny spaces like that belong to flowers, not grass! You don't have to do it all at once - perhaps one new sweeping bed per year to cut down on the amount of work.

Same with the foundation - if you want to replace those hedges, consider doing just one side initially. I find it hard to keep up with watering if I do too much at once!

Good thing you have a truck, that will help you save some money by buying things in bulk (compost, dirt, mulch).

Hmmm - I never thought of planting small shrubs around the top of the circle. That would be a good idea and then I can fill in the rest with monkey grass and plant bulbs to come up through the monkey grass.

The thing is that it is not actually a circular drive way . . . more of a Y-shape so that you can back out and turn around without backing into the street. That means that people sometimes drive over parts of the circular section. Maybe adding some shrubs to the edge would help people see where it is located.

Anyways . . . indian hawthorne is a good idea. I also never thought of a small tree. I don't want anything that would obstruct the view of the house too much so a big shrub would be out. I will take a better picture of the space in question and pace it out to give a better idea of size.

Thanks again!

What I meant by a big shrub is a shrub that is pruned to "tree form" so that it appears to be a small tree. You can often see hollies, wax myrtles, ligustrums (but don't use those) done this way.

Lovely home Katy,
good luck with your project!
Once bit by a garden bug - there are very little chances of cure from that. :-)

What fun! I'd plant a tree in the turnaround, with most of it filled with low-to-medium shrubs that would hide the concrete from view from the street but allow the eye to pass on to admire the house.

I'd then do much the same thing in the rest of the front of the lawn, defining your front garden as separate from the asphalt and vehicles of the road but still allowing pretty views through to the house from those passing cars. If eventually not every last thing could be seen at 25 mph, that'd be great--a little mystery is typically a lot more interesting and appealing than bare nakedness in buildings as well as people. :)

On the garage end of the driveway I'd plant small-to-medium trees to grow to arch over the driveway and thicken up tall shrubs strategically to play down that end of the house/screen the garage door, focusing attention toward the front door.

The insides of those shrub and tree borders could then be used as backdrop for lawn and favorite decorative plants, which would be more enjoyable to admire and work at in a semiprivate garden than a public area. All of it planned to also provide lovely views from inside the house, of course.

I'm in Athens too. If you go to the landfill (706 613-3508)you can get a truckload of mulch for $15, You will probably have some bits of garbage bag to pick out. But it is cheap and they load. Best free mulch is provided by the contractors who cut for the power lines.. they love to get rid of the stuff and I flag them down when I see the trucks in the hood. I think the name is Ashflund.

The best place for soil is, I think, Georgia Ground Cover.

I second Rosie's idea, and would include Blueberries because I love them. Planted two today!

Best luck!

i think you might be confusing that with Asplundh ?

Your right. How many consonants does a name need?!?

Groundcover - the last time I called the landfill about thier mulch deal, they said that they have suspended it indefinately. It has been 6 months since I called - have you called recently?
thanks for the heads up on Asplundh.

Katy- Sorry, no, not since last spring.

Satellite- off topic- I am a lazy reader. Sorry if this sounds nuts- chick fillet was chic-a-fil till someone asked me if I wanted a sandwich from said establishment and I had to ask were it was cuz I (a foodish kind of sole) had never heard of it. And if you have ever read Harry Potter, Hermione was heroine til the flick came out.

Best M

Oh, does anyone know anyone in south east kansas? I have to go out there for a month or so. Fix up my Grandpas garden and house for sale. He is the first reason I am here now.. bearded iris collection(may bring some back), poppies, roses, strawberries, summer veg., guess I'll see what else I find.

It's been a while but I am now getting around to planting the half moon space between the driveway and the road (Well - planning, the actually planting will be in October). I am thinking a specimen tree surrounded by creeping juniper.

What tree would you recommend? Japanese Maple would be my first thought, but the area is full sun.

I do not know much about creeping juniper. Is there a variety that people like?