"On the side streets of Berkeley, California, exuberant flower gardens have supplanted manicured grass in residents' front yards. These lawn-free swaths have become a very public art form-and just might inspire the rest of the country."
Orr writes, "You'd be hard pressed to find a single example of a conventional front lawn, and all the accordant chemical inputs and mow-and-blow maintenance crews to keep grass, shrubs, or flower beds looking perfect. Isn't that very idea-that a home doesn't need grass in its yard-an inspiration for the rest of the country?"
We have a lawn but we don't do chemicals. This article has sparked my imagination and inspired me to do more! To begin the process of creating a large island bed in our front garden we have been working on picking out a new tree/shrub to anchor the bed as well as provide privacy.
I've been dragging my feet a bit because it is such a commitment to select the "right" tree or shrub for a space that you will be staring at for the next 30 years...God willing! You can read more about it Here
To help push the process along I asked some talented folks out there for their opinions. Laurrie at My Weeds Are Very Sorry not only has a stunning perennial garden, she has what she likes to call her "arboretum." When you visit her blog you will see her extraordinary passion for trees! Laurrie's plant inventory on her blog (she has several) will leave you in awe. It is organized and specifically details each tree/shrub in her garden.
She has answered my call! Her email is an example of why I blog. Someone across the country who has taken the time to help and teach me through her passion! Thank you Laurrie!
Here is what she writes...
For something pretty that flowers, a crabapple or hawthorn or flowering dogwood would be lovely. I am definitely not a fan of kousa dogwoods (too big and dense and overpowering for a front yard), but flowering dogwoods (Cornus florida) are classic.
1. Flowering dogwood (Cornus Florida)
via- The Honey Tree Nursery
If you want something unusual, a sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum -- it's featured quite a bit on my blog) The sourwood will get tall, like 30 feet, but it stays narrow and it is such a slow grower, it would take forever to be that big.
2. Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum)
via-plantbuzz.com
Or a redbud (Cercis). Fantastic flowering in April, nice heart shaped leaves. It will get large. I had a Cercis reniformis, but lost it. Now I have Cercis 'Forest Pansy' and it has beautiful wine colored leaves, if you think dark foliage would suit the front of your house.
3. Redbud (Cercis-Forest Pansy)
via-OregonStateEdu
If you want a wilder, woodland shrub look, I am growing blackhaw viburnums as tree shapes (Viburnum prunifolium). They want to be multi-stemmed shrubs, so I am pruning off suckers and lower branches every year to get a nice artistic shape. They have gorgeous white flowers in spring, blue berries, and reddish fall color. I'll do a post. But they can be tangled looking, not really refined. Branching is dense.
4. Blackhaw viburnum (Viburnum prunifolium)
Or maybe a corneliancherry (Cornus mas). It's a dogwood (really!) that flowers yellow in earliest spring, looking like a very refined, upright forsythia. It too wants to be multi-stemmed, but I am cutting off lower branches to get a single stem.
5. Corneliancherry (Cornus mas)
.jpg)
via-Plantplaces.com
A doublefile viburnum is spectacular. (Viburnum plicatum tomentosum). It is not a single trunk tree shape, it is actually quite large and horizontal, but would be a great anchor in a bed if you have the room. Wonderful flowers and berries.
6. Doublefile viburnum (Viburnum plicatum tomentosum)
via-Smith.edu
If your front yard has any shade, a Pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia), would be elegant, with horizontal, delicate branching, but I found they are hard to get. I do have one, but it is still quite young.
7. Pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia)
via-Monrovia.com
By far the best choice for a front yard, though, would be an upright Japanese maple, and there are so many, your nursery could help.
8. upright Japanese maple
So in an effort to lose grass, gain a larger garden and to create privacy from the street I will be picking one of these lovely suggestions from Laurrie! I like each one of them for different reasons. Which one would you vote for? I would love your feedback!
- Flowering dogwood (Cornus Florida)
- Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum)
- Redbud (Cercis-Forest Pansy)
- Blackhaw viburnum (Viburnum prunifolium)
- Corneliancherry (Cornus mas)
- Doublefile viburnum (Viburnum plicatum tomentosum)
- Pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia)
- upright Japanese maple
Good luck with your front garden, I would love one like in the Martha Stewart magazine.
ReplyDeleteI love those full-flowered front yards. I'm not sure I could manage it. :)
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned a Hawthorne...I don't have one, but think they're beautiful. Keep in mind...they have large thorns...that's the reason my husband didn't want one. We have a fruitless flowering crabapple in the front yard and love it. It's a decent grower and is beautiful in the spring! Good luck with your beds. :)
Kelly
I vote for redbud. I love forest pansy, but plain native redbuds are great and real troopers. I love dogwoods, but here (zone 7B, mid south) dogwoods tend to be a bit finicky -- some years they bloom beautifully, some years not so much, and the ones people plant (in contrast to the ones that come up by themselves in the woods) tend to be relatively shortlived and self destruct -- get kind of pitiful looking. Usually because folks have planted them in the middle of the yard in full scorching sun and they like to be on the edges of woods.
ReplyDeleteYou can't hardly kill a redbud even if you try. The bark and shape is attractive in winter, and the spring flowers are wonderful.
such lovely choices, we have the redbud and dogwoods growing wild in the woods here-they are gorgeous trees
ReplyDeleteI vote for the Doublefile viburnum - it made me catch my breath. It looks timeless and like it has a story to tell.
ReplyDeleteWe too have a chemical free lawn, I'd like to get rid of it but town by-laws don't allow for it (don't get me started). For now it's for the best, though, because I recently moved from zone 5 to zone 2b and the learning curve is steeper than I'd like to admit.
I like all of them but think a doublefile viburnum is a keeper. I had them in my garden in SC. Virburnum are super tough, grow quickly, and those flowers are beautiful! The red bud is also one of my favorites. The viburnum grows to a manageable height and is easy to prune. Check to see if you need another cultivar to produce berries.
ReplyDeleteI would love to landscape our yard!
ReplyDeleteI love the flowering dogwood ;) and the other one that's supposed to grow to 30 because if its unique leaves and more vibrant color ;)
ReplyDeleteFun fun! This is making me think about digging out a garden in the middle of our manicured lawn... Hmmmm
xo
My vote is for #6 - so full and pretty.
ReplyDeleteOur son went to UC Berkeley and I loved visiting him there. The town is totally thinking green. Alice Waters of Chez Panisse is famous for her gardening and sustainability movement. Many of the houses were built when the university was built and the whole town has such character. I remember seeing the beautiful gardens all around town.
That's a difficult choice! I do love dogwood, but the redbud is pretty, too. I would have to go with whatever is hardiest in your region. It is going to be beautiful, whatever you decide. Be sure to share with us! xx
ReplyDeleteIsn't blogging fun? Looks like you got some great suggestions; have you made a choice yet? We don't use chemicals on our lawn either, but maybe that is because it is almost 5 acres! Can't wait to see what you come up with!
ReplyDeleteI love the dogwood ... nothing better than seeing a beautiful flowering tree in springtime. Here we have flowering crabapples and cherries that look amazing too (and I believe they are fairly hardy in many zones). The pink/white of the dogwood would glow nicely against the backdrop of that large tree near your house. I also like the redbud. You have a lot of space in the yard, so I don't think you're limited to just one tree choice, as long as there is room for all threes to spread their canopies as they mature. Good luck in your decision. Wendy
ReplyDeleteI'm a sucker for the flowering dogwood. I think they are always elegant. I don't know if that's what you are going for. :-) I really enjoyed that article in Martha Stewart too. Your pictures are always so beautiful...really lifted my morning.
ReplyDeleteWell I'm definitely going over to check out her blog now.
ReplyDeleteI took all the grass out of our front yard several years ago. I needed more dirt! :) We also took out a magnolia that was horribly misshapen from years of bad pruning and it was the messiest tree known to man. We ended up putting in a flowering apple and I love it. But like you, I struggled over the decision for months.
I do love dogwood. My sister had one in her front yard in her first home and it gives off some serious curb appeal. And no mess! I think I'd be torn between that and the Japanese maple, if it were me.
My first choice would be the pagoda dogwood. With flowering dogwood there is some risk of anthracnose, though it is a wonderful tree. Both dogwoods are excellent for birds. The Blackhaw Viburnum has good berries for birds, but you are unlikely to get many berries unless you have at least two plants. These choices, as well as the Redbud, are all native to the Midwest.
ReplyDeleteI love all of them and think they would all look lovely. My personal favourites are the Flowering Dogwood and Redbud :-)
ReplyDeleteThat magazine looks so pretty!
Hope you're having a great weekend!
Sarah x
Thanks, Nicole for the wonderful compliments in this post. I had fun picking out front yard trees to suggest to you (gardening advice is always fun when someone else is paying).
ReplyDeleteNow that I see each of the great example pictures you pulled from different sources, I don't know what would be best! With your pale gray house behind, I think the purple leaves of a Forest Pansy redbud or a dark Japanese maple would really pop.
Can't wait to see your front garden develop.
I vote for #4 or #6... I think they are both gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteSusan
Don't you just love those front yards? I would love it if ours looked that way. Right now it is just a mess of weeds - although they are green, there probably is very little grass among them LOL But we love birds more than we love grass and with the red Georgia clay it's hard to grow anything resembling a wonderful garden without lots of chemicals which I just won't do. So birdseed weeds will do. We are setting up vegetable gardens in the front of the house where shrubs would be. Did it last year and this year have new raised beds that we are putting in. Maybe little by little our yard will someday look like those in the magazine pictures you shared. LOL
ReplyDeleteThe gardens are beautiful! I love the Corneliancherry! Excited to have a large enough yard to play around with one day! xo
ReplyDeleteI like the redbud and the japanese maple. I like the color of it leaves. Our friends just planted a weeping plum and cherry. They are really pretty! Good luck, I can't wait to see what you end up planting.
ReplyDeleteI must pick up an April issue of Martha Stewart Living. Love that first image especially.
ReplyDeleteI think Laurrie has some great suggestions and I honestly like them all. I guess I would choose one of the more vase-shaped options and perhaps something with the bonus of flowers.
Oh we had a redbud in the backyard and for some reason it died last year. I loved the white flowers it bloomed in the spring then the deep purple brown leaves were a great color in my brown and green backyard during summer. It was not too messy by the pool either...I miss my tree!
ReplyDeleteI hope you have my room ready, for when I leave the desert (and scorpions, ALREADY - I am horrified, and glad I'm away right now) behind, and move into your kick-ass flower house! That Double-file sucker gets my vote - big, bushy, and neighbor blocking. I also miss the beautiful, fragrant magnolia I had in St. Louis, when we lived there. Whatever you plant, I know your yard will ROCK, but I WILL miss the garden drawing! Happy St. Patrick's Day, Nicole - Tanya
ReplyDeleteI love the flowering dogwood (the first one), it's so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI just loved the front yards in Berkley from that Martha article! I would love to do something similar and get rid of my lawn--ugh. There is nothing I hate more than mowing!
ReplyDeleteI vote for the Japanese maple! I'm just mesmerized by those leaves! I love those images of the front yard gardens. Good luck with your new bed. You will have such fun picking out all the plants!
ReplyDeleteYour choice will depend on your colour scheme and the colour of your house. When contemplating a tree I also think about winter interest. Colourful or peeling bark or interesting shaped branches. Think about toxic fruit too. Looking forward to seeing what you choose.
ReplyDeleteNicole... I totally vote for the redbud ~ cercis forest pansy... the photo here does not do it justice. There is a redbud at my son's preschool and it has the most amazing purple flowers in the spring and the leaves are a large heart shape and it has excellent fall color as well. I am dying to get one. I vote for the red japanese maple second for the amazing red contrast against the green but there are no spring flowers.
ReplyDeleteI would not choose a tree until they are all leafed out this spring and you can see them in person. You will have much more clarity then!
flowering dogwood simply for its beautiful formation and sweet sweet flowers!
ReplyDeleteBec x
Those gardens are beautiful! Good luck with yours. My favourite small tree is one that is not on that list, Crepe Myrtle. It has beautiful flowers, great bark and gorgeous autumn colour!
ReplyDeleteI never thought to utilize my front that way or to consider different varieties of trees, however after reading this it makes perfect sense. This has me thinking about all sorts of possibilities! I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with your front yard!!!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great plan! We have two dogwoods in the front yard, the nice thing about them is how slow they grow since we have power lines above them. one negative is ours didn't bloom a few times, not sure why.
ReplyDelete