Planting done near to the house foundation, is of great importance because it may make or break the appearance of the home as it is seen from the street. Yet, it is often done with little understanding of the problems involved; disappointing results are all too common.
There will always be differences of opinion as to the kinds of plants to be used. Some prefer narrow-leaved evergreens, some want flowering shrubs, and still others use a combination of the two. Narrow-leaved evergreens will provide green color through the year with some variation in the different varieties.
Flowering shrubs will have bare stems in winter, some of which are very colorful, but will give an informal effect, as well as life and color to the planting during the summer. Broad-leaved evergreens, where they may be grown successfully, will be green throughout the year and give some flower color in spring. With these facts in mind each home owner should use the plants of his choice.
Pit the Planting to Style of House
Probably there is better reason for more planting around the base of a house having a high foundation wall exposed above the soil line than there is around a house with low foundation walls. A large-growing shade tree placed 15 to 20 feet from the corner of a house minimizes rather effectively the high appearance of a house that is narrow and upright. Plants with a horizontal branching habit help, as do structural devices such as window boxes, window blinds,
Regardless of the kinds of plants to be selected, they should all be chosen and planted in positions where they will not be too large for the area when they mature. Most home owners can get agreeable results by working with enlarged photographs, beginning with a picture of the front of the house and then views of the other sides.
Drawings, made to scale, of each elevation of the house can be used with equal effectiveness. In either case, place a piece of tracing paper over the photograph or drawing and, with a soft pencil or crayon, block in the various foliage masses you think will look best.
Usually it is best to have low-growing shrubs at the sides of the doorway, somewhat symmetrically space.. All entrance plantings, however, need not be symmetrical. If there is an unbroken, large wall space at one side of the door, a tree-form shrub or a vine might fill that space and provide an attractive variation from the more usual design.
In the case of a split-level house, taller growing shrubs or small trees may be used at the high corners and the low corners may be treated as for a one-story house.
What planting is done along wall spaces will be governed largely by the length of that wall and the location of the door, windows, and wall spaces. Uninterrupted wall spaces, several feet wide, between a door and a window or between two windows, may need a foliage mass somewhat higher than the window sill.
Sometimes a small-growing tree is planted beside a window to provide shade, to block the view from the street into the room, or for some less obvious reason, such as variety from the more usual design. If either of these plantings is located somewhat to one side of the wall space, it will usually be more interesting than one set exactly in the middle. Also, the length and height of each wall space will be the clue for the kind and number of plants to be used. A large wall space usually will require more plants and taller-growing ones.
Above all, planning will help you to decide the type of plants most suited to your house.
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