Landscaping Ideas?!

[Starlight4leah]

We are currently leasing a house with 10 acres, and lets just say the front yard could use a little 'pick me up.' We want to redo the front yard for my mother for her birthday and Mother's Day. Her favorite flowers are marigolds and she loves lilac/lavender. I can't upload photos on here for some reason, but we do have a porch and on each side there are bushes (the kind that smell like cat pee) and we hate them so we will be removing them and either putting burning bush (if we can find it) or lavender bushes. Which bush would be better, and do you have any other ideas for bushes? Also, does anyone know of any ideas for getting cheap mulch? I will try to upload the photos from my phone so everyone can get an idea of it. We do have a gazebo and are thinking of putting a fire pit right in the middle of it, so if you have any ideas please let me know. We have a tone of fancy whiteish/pink stones that we will be using as a border for the flower beds. There are also a ton of rose bushes all out front along with some other crappy looking bushes that we will be yanking out (were keeping the roses, not the bushes). Any ideas as to what to plant in place of those bushes? Also, any inspiration photos from your yards would be helpful! Thank you!

 

[Starlight4leah]

Here are some photos of the main part we are doing. We have bought bird feeders, we have the books to hang things on, we have a garden knome, we will be getting a wooden porch swing, possibly making a birdbath, we have solar powered lights/lanterns, we will be redoing the sidewalk as we already have all of the materials needed for that, we have a fountain that we need to clean up, and we still need to get mulch and two big planters. Anything else we should get? Any ideas as to what else we could use or need? Thanks.

 

[baymule]

If you can't find cheap mulch and have to buy some, put down cardboard or paper feed sacks first. That way you can use less mulch and won't have to buy as much.

 

[Starlight4leah]

If you can't find cheap mulch and have to buy some, put down cardboard or paper feed sacks first. That way you can use less mulch and won't have to buy as much.

Thank you! We are actually getting newspapers, because I heard they help to prevent weeds. Is that true?

 

[Nyboy]

Welcome Do you know what zone your in ?

 

[Starlight4leah]

Welcome Do you know what zone your in ?

Honestly, I don't know what zone I am in. We are new to this whole gardening thing. We live in Texas.

 

[Nyboy]

A few of our members are from Texas

 

[so lucky]

If your mom like purple, maybe a purple clematis or two planted on that archway would be nice. They like full sun but need their roots shaded, so you would want to plant low growing plants with it to keep it happy. Maybe the lavender lantana? I bet it does great in Texas. You can get marigolds in a pale yellow that would look good with purple.
You could use the arch as the focal point of a garden area, and extend it back towards the house.
I would suggest you get the OK from your landlord before you take out any permanent plantings. Those cat scented ones are a pretty common one, boxwood, I think. They also can be pruned back to make a more appealing planting.
Lavender may take a while to get to a good size, and lilacs grow pretty slow and sometimes sparsely. Check pinterest for front door garden ideas.

 

[Smart Red]

Howdy, @Starlight4leah! Glad to have you growing with us.

Those 'cat pee' smells last only as long as the bushes flower -- very early in the spring. Otherwise they are a nice, easy to trim shrub border planting. I would carefully reconsider the burning bush. I have a couple myself, purchased before I learned that they are an invasive in many parts of the country. Check your area out first. There are a plethera of other beautiful and even flowering shrubs that you might want to look into.

So lucky is right! You might want to go more for container plantings until you know what is allowed by your landlord as well as how long you might stay. It is easy to sink a lot of money into a beautiful, 'easy to care for' yard.

Clematis can be planted in a container and still grace that archway for many, many years. It looks to me as if a goodly amount of pruning will make a big difference in the yard and foundation plantings. Then you can add annuals to the front for colorful borders.

 

[ninnymary]

Do you really want to invest that much time and money into property that isn't yours? I would go with what @Smart Red says and just go for a quick makeover with pruning and annuals. Unless your landlord is willing to reimburse you for the plants.

Mary