Our Landscaping Plans
It won’t be quite a while until we can tackle most of our intended scope, but while we were coming up with our plans for the renovation, we also enlisted a local landscaping company, Ryan Lawn, to help us devise a landscaping plan we hope to implement over time. Ryan Lawn provides irrigation and lawn treatment services for a number of our neighbors and their lawns look truly amazing, so we knew we would be in good hands. As part of their services, one of their designers will coordinate with you to come up with a plan, to include a 3D walk-through and, should you choose to move forward, the cost of the design service will be credited towards the project implementation.
A large reason why we engaged them so early on is that we are going to be installing a French drain to help alleviate our drainage issues, and we wanted a plan for how that will be addressed, since we have to terminate it quite a ways from the street.
It’s not fully finessed, but you can find a link to the walk-through here.
Our inspiration in large part is English gardens, which are informal in nature, and full of curvy shapes, variety and contrasts. In the front we envision a curving hedge of boxwoods for structure (The rendering currently doesn’t show a hedge, but that is our intention.) with tall hydrangeas layered behind tucked up close to the house. In front I would like a variety of shorter perennials. I absolutely love lavender (for its scent and mosquito-repellant qualities), and am definitely wanting to incorporate Black-Eyed Susans, which are the Maryland state flower (where I am originally from). We have a lot of shade, so we definitely have to keep that in mind when making our selections. Hydrangeas are a popular choice in our neighborhood, along with hostas for this reason.
In the backyard I would love to grow a butterfly garden with a variety of flowering perennials, and we would like to plant a Yoshino cherry tree in homage to our time in DC and our first home, which had a pair of cherry trees in the front yard which were stunning each spring. My husband, who was born in late March, would always associate the blooms with his birthday.
Below is some inspiration from our neighborhood. One of my favorite things to do on walks is to check out what everyone has in their gardens.:
We also have plans to incorporate a large patio for outdoor dining (someday) and a fire pit. For now we will just dream, but I’m imagining irregular flagstone that complements the stone exterior. We are toying with the idea of finishing it off with a course of bricks to mimic the brick details on our home.
Welcome! I’m Jena. I am an interior designer and mom who has recently relocated to the Kansas City area. Thank you for following along as we uncover the true potential of our new home.