Question
Small front garden
The small garden off my front porch never really looks completely right. It's approximately 15' X 20'. The evergreen fixed plantings are a little gem magnolia & a dwarf & a semi-drawrf cryptomeria, a dwarf gardenia & a low growing creeping euonymous& a sky pencil holly. The deciduous bushes are a golden spirea & a variagated leafed weiglia. There are many bulbs that comes up at different times and I fill in with annuals, mostly coleus and plectranthus. I feel it doesn't look cohesive and that the height of the plants are too flat, although I have five large pots throughout that I use in an attempt to add some variation in height. This garden is right off my front door, so is important in my efforts to create curb appeal for my upcoming sales attempt. Any help would be appreciated.
AnswerPlease do not take offense at my comments, as you obviously care a great deal about this area (as evident by the all the shrub-trimming) So, to my impressions:
From the picture, right off the bat I'd say the pots actually make it look less "permanent" and are actually too small for the space. I'd use at least 2-foot diameter pots on the steps, and match the door trim (black?).
the Magnolia looks fine, but I'd cut down on so many mixtures of plants and concentrate on a few larger plants, like two more of each of the larger existing plants (wegelia/cryptomeria?) They need companions to look like they belong in this space. I advocate planting shrubs in odd-numbered groups of no less than three.
Partially "hiding" the door from the main road/driveway with these additional plants could create the drama & sense of arrival that you hope for in this space.
One last comment, if you stick with no more than three accent flowers, it will feel less like an after-thought.
Hope my "comments" didn't hit too many nerves. Best of luck to you ~Marc
