Michigan State University Extension
Ornamental Plants plus Version 3.0 - 00001777
11/12/99
FITTING ORNAMENTAL PLANTS INTO THE LANDSCAPE
Careful landscape planning can increase your family's
enjoyment of your property and add significantly to the
value of your home. Far too often homeowners begin
landscaping without a plan. They plant a few shade trees
here and there and evergreen shrubs around the house's
foundation. This haphazard approach rarely looks good,
often does not fit in with the family's activities, and
can cost as much as a well planned landscape. Most
important, an unorganized planting can increase the time
and money needed to maintain the plantings.
Consider your landscape an outdoor extension of your
home. Be sure to look at the view from the windows in
each room in your home.
Walk over the property and note both good and bad
features of the landscape. Consider the location of
walks, drives, utilities and existing plants. Look for
good views you wish to keep, as well as bad views you
would prefer to hide. Examine how the sun and wind strike
the house and decide whether you wish to modify these.
Look for ways to increase privacy in certain areas of your
landscape.
Once you have identified the major features of the yard,
you are ready to put your ideas on paper by making a
plan.
Developing a Plan
To place ornamental plants properly, you need some sort of
plan. A scale drawing provides a bird's-eye view of your
property and should accurately locate the major features
of the landscape. Measure as accurately as possible using
graph paper. If a surveyor's plan is available, it might
be a helpful reference. Some of the items that should be
part of the plan are:
--Property lines.
--The house, drives, walks and fences.
--Utility poles, lines and meters.
--Underground utilities, pipes or the septic system.
--Compass directions.
--The roof overhang, water spigots, windows and
doors.
All existing features should be located and recorded.
Site Inventory and Analysis
Once you have a scale drawing, analyze the environmental
features of your property. This can be done most easily
by laying a clean sheet of paper over your plan and
tracing onto it.
Look at the way the sun moves across your property.
Mark very shady areas where shade-tolerant plants can be
used. If the sun shines on the house too much during the
summer, mark spots to plant deciduous trees. These trees
will shade the house in summer but allow the sun to shine
on the house in winter when they drop their leaves.
Do you need to protect the house from winter winds?
Mark the direction of the prevailing winter wind. Keep in
mind a windbreak must be at least 1 1/2 times its height
away from the object to be protected. Make a note of
areas where snow drifts onto walks and drives. A planting
of shrubs may be able to act as a living snow fence.
What are the soils like? Many times poor subsoil is
left on the surface of the site after construction. Such
soil is not very good for growing plants. Have the soil
tested to determine its pH and possible fertilizer needs.
Areas where water collects need to be marked so that
plants intolerant of poor drainage will not be planted
there. If possible, correct drainage problems before
planting.
Mark good views to be saved and poor views to be blocked
out. Note sources of noise that may be muffled with a
planting of dense trees or shrubs.
Are there areas where unwanted traffic is killing the lawn
or compacting the soil? Perhaps a planting of low shrubs
or a ground cover can direct traffic to walks. Assessing
the Family Needs and Wants
How you use your yard will determine much of the planting
scheme. A few items to consider are listed below:
--Is an open, grassy play area needed for games?
--Are any family members allergic to specific plants,
bees, odors or pollen?
--Do you wish to have flower beds?
--Do you wish to have a vegetable garden?
--How much maintenance do you want to perform for your
landscape?
--Do you want an outdoor entertainment area such as a
patio?
--Does there need to be an area for pets?
--Will there be outdoor storage of firewood, a boat or
a camper?
--Will there be any future construction on the site?
Identifying Use Areas
Landscapes can be divided into areas according to their
use.
The public area is the part of your property that will be
seen by passers-by and guests. This area is usually where
cars are parked and guests enter the property. Trees
should frame the house and a pleasing foundation planting
should be developed.
Walks should not be obstructed by spreading or
low-branched trees or shrubs. Plantings should not
interfere with outdoor lighting and should not obscure the
house and number.
The foundation planting has several objectives. It needs
to accent the space next to the main entrance but not
contain several elements that compete for attention. The
planting should help attain a visual balance by
complementing the architectural style of the house. Avoid
a congested and overgrown look by using plants that are in
proper scale with the house. The use of low-maintenance
plants will cut down on the amount of work necessary to
keep the planting looking good.
The main entrance can be accented by using plants with
interesting and eye-catching color, shape or foliage
texture in the planting space next to the main entrance.
The same eye-catching plants, used elsewhere in the
landscape, will draw attention away from the main
entrance.
The plants used in the foundation planting need to be in
scale with the house. One-story homes with long, low
roof lines look best with dwarf evergreens or other small
plants. Two-story homes can accommodate larger plants.
The foundation plants should be one-third to one-half the
height from the ground to the bottom of the roof.
A continuous planting provides a more unifying effect than
individual plants scattered along the foundation.
The use of pest-resistant plants will reduce the amount of
maintenance required. Using dwarf or slow-growing shrubs
reduces the amount of pruning needed.
The private area provides privacy, pleasant views and
small garden spaces. These can be achieved through the
use of screens, hedges or fences.
Medium or large shrubs are needed for screens or hedges.
If a hedge is to be installed, the plants used must be
tolerant of shearing. Screens are usually not sheared.
The private area often includes an open lawn or play
area. The ornamental plants surrounding this area must be
selected with care. Most lawn grasses will not grow in
dense shade. Planting large shade trees where they will
eventually shade the lawn completely will make growing
grass difficult to impossible.
The same is true of vegetable gardens. These need to
be located in areas where they will be exposed to full
sun.
The service area may include such necessary objects as
trash cans, air conditioners and clotheslines that need to
be screened from view. This can be done with shrub
plantings. Plantings should not obstruct access to the
service area. Do not use plants with attention-getting
characteristics in or near the service area.
Developing a Planting Plan
Once the plan is complete, it is time to select the
plants. Select plants for the characteristics you need to
meet the goals of your plan. Ornamental characteristics
should be secondary to function. Make sure the plants
selected fit the environmental conditions you have
identified as existing on the site. Trees should not
interfere with overhead or underground utilities, and all
plants should be planted where they'll have adequate space
to develop.
When designing the foundation planting, be sure to
consider the overhang of the house. Plants growing under
the overhang may not get the benefit of every rain and
hence are often growing in excessively dry soil. On the
other hand, avoid planting directly in front of a
downspout -- during rainy weather, the plants may suffer
root injury from soggy soil.
Use plants with thorns judiciously. They make excellent
barrier plants but are unpleasant to prune. Plants with
fruits can be ornamental, but place them carefully so they
won't drop fruits onto walks, patios or driveways or into
swimming pools.
A continuous bed planting of shrubs will be easier to
establish and maintain than plants scattered about the
lawn. Shrubs in individual holes are usually surrounded
by grass that must be mowed or trimmed by hand. The shrub
bed can be mulched for weed control and plants can be more
easily fertilized.
Consider the seasonal effect of the planting. A row of
shrubs along walks or the driveway may cause snow to
drift and increase snow removal problems. Such plantings
may be injured when snow is shoveled or blown onto them.
Establish Priorities
Completing a landscape may take several years. Finish all
land leveling and necessary grade changes first. Then,
correct drainage problems. Install all hard-surfaced
areas before planting -- this will minimize damage to
plants by heavy equipment. Establish a lawn to reduce
dust and mud problems. Plant shade trees first. Be sure
to budget some time to water these trees. Then, plant
the shrubs beds, followed by the ground covers.
This information is for educational purposes only. References
to commercial products or trade names does not imply
endorsement by MSU Extension or bias against those not
mentioned. This information becomes public property upon
publication and may be printed verbatim with credit to MSU
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This file was generated from data base ZZ on 01/19/00.
Data base ZZ was last revised on 11/12/99.
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