front yard landscaping w/ brown thumb...

ArmyWife123

i seem to kill everything other than grass (and 1 lei tree that has miraculously survived 3 years with me! yeaaa!) and now i have a landscaping problem.  DH and i are renting a house, and there was a round thing in the center of the front yard that was full of nothing but weeds w/ lava rocks under them surrounded by those curvy topped landscaping stone things (like i said- im HORRIBLE!!! sorry).  anyway- i made it a project to dig up the weeds and rocks, and discovered there used to be a tree in there.  there was a rotten tree stump burried underneath the weeds, and HUGE roots.  so i had DH pull it up and fill the hole back in w/ dirt.  now i have a big blank spot in my front yard and NO idea what to do w/ it.  i'd like to do something kind of cute or creative, but (again) im just no good with this whole landscaping idea....

any ideas??  its probably about 3' in diameter and literally in the center of the front yard.

 TIA!!

laddiebug

What zone are you in? Is the spot full sun/part sun/part shade/ full shade?

This is information that would be useful in plant selection.

ArmyWife123

zone??  im in central texas.  and its full sun i would guess.  maybe a tiny bit of shade really late in the day when the sun sets behind the house...

j+k

Well don't plant any annuals now. Only a perrenial.  Have you considered going to your local garden nursery and asking them?

If you really stink at gardening, and are in a hot climate, I'd consider a simple rock garden or some kind with minimal, easy plants such as grasses or succulents...something that would stand the heat, sun and drought. 

Take a picture, going into a nice garden nursery and ask to speak to one of their landscaping specialists for ideas.

ArmyWife123

j+k:

Well don't plant any annuals now. Only a perrenial.  Have you considered going to your local garden nursery and asking them?

If you really stink at gardening, and are in a hot climate, I'd consider a simple rock garden or some kind with minimal, easy plants such as grasses or succulents...something that would stand the heat, sun and drought. 

Take a picture, going into a nice garden nursery and ask to speak to one of their landscaping specialists for ideas.

rock garden.... now that sounds like my kind of gardening!!!   thank you!

i love the idea of asking a nursery worker, but there arent any close to us at all... best we have is lowes and home depot, and they just dont come close to being helpful at all.

laddiebug

Take a look at this map and see what zone you are. I'm guessing 7 or 8.

Plant Hardiness Zones

Knowing your zone will help you select plants that will grow well where you are. The tags in plants will have information regarding what zone it grows best in, light requirements, etc.

You'll be looking for tags that say full sun, zone [fill in which zone you are]. Those tags will also tell you how far apart to plant as well as how big the plant will get.

~NB~

From a design standpoint, why do you need to plant anything there? Just because someone ELSE did, and left a ring of stones there, doesn't mean it was a good idea in the first place.

To plop something down in the middle of the front yard without having an overall design objective is a mistake. If this landscape feature has no sense of place there, it WAS a mistake. Maybe it should be relocated or removed altogether.

From a practical standpoint, how much of an investment are you willing to make as a renter?

At any rate, discuss this with your landlord, and obtain written permission.

ArmyWife123

~NB~:

From a design standpoint, why do you need to plant anything there? Just because someone ELSE did, and left a ring of stones there, doesn't mean it was a good idea in the first place.

To plop something down in the middle of the front yard without having an overall design objective is a mistake. If this landscape feature has no sense of place there, it WAS a mistake. Maybe it should be relocated or removed altogether.

From a practical standpoint, how much of an investment are you willing to make as a renter?

At any rate, discuss this with your landlord, and obtain written permission.

im not set on planting anything at all.  my only issue is that its just a big empty space- will grass fill it in at some point??  we did plant grass seeds before it started getting cold and it took off very well, but im not sure if it will fill in the gap or how long it will take if it does...?  it just feels very odd to have a big blank space in the center of the yard to me.... just looking for ideas

i definitely dont want to spend too much as we will most likely be moving out in may, and luckily we spoke w/ the homeowner and she gave me permission to do anything outside except paint the house...

laddiebug

ArmyWife123:

im not set on planting anything at all.  my only issue is that its just a big empty space- will grass fill it in at some point??  we did plant grass seeds before it started getting cold and it took off very well, but im not sure if it will fill in the gap or how long it will take if it does...?  it just feels very odd to have a big blank space in the center of the yard to me.... just looking for ideas

i definitely dont want to spend too much as we will most likely be moving out in may, and luckily we spoke w/ the homeowner and she gave me permission to do anything outside except paint the house...

If you want to just let the grass fill it in, then you're off to a good start. Keep an eye on it once it starts to warm up and reseed any grass spots that aren't coming in as you find them. It'll fill itself in.