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New house = landscaping newbie needs help
We are looking into landscape options for our backyard. I don't know the right names for things but we are thinking of doing something along the side of the house with bricks like the ones in the pic, it would be about 1 1/2 to 2 feet high with smaller plants than in the pic.
To start if anyone can offer a name for this type of gardening please help - I've been searching things like raised planters - and that's not the right name. Or maybe you know of some good websites with ideas for this type of thing. (BHG.com has some Nice ideas but it's out of our league for the most part).
I'm worried about it being up against the house because I don't know if we should fill dirt up against the siding. (we have several inches of foundation showing and then siding) I've also considered doing this up against a wood fence similar to the pic, but I don't know if I am supposed to fill the dirt against the fence?
The main thing is my dh wants to hide the ugly bottom of the house and do something that may add value to the house - my main thing is I want to keep the dog out of it because she just chewed off the tomato plant from the bottom of my topsy turvy planter 
Oh and if anyone has an estimate of how much material we would need for a project like this spanning at least 15 feet maybe 3 feet wide at most let me know what we could expect. Our neighbors recently used a moving van to haul soil, mulch, and stone and another neighbor had a 5 ft tall pile of mulch delivered to his driveway for a tiny spot in their front yard! Is this going to be such a massive undertaking??? Obviously I need advice - so someone please point me in the right direction to get started.
idk how active this board gets, but if anyone is willing to provide feedback on some pics of my yard let me know and I'll take and post some - tia!
Re: New house = landscaping newbie needs help
I responded on your other post, but I know each of thoe rocks costs about $5 in my area. Also, one yard of bulk mulch covers 100 sq ft spreading it three inches deep.
Don't put dirt against siding. Instead, put evergreen shrubs that stay low against the house, then put plants in front of them to add interest.
Need to know what area of the country you are in, and much/little sun the area gets.
Since you're completely new, it'd be worth your while to call up nurseries around you and see if they offer landscape design services. You want somewhere where you just pay a one-time fee for the design and aren't obligated to use their plants or their labor. I got a very detailed plan for our current house for $70 - she spent about an hour outside and did three plans - our front, back and way back yards.
The exact name of the thing in your picture is a "raised bed", not planter. And yes, landscaping bricks/rocks are stupid expensive. You might want to rethink that and just plant your things in the ground. Not to mention, when you do a raised bed, you have to fill in with additional soil, so that's another cost.
If you didn't know, plants have zones set by the USDA. Google USDA zones to find yours. For foundation shrubs, I'm a HUGE fan of Otto Luyken Laurels - they're evergreen, a little different and have lovely leaves to use for Christmas. It grows in zones 4-8, so that's most of the country, except the far north and deep south. The laurels get 4ft tall and 6ft wide. That height means they never need to be pruned and if you space them properly to begin with, they'll fill in to a lush hedge.
Along with the laurels' size is something very important: choose plants that grow to be the size you want. Do not put a shrub that gets 10ft tall and 8ft wide right in front of your pretty bay window - you'll be whacking on it forever. Choose a plant that meets that location's needs and gardening can become much easier.
Just start reading and you'll learn a lot. I really don't enjoy gardening/landscaping/whatever, but I do it because it's important to me for my house to be great looking. Go to the library and check out some books, google things and follow links, etc. I also second a book for plants for your state - they're very common and you can learn a great deal.
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That's called a retaining wall. Those blocks are $1.97 at my lowes, and their max height is 2 feet.You may need a building permit for it.
Don't put dirt against your siding, and don't put thirsty plants near your foundation.
A simpler idea if you don't need to recontour the yard is to just dig the edges where you want the bed to be. Plants will give you height. Try googling perennial border.
I just found this site while I was looking for something for myself. It's a good introduction to the most common shrubs. You're likely to find all of these at HD/Lowe's.
http://www.wilsonbroslandscape.com/ShrubFileLaurelOttoLuyken.htm
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Thinking of doing cosmetic updates to a dated home? These were our costs.