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Building a house...where to start?
Hi ladies!
DH and I are building our first house starting in a couple weeks. The builder provides 1 tree on our lot (not sure what kind), and seeds the grass for us. The rest is up to us to do. We're not in a hurry to do it (since we'll be moving in at the end of August, I assume a lot will have to wait until spring), but are starting to look for ideas.
We don't want anything to complicated, but enough to look like a beautiful little landscaped yard. We love being outside, so we don't mind some upkeep.
There are 2 things we must put in our yard, and both are sentimental reasons:
1, A red oak because DH grew up with one in his yard and my grandparents also had one so we would like our kids to have one too.
2. A Yucca plant. My dad is from New Mexico originally, and they had them all over the place down there. My parents and brother both have one in their yards, and I would like one too.
Other than that, we're pretty open to ideas. We have a corner lot, so there is lots of room. We're in the Harrisburg, PA area if that helps.
Re: Building a house...where to start?
Oh okay I was kind of confused.
Are you having a contractor do the house? You just purchase the plans type situation. My husband and I plan on moving and building in about 5 years (we currently live in an APT) but we want to hire someone to do the foundation/framing siding but we are going to do the rest ourselves (with help from my dad/brother both contractors) But I'm going to sit down with a planner and do my own home plans. I'm always curious how it works.
Be sure you have a good base of loam. As, if not, the seed your builder throws down will likely go to waste and you'll end up having to reseed. To get the base we needed (a good start is 4-6"), we brought in 600 yds. Needless to say, that was a nice chunk of $ and we went without a lawn for a little while!
Other than that, look around at pics online...BHG has some great landscaping ideas! Good luck!
Not sure how well Yuca does in PA but the seed pods from maples in your gutters and flower beds will be the bain of your existence for the rest of your days in that house if you plant a maple. There are maples all around us and every year we are overwhelmed with the pods and then baby maples - everywhere.
Yucca is native to a vast part of North America. There are species that will work in Harrisburg, and even Canada; but they may not be the same as the ones in NM.
Most builders install Maples because they're the cheapest and most abundant shade trees in the nursery trade. They usually have root deformities.
You should hire a competent LA or CPLD as soon as possible- even before building, because they can advise you on how to position the house on the lot (if you have that kind of leeway).