The narrow space between houses
wolfe15136
18 years ago
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Comments (10)
esmerrelda
18 years agopitimpinai
18 years agoRelated Discussions
Help design space between houses.
Comments (8)If you wish to keep the existing fence, it would look much better if you removed the top horizontal board and replaced it with a 2 x 4, and then capped the whole thing off with a 2 x 6, pitched at an angle (like a roof) to drain rainwater. I understand that weathering wood is desired for it's perceived low maintenance, but truly, it would look vastly better (and last longer) if painted. It would be a 1-hour job with a roller, and probably an hour to clean it with bleach before painting. I have seen English Ivy grown into a chain link fence so that it was a turned into a green fence. It must be sheared like a hedge if one wishes to keep it from becoming too thick. Such panels could be strategically added above the existing fence. As an alternative, there is fake English Ivy that is made specifically to be woven into a chain link fence for screening purposes. Last week, I happened to drive by just such a fence. While it generally looked like ivy, it also looked very "engineered" with an artificial aura about it. (I stopped to investigate in order to determine what it was. The advantage, of course, it that there is never any trimming or worry about if it is getting enough water and fertilizer. (I added a link below.) Another idea that occurs is to add panels of outdoor fabric that is stretched by being laced to a tubular steel frame (like a trampoline is stretched within a frame, but with lacing instead of springs.) It works better to use clothesline wire, cable or similar metal instead of rope, bungee or plastic ties. None of the latter hold up against sunlight. One advantage of fabric is that it doesn't create oppressive darkness. Here is a link that might be useful: Fake Ivy for Chain Link Fence...See Moregarden mysteries
Comments (14)>>On the irrigation front, that back lawn will be the death of me. It has one area that always seems to be somewhat soggy (yes, just where the "worm droppings" are), but other bits on the same sprinkler circuit always seem to be overly dry. It could be the soil itself. We ran into a similar problem with our previous house. The owner had a tree in the spot, then decided to remove it. They then filled the hole with some sort of clay/dirt mixture that really turns messy when wet, and holds the water too long. The grass grew over the bald spot by the time we bought the house and the bad patch was not noticeable until we watered the lawn. I ended up digging the clay out, and replacing with dirt mixture that was more compatible with the rest of the lawn....See MoreNew Home in Woods - What about the narrow space around the house?
Comments (11)Both Euonymus and ivy have the potential to be invasive in woodlands, seeded by birds eating the fruit and then planting them wherever they perch. There are places near me where the entire understory is Euonymus pink in the fall, leaving no space for native shrubs. One native herbaceous plant that should do well in your area is partridge berry (Mitchella repens). It will slowly spread. Phlox divericata will grow and bloom in a fair amount of shade. Many native ferns would work here as well and there are a bunch of native sedges (Carex) that grow well in shade, such as Carex pensylvanica which makes a nice lawn substitute in shade in several areas of my property, and it doesn't need mowing. There are also a lot of ephemeral herbaceous plants that will sprout, bloom, and then fade away in summer such as some of the woodland anemones, spring beauty (Claytonia), Trilliums (be sure to get nursery propagated, not just nursery raised), Jack-in-the-pulpit, etc. For shrubs and small trees, I f your soil is at least a bit acid, look at Fothergilla and mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia). Spicebush (Lindera benzoin).is a very large shrub with an early haze of blooms and beautiful yellow fall color. If you plant several, you may also get berries, since you would need male and female plants. Some other large shrubs include Aronia (chokeberry) and Amelanchier (shadblow) will have spring flowers and late summer fruit. See if Pagoda dogwood (Cornish alternifolia) or flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) are available in your area as they will do fine with part sun. Another small to medium sized tree that should do well is redbud (Cercis canadensis). Everything I have suggested so far is native. Some herbaceous non-natives will look good and should grow, but not seed into the woodlands to outcompete natives, include Epimeium, of which there are many types available, hosta hybrids, and Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra). If you have some areas with a few hours of sun and if your soil is acid, look at Pieris and Rhododendrons for flowers and evergreen winter interest....See MoreDilemma: what trees for narrow space between my house and neighbor's?
Comments (19)This might have been mentioned. (I didn't read everything.) If you had a groundcover below the trees, there stands a good chance that many leaves would disappear into it as they sift down, and then just convert to "mulch" over time. I don't think it looks good to have shrubs below the trees as it seems everything is competing visually with everything else. It could either be a tree form with groundcover below, or a shrub form that is allowed to cover all the ground space. Whatever plant (tree or shrub) you pick, if it's reasonably narrow, I wouldn't worry about some if it crossing the property line as that's just the way life is with limited space yards. It happens everywhere. The neighbor has the right to cut back to the property line. Also, I wouldn't worry that a plant is labeled necessarily as "tree" or "shrub". For small trees and large shrubs this is a massive "grey area." Many plants can fit either category depending on how you prune them....See Morewolfe15136
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