First Timers - Landscaping

We have a major suburban landscaping intiative in the makings at our house, and I wanted publish a little of the creative process before the actual work begins. I will post some before and after photos shortly (hopefully), but for now, take a look at the sketches that we have worked up for our landscaping project.

Schematics and sketching are a necessary evil. I always want to just start digging, and making progress, but the planning portion of any project is so important, especially with this, where I am literally starting from scratch in terms of landscaping knowledge. For instance, who knew a Crepe Myrtle has three color options and flowers 110 days a year, throughout the summer?

We took some inspiration from the Elevated Acre in NYC (where Wall Street meets the FDR Drive). It is a little oasis in the canyons of the financial district that is a great little secret spot. The pictures below were taken last week, before everything greens up and starts to grow, but in the summer it is really overflowing with tall grasses and dashes of color. If you are ever in the area, pick up some chicken and rice from the street vendor, and head there for lunch.

Landscaping in general has always been a bit intimidating, with all of the varieties of plants, different growing conditions, different soil types, sun exposure, spacing of trees, etc. etc. etc. It can be very overwhelming.

For this reason, we are working with a pro (http://backyardresortsbyjack.blogspot.com/). Jack has been helping define our landscaping style, and has been showing us the types of plantings that will work w/ the genre of our home. I added his link to my blog list, so keep checking that as well, as he is constantly updating it with planting tips and landscaping info. I would like to say we found him, but the truth is, he was driving by our house, saw how miserable it looked, and knocked on our door, so he found us.

On a side note, I have become infactuated with moss (and all the different types of moss) throughout this planning process. I even found a moss nursury close to our vacation spot in the Poconos (http://www.mossacres.com/default.asp) that I can purchase starter moss and trasnplant to Garden City. Unfortunatly, most of our property faces the south, and gets heavy sun, so not the best environment for moss growth, but the back path may become a little testing area for an eventual moss garden. I will keep you posted.

So that's it for now, lots more to follow on this, the concrete work is scheduled to begin this weekend depending on weather and material availability, so I am keeping my fingers crossed.