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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usGQWQvTbCM usGQWQvTbCM
Welcome to my studio. This is the part of the show where you send me photographs, and
we take a look at it and come up with ways to improve your landscape. And today, we have
a project, a small cottage, that is in need of some style ideas for the exterior. You
can see, this is about a 1910, 1920 craftsman-style cottage. Stucco that's been painted. The brick
has been painted. And the idea here is how do we improve this bed along the side of the
house. One of the first things I would do is take this trellis, which is slightly too
short for this space, and mount it on here, up like this. This garden is Zone 7, so I
know that something like Carolina Jasmine could grow up here -- it's an evergreen vine,
and it blooms yellow in the spring. So I would mount that here, because you get partial shade.
You can see this Oak tree here and this tree over here is bringing some shade here. So
on this trellis, we would plant a vine that would bloom here, but it needs to be mounted
on the backside of this fireplace. Next, what I would do is look for the opportunities for
some evergreen, some flowering plants, and also remember that some things are gonna be
deciduous. For instance, here, I think this would be a great place for Hydrangeas -- over
here, Hydrangeas. So we're falling underneath each one of these windows with Hydrangeas.
But here, I would use a little, small-leaf Azalea. It's evergreen here, and then come
under these windows with the evergreen Azalea here, of the same variety. These Hydrangeas
could come on over to this space, fill in there like that. Now, here on the front of
the house, I think you could do a Camellia here. And at the end of this house, I can't
see it, but one could bring another Camellia over here, and you could even put one on this
corner here. Then in this area here, under the tree, where you have shade and where you
have potentially dry soils, I think we should go with a ground cover. Something very simple.
This whole bed should be filled with ground cover, up to a certain point here, so this
is all ground cover. It could be English ivy, it could be Vinca Minor, it could be Winter
Creeper. And here, I'd just add some Hosta under here. And then along in front of the
Hydrangeas, one could plant seasonal color here. For the shade, I'd recommend maybe some
of those Rockapulco Impatiens that you could plant here -- those double ones that look
like little roses. That would be perfect here. So you would have the perennial Hostas here.
And then in this space, you could add either ground cover, and in this space ground cover
of a different type for contrast, or this could be ground cover as well. But what you
have in place here is structure: You have evergreens, evergreens, evergreens down here.
You have the Hydrangeas, the Hydrangeas. Azaleas and Azaleas. And then, across the front or
the edge of this would be some kind of ground cover or seasonal color. For this particular
one in the shade, one might go with Ajuga or Carpet Bugle -- it has a beautiful little
purple flower on it. And the same down here. It's very low and easy to take care of. So,
Mary Ann, thank you for sending in your photograph -- hope this is helpful and good luck with
your landscape project. Now, if you have photographs of an area that you need some help with, whether
it's inside or out, send me the photograph, and I'll do what I can to help you. And if
you enjoy these style pieces, make sure you subscribe to eHow Home.