For Great Curb Appeal

When selecting plants for the foundation of a home, consider the factors of plant form and eventual height. The flowers on such material are of minor consequence. They usually last for only a few weeks of each year, although while in bloom they can be very important in terms of color in combination with other flowers or with the color of your home.

Determining Desired Height

It is easy to determine the ideal height of corner plantings and those beside doorways. First, estimate the approximate distance (or better still, measure it) from the final grade to the eaves of the house; ordinarily it is somewhere between 8 and 12 feet on a one-story house, and between 16 and 20 feet on a two-story house. Plant groups at the outside corners should, at their ultimate height, be slightly less than half that distance.

Now draw a sketch to scale of the front elevation of the house, or place a piece of tracing paper over a snapshot of it, and on this draw twa straight lines from the points at the corners, where you want the eventual height of the plant groups to be, directly to the center of the front door sill. Those lines will indicate the ideal eventual height of the plants beside the door.

This exceedingly simple rule of good landscape design is seldom followed, but if you can discipline yourself to hold fast to this basic principle, the front of your house will immediately take on a professional look and probably attract much attention and admiration.

We have already seen how this principle operates when the door is centered or is situated to the left or the right of the center. Note also how, when the door is in the exact center of a section of the building, the planting should be balanced, but when the door is to the left or right of center, it immediately becomes unbalanced. However, though the door is off center and the plants on either side of it are of different heights, they need not necessarily be of different kinds. Where Japanese holly is hardy, for example, you could prune either or both specimens to any height necessary to produce the desired effect.

Keith Markensen frequently contributes to www.plant-care.com. You may not always get what you want, but you can find what you need on unique indoor plants.