[lpranger467]

Good morning, looking for front yard landscape ideas for my broad face ranch (pic below). I figure I may want a low canopy tree on far right, it needs to be limited to maybe 25 feet high or lower due to a larger tree being nearby.

Thanks very much.

PS was going to bring flower bed out with plantings to give a more substancial look

 

[dj3]

You want to stay with what's native to your area.
Consult landscape contractors, architects, nurseries in the area.

 

[DoomsDave]

Good morning, looking for front yard landscape ideas for my broad face ranch (pic below). I figure I may want a low canopy tree on far right, it needs to be limited to maybe 25 feet high or lower due to a larger tree being nearby.


PS was going to bring flower bed out with plantings to give a more substancial look

Where are you? That's the huge question. City/County and state/province is enough. That will determine what will be happy and what won't, in the long and short term.

You can have oodles of fun fun fun with a yard that big. Looks like the eastern US somewhere.

 

[lpranger467]

Good guess, Philly. I did pick up a smoke tree from Home Depot, I've got to just start to figure out lower height plantings

 

[SeniorSitizen]

Good plan for lower height plantings. And from what i can see in the pic the house is already in jeopardy. The tree to the right in the pic with the healthy crop of Virginia Creeper is next in line to fall on the structure if it is full height now.


Eastern Redbud max out at around 20 ft. height.

 

[lpranger467]

I have tried to stay up on this by cutting the vines, theyre really bad near me and all of the trees in my sub are huge

 

[DoomsDave]

Good guess, Philly. I did pick up a smoke tree from Home Depot, I've got to just start to figure out lower height plantings

I'm in California now, but I'm originally from Ohio, which is similar to Pennsylvania (still have family in Pittsburgh). Sometimes I miss those lovely dark forests, but not the maintenance they can entail.

All that said, you have what looks like a lovely spot! I have a friend from high school in Ohio and he's got a place much like it.

I'd heed @SeniorSitizen's warning and think about doing something about that vine-covered tree sooner instead of later.

A HUGE problem in home lots carved out of forest is that the trees there had grown and developed, possibly for centuries, to have other trees around them for support. When some of those other trees are taken out, these skinny, wimpy trees are often quite vulnerable to tipping over in a wind.

It might be a smart idea to have someone look closely at the trees on the edge of your forest, to see how healthy they are. Sometimes, appearances of robust good health can be very deceiving. Back in 1993, my old hometown had a big, unexpected wind storm that smashed up a lot of what appeared to be nice robust trees; many were hollow inside.

 

[Bob B8]

You need to determine how much sun the tree's site gets. Most trees need sun pretty much all day. Some trees tolerate morning sun and afternoon shade. Trees which have evolved in understory environments can tolerate filtered sun/shade all day. Smoke trees (Cotinus coggygria) don't like shade. They are vulnerable to root rot in saturated soil, so they need fast drainage, and infrequent water once they are established.

 

[lpranger467]

I ended up getting a Japanese flowering Cherry for the corner and a Smoke Tree "royal purple" in my first round of plantings. The area gets pretty good sun (about 1/2 day I would say) and is well drained. As a matter of fact the soil was kinda sandy so I'm worried about them getting established.

As to the vines on the trees, I had a company come out last year and cut them (in the back yard). I just did the tree in the pic about 2 days before I took this pic. My only issue is when cutting the vines in cuts into the bark quite a bit, is this bad for the tree ?

 

[lpranger467]

After pictures, I brought the bed out, needs more mulch. I have been doing cedar mulch from Home Depot because we used to have termites, I really wish I could use something darker for more contrast

 

[Fix'n it]

nice place Ranger

 

[lpranger467]

Thanks very much !, it was in terrible condition when we bought it but we loved the neighborhood so decided it would be worth it.

nice place Ranger

 

[Two Knots]

It looks very nice. :smile: It’s a pretty house in a nice setting. :smile:

 

[lpranger467]

Thanks !

It looks very nice. :smile: It’s a pretty house in a nice setting. :smile:

 

[ron45]

I would put in a concrete horseshoe driveway

The top of the driveway would also act as the sidewalk leading to the entry door.

From the entry door a side walk would lead around the side and to the back.

In the middle of the horseshoe driveway I would install a rock garden complete with a bench/s and some flower pots with a paver walk.

I would level enough backyard for parties and install a retaining wall.

Lots of ideas here.

https://www.familyhandyman.com/?s=retaining+wall

https://www.familyhandyman.com/page/2/?s=stone+garden

 

[lpranger467]

Not thye best quality, but these are before pics of backyard, the one shows how overgrown it was, the second that is marked "Curtain" was after I cut the main bushes down. The railroad tracks are actually a surface trolley and not for a full sized train

 

[lpranger467]

We had hill cut back and put large landscape boulders in for a lower retaining wall but it gave us about 6 more feet of back yard. I put a flagstone pation on top of an 8 inch crushed base (a lot of work). Put in a pergola and a mini deck for our pool. Weve only been here about 2.5 years and we've put a lot of work into the homes interior.

Heres some current outside pics, I've been planting a lot of pines for screening from the trolley and in hopes that when I do have to take down any of the larger trees that the pines will be large enough to provide shade.

 

[Fix'n it]

where is the property line back there ?

 

[lpranger467]

Pretty much the edge of the track base. I had thought of tiering the hill but too many roots

 

[Startingover]

Lush greenery is wonderful. I’d love it there. I’m from NE Ohio.

I’d like to see more flowering things. Shrubs and dogwood trees in front. Things a different color from the woods behind you. When visiting up there I noticed purple leafed trees like purple plum trees and Japanese maple. I think a blue spruce would offer contrast and anchor a corner in front.

I agree about checking on health of close trees.