http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usgqwqvtbcmusgqwqvtbcm welcome to my studio. this is the part ofthe show where you send me photographs, and we take a look at it and come up with waysto improve your landscape. and today, we have a project, a small cottage, that is in needof some style ideas for the exterior. you can see, this is about a 1910, 1920 craftsman-stylecottage. stucco that's been painted. the brick has been painted. and the idea here is howdo we improve this bed along the side of the house. one of the first things i would dois 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 jasminecould grow up here -- it's an evergreen vine,
and it blooms yellow in the spring. so i wouldmount that here, because you get partial shade. you can see this oak tree here and this treeover here is bringing some shade here. so on this trellis, we would plant a vine thatwould bloom here, but it needs to be mounted on the backside of this fireplace. next, whati would do is look for the opportunities for some evergreen, some flowering plants, andalso remember that some things are gonna be deciduous. for instance, here, i think thiswould be a great place for hydrangeas -- over here, hydrangeas. so we're falling underneatheach one of these windows with hydrangeas. but here, i would use a little, small-leafazalea. it's evergreen here, and then come under these windows with the evergreen azaleahere, of the same variety. these hydrangeas
could come on over to this space, fill inthere like that. now, here on the front of the house, i think you could do a camelliahere. and at the end of this house, i can't see it, but one could bring another camelliaover here, and you could even put one on this corner here. then in this area here, underthe tree, where you have shade and where you have potentially dry soils, i think we shouldgo with a ground cover. something very simple. this whole bed should be filled with groundcover, 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 hostaunder here. and then along in front of the hydrangeas, one could plant seasonal colorhere. for the shade, i'd recommend maybe some
of those rockapulco impatiens that you couldplant 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 eitherground cover, and in this space ground cover of a different type for contrast, or thiscould be ground cover as well. but what you have in place here is structure: you haveevergreens, evergreens, evergreens down here. you have the hydrangeas, the hydrangeas. azaleasand azaleas. and then, across the front or the edge of this would be some kind of groundcover or seasonal color. for this particular one in the shade, one might go with ajugaor 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 photographsof 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 yousubscribe to ehow home.