Winter Pondering: Last Summers Designs and Future Improvements

I hardly can believe it winter is half over! (In my defense, this is Michigan, and it was 50 degrees two days ago) But seriously folks, once we turn the calendar to February....it's just a matter of counting down the days til spring!

As many of you know, last spring, I launched my gardening and design business- and this blog, On the Right Path LLC. The season, included back breaking work, (loving it by the way). Great customers, and by that I mean really sweet people- and a chance to design some small landscape projects and install a few too.

You see the beauty of my small business is, I will design a plan that you can incorporate yourselves, or you can pay me to do the hard work. Its your choice. The plans come with a detail list of plants, a hand drawn layout of the design and where the plants go, and a custom picture/ or visual. (see below)

So it is cold and windy here in MidMichigan today, leaving me time to ponder last season's designing, and what this season might bring. So to get yours and my gardening juices/ideas flowing, I thought I'd start with a few of my garden/landscape designs from last season.

For this project, the beds were already in place and the owner hired me to design a plan then replant the areas. The dark brick needed plants with light and color to brighten the space. And with a front door and porch, front and center, the plantings needed to be low and gracious to welcome visitors.

This ranch-style home has a lot going on design-wise, with many corners and turns. I felt the design needed to create a flow around the house without taking away from the stone exterior and a focused area welcoming guests from the drive to the front door. (below)

As you can see, ranches vary not only in color and shape, but in overall design. For this ranch, the  long narrow drive, anchored the property, with a tall fence that was surrounded by large neighboring pines. This provided many needles and a bed of acidic soil. The front area needed a low ground cover with color, and the softness of grass. In the back, color and varying heights add to the landscape design.

 And this was my only office design last season. The actual work was put on hold, but the design offers another side to a plan that compliments and softens to welcome patrons.








I hope I've given you some inspiration as we look forward to spring! And if you look outside, and just can't visualize what you need, give a call and I would be happy to create a simple design for you!