Foundation Beds Add Interest

I am a BIG proponent of foundation beds. Not only do they add value and comfort to your home, but they can also reduce energy bills and maintenance. The above picture shows a long view of the front of my home looking north. It was taken in early spring as you can see from the date. The driveway is behind me.

As you walk to my front door you will be greeted with this view in late spring. Reduce maintenance you say? How can foundation beds do that? Most folks around here seem to prefer nothing but grass all the way up to their house. That way, no mulching, weeding, or fertilizing is required of the homeowner. Just a simple mow and weedwhack and it is done. Truth be told, I don't think it is a big problem with the fertilizing, mulching and weeding as much as it is with the men around here who mow the yard. They do NOT like to have to avoid plants around a house when they are doing their bulldozing with their tractors-oops-I meant mowing of course. Anyone who has ever seen a professional lawn maintenance guy in service will know what I am talking about.
Here is the same foundation garden in the summer. Foundation beds are integral to creating a good first impression. They can reduce maintenance because you don't have to weed whack, mow, and trim right up to the house! All of which are maintenance in my book-much more maintenance than a garden requires.

Energy bills for the homeowner are reduced because shrubs can help protect the home in both the winter and summer. In the winter shrubs can block cold north winds. Shrubs can also reduce cooling bills in the summer when they are sited in a manner so as to block the hot summer sun.

Now we are walking around the house toward the north, looking at a different part of the foundation bed in the late summer. Here the ground slopes toward the north and most folks don't walk past this area. It is full of shrubs, bulbs and perennials to continue the interest and to enable me to get out of mowing this area! Again, reducing the maintenance of maintaining a lawn.
But really the best part of foundation gardens besides reducing maintenance and energy bills is the interest they provide to the homeowner and all visitors. Don't you honestly think flowers and ornamentals are so much more interesting than just plain old green grass? The above picture has been shown on here before. I like the long shots and this one truly shined back in October for Bloom day so I have used it again. This is the north side of my home and where the heat pump is located. Can you see the heat pump? It is there between the two hydrangeas, well camouflaged, another good aspect of foundation gardens.

There are considerations for planning a foundation garden, but we'll cover them in another post. For now I'm enjoying my home....

in the garden....