Front Yard Landscaping Update – Show Notes

Today’s links: ely.how/episode56

• Today’s Plant: Prairie Dropseed

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Front Yard Landscaping Ideas

Update on our front yard landscaping project

• Finished!
• Goals
  • Enhance access
  • Enhance beauty
  • Increase value
  • Reduce maintenance
  • Increase pride
  • Express regional character
  • Demonstrate process
• How we measured up to our goals
  • Access
    • Greatly improved
    • Can still access yard easily
    • May have even widened more
  • Beauty
    • Our garden is still an infant
    • Already looks better
    • Will look great in 3-5yr
  • Value increase
    • Hard to quantify
    • Estimate increase of 5-10k
  • Maintenance reduction
    • Hard to tell now
    • Estimate 5hr/yr
  • Pride
    • Already immense
    • Looks much better, premium
  • Regional character
    • Mostly native plants
    • Year-round interest
    • Educates our children
    • Discussion point for guests
  • Demonstrating process
    • Documented and sharing process
    • Courses in membership
  • What are the numbers?
    • Entrance walk: ~$1000
    • Plants: ~$1000
    • Design: ~20hr
    • Work: ~50hr
  • Front entry gardens
    • Most impactful space on property
    • Why?
      • Welcoming
      • Expression: self, space, architecture
      • Architectural enhancement
      • Increases value

Today’s favorite plant

Prairie Dropseed

• Sporobolus heterolepis
• Grass
• USDA zone 3-9
• 2-3ft tall, 2-3ft wide
• Dry to medium moisture
• Full sun
• Tolerates deer, drought, erosion, dry soil, shallow rocky soil, air pollution
• Attracts birds