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Blogger Bernardsville, NJ

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These are before and after pictures of my house.

It was all gray. We painted the trim Navajo White. It made some difference, maybe next year we can afford to lighten the shakes up a bit. My question is now about landscaping. We have lots of deer. What would you do between the two windows on the right to add height and interest?

9 Comments

Donna McCrummen Bernardsville, NJ

We also put the fence in recently and are working on getting rid of landscape stones. And, you guessed it - the dreaded plastic!

on Oct 28, 2011 · Like 0
Donna Dixson Buford, GA

wow Donna that is amazingly better! It looks like you have some shade in there. How much sunlight do you get?

on Oct 28, 2011 · Like 0
Donna McCrummen Bernardsville, NJ

Not much sun. Mostly morning dappled. Tons of trees.

on Oct 28, 2011 · Like 0
Douglas Hunt New Smyrna Beach, FL

Most of the evergreens I know that will take shade are also deer magnets. I would consider a white-blooming understory tree like a shadblow (Amelanchier canadensis), so named because it blooms in early spring when the shad are running. You could also try a pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia), which has a wonderful horizontal layering of branches that would tie in nicely with the lines of your home.

on Oct 29, 2011 · Like 0
Donna McCrummen Bernardsville, NJ

@Douglas - I was thinking evergreen like Holly (boring) so I don't have yet another shed tree in winter but this Amelanchier Canadensis is gorgeous.

on Oct 29, 2011 · Like 0
Douglas Hunt New Smyrna Beach, FL

@Donna: If they're hungry, deer will definitely eat holly, and when they do it's not pretty. If you pulled out the foundation planting wide enough to include the amelanchier, you could including low evergreens, which would help highlight the tree's sculptural winter form.

on Oct 30, 2011 · Like 0
Donna McCrummen Bernardsville, NJ

Great idea Douglas. Now, if only I could envision it - plan it and plant it. Are there any landscape planning softwares available?

on Oct 30, 2011 · Like 0
Gail G

I live where there are a lot of deer and they love my hostas. I put cheap bars of soap by each plant and they stay away. It really does work. I have had the bar of soap last for over 2 years.

on Oct 30, 2011 · Like 0
Douglas Hunt New Smyrna Beach, FL

@Donna: I lay out the borders of beds using a garden hose warmed in the sun and draw my plans on graph paper. So I'm a luddite when it comes to these things, but "Garden Planner" gets a good review from CNET, and you can try it out for free for 15 days. If you create a plan using the software, post it here and let us know about your experience. Good luck!
http://download.cnet.com/Garden-Planner/3000...

on Oct 31, 2011 · Like 1

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