Can This Home be Greened? A Ranch-Style Colorado Home Plagued by Inefficiency and Health Issues
(Page 3 of 4)
September/October 2003
By Brian Dunbar
This orchard and planting bed fulfills several environmental and aesthetic design considerations. It protects the house from the intense western Colorado summer sun, eliminates a large area of ragged turf and weeds, and provides foundation planting to anchor Margueritte’s home to the ground. In addition, it creates another layer of plants to screen the front door from the street.
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Beneath the trees Margueritte can keep down weeds with a simple cardboard weed barrier and wood mulch, which is biodegradable, adds nutrients to the soil, and is relatively inexpensive. Mogen suggested that Margueritte consider pruning the large trees in the backyard and using the mulch created in the process. Most arborists are happy to leave chips in the owner’s yard.
Mogen also advised Margueritte to overlap the cardboard pieces generously so that even stalwart plants, such as bindweed, won’t find a crack to grow through. She also recommended leaving bare spaces around the tree trunks for bulbs as well as a few experimental areas for green ground covers that will require regular weeding for one to three years.
In Colorado, the primary fruit trees used in residential settings are apple, cherry, and plum. Some fruit trees can pollinate themselves, but many need a pollinator. Mogen recommends getting two of every type of fruit tree.
Creating outdoor spaces
Margueritte also wants a walkway and a patio area between the driveway and the front door, bordered by a short wall to create a sense of separation from the street. She’s experienced at laying flagstone, which would be a perfect fit.
Along the south-facing back wall of her house, Margueritte plans to remove a window in the dining room to make way for an atrium door. This would be much more convenient than the current backdoor, which is in an enclosed breezeway tucked into a U-shaped space between the garage and the main house. An 8- by 10-foot storage shed also cramps this space, so we recommended it be moved toward the southeast property line, where it can double as a privacy screen.
In this new space, Margueritte plans to have an outdoor kitchen. She can use her stone-laying skills to create a curvilinear patio that will unify the two backdoors. The patio will be approximately 250 square feet—a focal point that can be seen from inside the house. A simple birdbath, a chimenea (adobe fireplace), or a sculpture could easily add year-round interest. We recommended a trellis and shade structure to block the new door from the summer sun. I recommended searching for reclaimed posts or purchasing FSC-certified and arsenic- and chromium-free pressure-treated wood with a built-in water repellant such as Preserve Plus ACQ. Margueritte can choose between at least three different types of vines to grow on the trellis. Silver lace is an aggressive vine that can provide shade in one season, but it can be considered a maintenance problem. Trumpet vine needs “training” but will provide shade at a more moderate pace. And finally, a Concord grapevine would add another fruit to Margueritte’s edible landscape. Although grapes typically require attention, once established they will vigorously cover the trellis structure.