Landscaping My New House

I am one of the lucky few whose ancestors lived near enough to the Saluda River to have water front property after Lake Murray was built, but not close enough to have been run off their land by the rising waters. My grandparents actually had to buy a small parcel that would connect their property to the lake shore. They made this purchase, not because they had a great vision of the recreational value the lake would provide one day or how valuable lakefront property would become. They bought the land simply to provide water for their cows, so they would no longer have to haul it from the well to the watering trough in buckets.

Because of the need to water those cows, I am the lucky one to inherit a beautiful lake front lot. We are building a house on it, and will be moving in soon. We are in the process of designing the landscape right now. Or, rather, my landscape architect nephew is designing it. As we progress through the planning and planting stages, we are going to share the process with you. So far we've had to make decisions about hardscapes (walkways and patios) and terracing and retaining walls. The lot slopes down to the water, so we are creating several flat areas connected by terraces. To save money, we poured cement sidewalks, driveway and area under deck. We're using pavers in several areas to soften the concrete and change up the texture of the hardscape.

The house is quite angular, with straight lines being prominent. So we've tried to soften that with lots of curves in the the landscape and hardscape design.

As for plant selections, we're going for the casual, low maintenance effect. When you own a garden center, there's no time to work in our own yard. I'm staying away from the "coastal look" -- no palm trees in this yard. I want lots of traditional old-fashioned South Carolina plants -- azaleas, hydrangeas, crape myrtles, magnolias, camellias, wax myrtles, to name a few. And, of course, we'll have to throw in the new and exotic, but only if they're easy to take care of!

We're going to make a video of the landscaping process to air on WingardsTV.com. I'll let you know when that's up and running.