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Frontyard Lawn Recommendation Queens NYC

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jrj

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Hi,

We own a home in Queens NYC (Plant Hardiness Zone 6b or 7b depending on website: 5 to 10 (F)) and are looking for advice on what to plant in the front lawn (perhaps grass – perhaps not) keeping the following in mind;

  1. EASE OF CARE (minimal maintananice)
  2. Resistance to weeds
  3. Attractiveness
  4. Climate Change: We were just told by a gardener that some plants are no longer doing as well as they once did in the area.
Also considering the same criteria we would like to plant a small tree (perhaps an evergreen?) or bush in the small concrete triangle between the front door and the garage.

Thanks ahead of time


JRJ
 

w_r_ranch

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A lot depends on whether you want an instant lawn (sod) or are willing to put in the effort to prep & plant seed... Kentucky bluegrass blends are the best lawn grasses for the state of New York. Some may contain mixtures of turf-type perennial rye or a fine fescue variety to help establish a thicker lawn.

Zoysia grasses may also be grown, however it will be the first to go dormant in the fall & will be the last to 'green up' in the spring. It is a very dense & tough grass the requires little mowing or fertilizer. It is almost indestructible.
 
J

jrj

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Thanks -what about non grass options or a small/tree bush?
 

w_r_ranch

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Depends on the dimensions of the triangle between the front door & the garage, how far away the structures are & how much sunlight the area receives.

You may be better off with a perennial flowerbed or a rock garden.



 
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M

Mr_Yan

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Welcome jrj

Anyway how much sun does this area get? What level of work are you looking at doing initially. How tight of a budget do you want to stay on.

I have some perennial flowers in my yard but at this point I am not a fan of planting anything that I can't eat in some way. Climate wise I am probably both hotter and colder than you as we swing from -25 F to over 100 F through the seasons.

Tree / shrub options
North Star Cherry - These guys are self fertile (still need bees to pollenate but don't need a second tree. Flower in early May or late April with pale pink blossoms. Grow to about 8'-10' tall and 8'-10' wide. Fruit ripens around 4th of July as about the sweetest of the tart cherries - great as a dried cherry. I just planted one last week.
Peach tree - I've had one of these next to my back door for 6 years now. There are several cultivars out there and I don't know what I have. 6 years ago it was the size of a pencil. Now it is 15' tall, 15' wide - dwarf are available. Last year I got 23 pounds of fruit from it. Blooms pink in early May. Fruit ripens mid to late July. The only real maintenace I do is prune it back in late winter and harvest the fruit.
Service Berry - a large shrub that fruits with berry that looks like a cross between a cherry and blue berry but tastes like a mix of apple and blue berry. Early flowers white and fruit ripens mid June. My neighbors have one of these and it receives no special care but does have kids climbing in it constantly.

I also have a blue berry bush in the back yard and am thinking about putting in a honey berry bush

The perennial flowers I do have:
Daisies (full sun)
Purple Cone Flowers (full sun)
Hosta (shade)
 
J

jrj

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Thanks for the input guys; for the 6 x 7 Right “Triangle” with a 6’ base against the brick wall and a length of 7’ away from the home, I don’t think we’re interested in a perennial flowerbed, rockbed or fruiting tree. Is there a small LOW MAINTAINANCE purely decorative tree/bush you would recommend for the NYC area (Zone 6B or 7b).
 

w_r_ranch

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There are many dwarf ornamental trees/shrubs available for your area... although you will probably still want to plant something under it...

Weeping cherry or plum




Lilac




Dogwood




Hydrangea



A trip to a nursery would allow you to see many more varieties & give you an idea of the prices for the various sized plants.
 

w_r_ranch

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Is Tony's Pizzeria (around 34th & Liberty) still around??? They had the best pizza... I had 2 full sheets flown in years ago as a treat for my squadron, LOL!!!
 
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M

Mr_Yan

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@w_r_ranch That is the weirdest lilac pruning I've ever seen

A few other notes:
I have several plants billed as "low maintenance" that are actually more maintenance than the fruit trees and shrubs I listed. Lilac, fracynthia, spirea jump to mind because these are fast growing.

When you see "fast growing" you should read that as "needs frequent pruning" and often as "short lived" but there are exceptions to life expectancy.
 

w_r_ranch

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LOL!!! Lilacs come in both tree & shrub forms, it's just a matter of early pruning.... as is a Hydrangea, Dogwood or our even southern Crape Myrtles. All of the forementioned are available in either a tree of shrub form.

I had completely forgotten about Fracynthia, that is certainly another good one.
 
J

jrj

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Sorry Ranch I'm not familiar with the pizza place you're referring to; Queens is a very big place; but there are many great eateries of all varieties in the highly ethnically diverse NYC suburb Queens. The Hydrangea we had got very sick and we took it out; the gardener we spoke to indicated that it was among the variety of plants that are not doing well in the area anymore.
What would you think of an evergreen, varieties of which I see in other people's triangles. Could you recommend an attractive variety that does not need much maintenance and does not grow more than 12-15 in height?
 

w_r_ranch

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Norway Spruce




Arborvitae




Colorado Blue Spruce



I'm sure there are others... I'm not a conifer person myself. Maybe Ernie will chime in, I believe he has much more experience that I do with evergreens. I'll ask him.
 
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E

ErnieCopp

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164_164.JPG I do have a lot of experience, but only in two areas. Southern California and Northern Idaho, including shipping tens of thousands of trees, mostly decidous ornamentals, all over the intermountain West. And what i have learned is plants that do well in one area may not do well in other areas, even if the Zone is fairly similar.
So my advice would be to either plant what seems to be doing best for your neighbors or to ask you local Nurseryman what he thinks does the best in your area.
Nurserymen soon learn from complaints what does not do well locally.
When you see something you like the looks of, ask the owner what it is, and if they do not know, take a picture of it and ask your Nurseryman.
Sam mentioned pruining Lilacs into either a Tree or a Shrub, and pruning is both a way to put your personal touch on the plant and influence how it grows. It then gives you a personal connection to the tree.
I will try to attach a couple of pictures, one showing a flowering crabapple that did not look good if the branches were pruned off, as the angle of regrowth was 90 degrees. So i put my personal touch to it and created something that pleased me.
The other picture is of a Sub Alpine Fir that I collected just below Timberline. It's siblings were 20' tall but it was dwarfed or Bonsai'ed because it took root in two inches of soil in a rock crevice. Those trees do very well in Salt Lake City, but i was only able to keep it alive a few years after I took it to Southern California. Ernie 004_4.JPG
 
E

ErnieCopp

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JRJ,
A very attractive small tree or shrub, depending again on how you choose to prune it, is the Nine Bark or Ninebark tree. I planted one as a tree and one as a shrub last year, as it has four seasons of attractiveness, but it did not look like it was going to survive in late summer. I believe it is the water that it did not like. It is beautiful again this Spring, but only time will tell how it does in this microclimate.
It does not get too big for your small site, and it will survive the temperatures you mentioned, but make sure to confirm it does well locally before ordering it from some place far away, just because it says the Zone is okay.
If you buy one, it may come as a shrub, so if you want a tree just pick out the tallest stem and stake it to keep it straight and prune off the other stems.
If you prefer a shrub, prune off the stems that are not uniform or that make it look messy and cluttered. Shrubs need help to look their best, too.
Lots of pictures and information about it on Google. I chose a Purple leafed variety, but there seem to be a wide choice.
I am very much in favor of trees that look good in all four, or at least 3, seasons.

Ernie
 
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