COHABITATION WITH NATURE THROUGH LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

I'll be giving myself several years and several budgets to eventually work out the total landscape of the backyard at our fabulous house on Temple Lane. The driving philosophy is to create a backyard habitat that is friendly to both native North Carolinian wildlife as well as to humans.

I've been following several guides provided by NC State's Going Native information series.

The following time line shows an approximate idea of how long this will take 1):

  • Winter 2014/Spring 2015: Remove all growth from chain link fence 2)
  • Summer 2016: Remove all chain link fencing 3)
  • Summer 2016: Build new cedar privacy fence 4)
  • Summer 2016: Remove old decking
  • Fall 2016: Build new decking and lay stone areas 5)
  • Fall 2016: Build screened-in porch off library 6)
  • Spring 2017: Begin first round of planting - midstory foliage 7)
  • Spring 2018: Begin second and third round of planting - shrub and ground foliage

Selected native plants can be seen with this PDF.

The planned outlay for all plants and decking can be seen with this terribly watermarked image.

1) this is such a high reaching goal, I will be amazed if it is even close to accurate
2) probably with hired hands, perhaps TROSA?
3) will have to talk to both the Benton's as well as the Latinos next door and see how this works; maybe also research Durham city ordinances about shared fences?
4) use something like this for inspiration - minimalist flat boards
5) see eventual overlap for deck design in the design section, eventually
6) like the deck, see designs up top
7) try and locate a local nursery that can be of massive assistance here - more and better info on native plants, double bonus for supporting local business
HRHILES