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Design Dilemma Exterior Entry

What to do? Front entrance brick planter

Margaret Wetherell

5 years ago

We cut back the bushes under our front window and revealed what i assume is a planter? plastic removable square container sits in the brick, apparently used as an ash tray by previous owners. any better suggestions? not really wanting to to fake flowers in it.

Featured Answer

Sammie J

5 years ago

Why not some real flowers?

Comments (13)

simplify52
5 years ago
Plant beautiful annuals!
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PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
5 years ago
Take it out or plant it with real stuff and remove that bush from the other side it looks odd .
cpaul1
5 years ago
I would remove that brick planter. There is no reason for that to be there. And I would take down the bush on the other side of it, it's too big to be there. Ultimately all of your landscaping needs to be updated. Those two pruned bushes are making your house look very dated, and that palm tree plant in the middle looks very odd there. Also the color of the mulch is making your house look dated. Next time you redo it, use a dark brown color mulch instead of that red.
baileysr
5 years ago
How about a pot of geraniums?
PRO
Spallina Interiors
5 years ago
Your bushes are too high, they should be below the window sill. I would fill in the planter, you could put a pot of flowers on top of it, but not in it.
partim
5 years ago
If you don't want to fuss with the planter at all, just remove the plastic liner and put a slab of stone on top, to cover the hole. It would look like a seat. Or if you like the look, you could put a cast stone ornament on it, something like a large coping ball. (Or if you're one of my neighbors, a lion!) If you want something green but not fake flowers, there are some very realistic fake shrubs available now.

I agree with previous posters that your square-ish shrubs need to be
trimmed even lower, so that the window sill is visible. Also round off
the corners so they don't look square. The shrub to the left of the
door, if you want to keep it, should be cut down to half its height, and
made narrower.
Colleen Kyle
5 years ago
Plant something low maintenance in there— what zone are you in? Lavender does well in the Pac NW, or a Rosemary, which will reward you with a nice aroma every time you come home. Rosemary is evergreen where I live.
chloebud
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Agree you need to unblock the window...big time. If you want to keep the sago palm, see if you can relocate it. I know they're pricey, but I've never understood their appeal. Also agree with trimming the bush down between the garage and front door to half its height.

I like the planter and think ivy geraniums (NOT zonal geraniums) spilling out from it would be nice for constant blooms...year round for me here in Southern CA.

No fake flowers in the planter. They used it as an ash tray? Charming.
D M PNW
5 years ago
I like the idea of a bench going all the way to the wall. The cubed shrubs need to go as well as the shutters that do nothing for the picture window.
chloebud
5 years ago
^^^Agree with D M...definitely no shutters on a window that large.
Margaret Wetherell
Original Author
5 years ago
we didnt like the shutters either, should we just take them off and leave the window with nothing?
partim
5 years ago
Yes, remove the shutters and don't add anything else to the window itself.

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