This year, I've been concentrating on transforming my new backyard into a native plant garden and have gotten a lot done, thanks in large part to advice from this sub. Now I'm thinking ahead to spring and my front yard, which in comparison to my backyard is much smaller, sits on the southwest side of my house (rather than the northeast), and gets a lot more sun (my backyard is shaded by a large sugar maple and an adjacent woodlot with many tall oaks and maples). I think I can come up with things to plant around the front yard in general, but I'm a bit stumped on what to do directly in front of the house (there are plants there now, but they're non-native). Are there any native plants that are particularly good for this situation and will do well planted up against the house?
I'm in zone 5b and my soil is mostly clay, though it seems to drain reasonably fast.
Thanks!
Videos
These are just inspirational pictures. In front of our house (south facing, gets full sun most of the day) we have an 8ft x 8ft patch of grass that has been slowly dying all winter. In the spring I’d like to replace it with a mulched garden bed and some plants. Maybe some medium size bushes in back for privacy, and flowers in the front.
I have zero gardening experience so I’m looking for any suggestions on what to start with that is hard to kill and cheap. There is an automatic sprinkler system installed.
Should I hire a landscaper to do this for us (eg picking plants and planting) or is it easy to DIY?