Landscaping Ideas for Ranch Style Houses

Foundation Plantings

• Plant low, evergreen shrubs around the front of your ranch to conceal the foundation and add year-round color. Littleleaf boxwood (Buxus microphylla) is a popular easy-to-grow option. Boxwood is hardy in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 5 to 9 and reaches 3 to 4 feet tall. Spreading English yew (Taxus baccata Repandens) is traditionally found in midcentury-modern ranch landscapes and has a retro look. Extremely low-maintenance, yews are hardy in Zones 5 to 9 and grow to about 2 feet tall and up to 6 feet wide.

Ornamental Grasses

• Group ornamental grasses on your ranch landscape for vertical interest that's not too tall. Grasses provide texture, movement and a natural look. These members of the Poaceae family are extremely drought-tolerant and require only that you cut them back before the new spring growth begins. The gracefully swaying Miscanthus sinensis, hardy in Zones 5 through 9, is well-suited to a ranch. It grows to about 6 feet tall and is topped with wheat-like plumes.

Small Trees

• Provide more vertical interest, spring color and a bit of shade with small trees. Perhaps the most popular ornamental tree for the ranch house is the eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis), which sprouts purplish-pink flowers before it leafs out in spring. It has an interesting horizontal shape, grows quickly and reaches 15 to 20 feet tall. This understory tree tolerates shade. Other options are the Eastern flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) and crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica), which provide spring color and top out at 20 to 25 feet tall.

Annuals

• Place a pot or two of brightly colored annuals at the entryway of your ranch in spring, summer and fall. Fill flower boxes with complementary annuals for a cottage look. For sun, choose geraniums, petunias, begonias or a mix. For shade, use colorful impatiens, lobelia, viola, or the boldly foliaged coleus. Add trailing vines to spill over the side.