Landscaping Ideas for a Raised Ranch

The raised ranch is a style of home commonly found in suburbs across the United States. A two-story structure, the design can present particular problems with landscaping because of its tall, rather plain front exterior. The appearance of raised ranch homes can be improved by using some creative landscaping ideas that emphasize the good points of this type of home architecture.

A traditional ranch home has only one floor. The raised ranch, a variation on the ranch style home, has two stories, an attached garage and a partially submerged basement that often provides additional living quarters, according to the NewHousePlans website. Windows are generally large and often shuttered for decoration. Very few decorative appointments are found on the exteriors of raised ranch homes, which makes good landscaping especially important to the curb appeal of this type of home.

Landscaping raised ranch style homes can be a challenge, with their long, exposed exterior fronts and bare vertical lines. The area around the front entrance requires the most attention, according to the ReliableRemodeler website. This area is the first to greet your family and guests and creates an impression about the house and what lies within it. Scale is important for raised ranch homes since the tall exterior will dwarf any small plantings.

Small evergreen trees flanking the front door help to warm up the bare exterior of this type of home. These trees can be conical in shape to help blend in with wooded suburban environments. More rounded types of evergreens can provide a nice variation from the vertical and horizontal lines of the design. Larger deciduous trees can be placed at corners as good end points for the visual lines. Large trees can also be added at the rear area of a home to provide shade for outdoor activities and entertaining. Flowering trees, such as dogwood and crab apple, set close to the foundation areas provides color and mid-range height to draw the eye away from the upper levels.

Strategic use of shrubs breaks up the long horizontal line of the front of the house and adds both color and texture for interest. Viburnum is a reliable shrub for this type of use, as well as holly and boxwood. Many shrubs offer flowers in the spring and turn color in the autumn, adding more visual interest to a property. Avoid planting shrubs in straight lines, which reinforces the rigid lines of the design. Instead, stagger the plantings a bit to create more variation.

Planting a variety of flowers in curved beds reduces the linear look of the design and provide more lines for the eye to follow. Use perennials beneath shrubs and annuals in beds for year-round color for your property. Perennials such as Shasta daisies, begonias and asters are easy to care for. Petunias, marigolds and salvia are colorful bedding annuals.