Tired formulas for foundation plantings only make a house look frumpy. Forget about pointy evergreens at the corners of the house and bun-shaped shrubs in the center under the windows, and give your front-yard landscape an upgrade.

"I just like to get away from the term foundation planting and make the entire front yard useable," says Barbara Hilty, a landscape designer in Portland, Oregon. Old-fashioned plantings with evergreens across the front of the house and then lawn all the way to the curb do not really take full advantage of the possibilities, she says. When you re-imagine the space and bring the design out into the garden, away from the facade, a house becomes a nicer place to come home to. Reducing the size of the lawn and adding variety to the plantings out front is also better for the environment, Hilty says.

Foundation plantings traditionally were designed to cover up the stone or brick around the base of a house. A very simple old-fashioned planting might rely on just one species, such as yews or junipers, or perhaps azaleas, to help nestle a house into the landscape. Too often, these shrubs are planted too close to the house and then ignored until they become overgrown, obscuring the house and blocking views from inside.

Jane Cantin, a landscape architect in Norfolk, Virginia, sees overgrown foundation plantings all the time. "It's those cute little Alberta spruces," she says. "They look like little baby Christmas trees. But after a few years they eat up the sidewalk. You can't even get to the front door." In frustration, homeowners try to prune them, but their efforts frequently backfire. "The shrubs get so whacked and wonky that they don't come back, and you just have to take them out," Cantin says.

Taking out inappropriate or overgrown plants can be liberating, designers say. It's often a hard decision, but "a lot of times, just the act of pulling them out -- homeowners suddenly love their house again," says Carolyn Mullet, owner of Carex: Garden Design, in Takoma Park, Maryland, near Washington, D.C. "It was dark and foreboding, and now it's light and clean and they can see out of their house again."

Good-looking foundation plantings should really start at the street, and move back toward the home along an attractive front walk, with perhaps a small entrance court or patio with a bench at the front door. If the scale of the steps and stoop do not suit a house, or if they are in bad condition, "this may be the time to take out that old hardscape, put in things more gracious and safer, more fitting with the design of the house," Mullet says. "It's an important part of giving your house a facelift."

Well-chosen plants are part of the overall design, not just an added improvement. "I take the architecture and the setting and the region into consideration," Cantin says, "and whether the home is contemporary or traditional." Her designs favor high-quality materials and rely on plants that do not need pampering and that look attractive through the seasons. Where appropriate, Cantin likes to suggest an informal, naturalistic style, with native plants. In formal settings, she sticks to simple designs with just a few sculptural plants.

Ornamental grasses have earned a place out front, these designers say, especially in combination with evergreens and flowering perennials. Mullet says she might combine an evergreen shrub with a stalwart switchgrass (Panicum) or Korean feather reed grass (Calamagrostis), with low perennial flowers in front of them for their seasonal color and contrasting textures. Hardy geraniums, coneflowers and hellebores are among her favorites. Mullet also likes to use native shrubs, including oak leaf hydrangea and Annabelle hydrangea (sometimes called smooth hydrangea), which both hold their flowers for weeks, have an interesting structure through the winter, and can be pruned easily.

Working with a designer is a good way to help you develop a vision for the front of your house, and to avoid common mistakes. Designers have the advantage of years of experience, and they work closely with contractors who can build and repair fences, lay brick or stone walls and walkways, and install lighting to bring out the best in a design. Designers are good at combining plants and know which plants thrive in your local conditions.

"There's no cookie-cutter solution: It always depends on the site," Cantin says. Getting away from the predictable styles -- and the usual tired plant combinations -- will change the way you and your neighbors and guests see your home, she says.

SOURCES

Checking out great front-yard designs in your own neighborhood -- and in books and magazines -- is a good way to start thinking about a new foundation planting. Garden designers can also provide inspiration, designs and plant selections specific to your home and garden. Here are some sources:

-- The Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) is an international organization for industry specialists. To find a designer in your area, check the organization's website, www.apld.com and use the "find a designer" feature.

-- The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is another organization for professional designers. Landscape architects have a bachelor's or master's degree in landscape architecture and frequently work on large-scale projects such as campuses and parks, but many LAs specialize in residential design.

-- Carolyn Mullet, owner of Carex: Garden Design by Carolyn Mullet, www.carexdesign.com

-- Barbara Hilty, owner of Barbara Hilty Landscape Design LLC, www.hiltylandscapedesign.com

-- Jane Cantin, www.janecantin.com

(For editorial questions, please contact Universal Uclick at -uueditorial@amuniversal.com)

If you're not growing cool-weather flowers, you're missing a whole season. Cool-season blooms let you have the first glorious bouquets on the block. Now is the time to rediscover -- and to plant -- these sturdy flowers, many of which are already among most gardeners' all-time favorites.

Lisa Mason Ziegler is a new champion of larkspurs, snapdragons, sweet peas, calendulas and other flowers that bloom in early spring, long before zinnias, marigolds and other summer annuals can even be planted. Lisa, a flower farmer from Newport News, Virginia, who grows and sells flowers and bouquets from spring through the first frosts of fall, says the easy-to-grow cool-season flowers wake her garden up in spring, but they also keep her spirits up in the winter.

"When you plant in the fall, you have the anticipation through the winter," she says. "I'm tiptoeing out there at the first crack of spring to check on them. I enjoy that garden more than any other."

Ziegler is the author of "Cool Flowers" (St. Lynn's Press), in which she shares her tips and tricks to help every gardener grow these treasures. Timing is everything. "You don't plant them in the retail gardening time," Ziegler says. "If you buy seeds when they are typically available, it's not the correct planting time, and they can hardly thrive."

In her mild Zone 7 climate, Ziegler sows many cool-season flower seeds directly in the garden in the fall. Where winters are severe, the correct planting time is six weeks before winter's last frost -- so if your average last frost of the winter is May 1, for example, the best time to plant these cool-season blooms is in mid- to late March. "It's still not warm enough to plant zinnias or tomatoes," she says, but little seedlings of cool-season flowers are hardy. "They appreciate the cold nights at this time of year."

Sweet peas are perhaps the most beloved cool-season flower, and one of the most misunderstood: People think they are hard to grow. These are easy flowers, Ziegler says, if you get the timing down and if you cut them regularly. She suggests planting a 4-foot-long row, with one seed every 6 inches. You'll have only eight plants, but they "will give you two big bunches of fragrant sweet peas every week for six to eight weeks," Ziegler says. The flowers last about five to seven days in a vase, and "it's the best five days of your life," she says.

Spun fabric row cover (available at garden shops) is one of Ziegler's favorite tricks for cool-season success. After planting, she spreads a strip of row cover over the seedbed to protect it from squirrels and drying winds. Ziegler uses it over every early spring flower crop for at least two weeks. When the plants are large enough to be mulched around, she removes the row cover.

Foxgloves, bells of Ireland (which have green flowers on a flower stalk that grows up to three feet tall), bachelor's buttons, dill and fragrant sweet William are all on Ziegler's list of easy-to-grow, long-blooming cool-season favorites. They're all terrific as cut flowers, and they are great performers in flower beds, too.

Where winters are snowy, the seeds of some of these flowers can be sown directly on freshly fallen snow. The seeds of larkspur, poppies and bupleurum (sometimes called hare's ear -- you'll recognize it from florists' bouquets) are all good candidates for this practice, Ziegler says. When the snow melts, the seeds come into perfect gentle contact with the thoroughly moist soil.

Many cool-season flowers are easy to grow in a flowerpot. Use big pots, Ziegler says, and stick with flowers that are less than 3 feet tall. "Nigella is good," she says. "Snapdragons would be great. Corn cockle is too tall." In a big pot with fresh potting soil, "larkspur will shoot straight up," she says.

Cool-season flowers give you more than just bright, early bouquets, Ziegler says. They also attract pollinators to the garden. "The early blooms get the bugs in early, setting up housekeeping and coming back for more," she says. Vegetable gardeners, especially, should make room for a row of early blooms to encourage beneficial insects and pollinators. "If you are a vegetable gardener and you're not growing 25 percent flowers, you don't know what you're missing," she says. Many gardeners are shy about pollinators, which -- besides butterflies and hummingbirds -- include beneficial wasps and bees. Ziegler is allergic to bee stings, but she willingly makes room for bees. "When I learned about all the incredible things wasps and bees do in our gardens, I changed my attitude about them," she says.

There's really no need to wait until the roses bloom to get out into the garden, Ziegler says. Plant flowers that thrive in the cool conditions of early spring, and you'll discover a whole new season of bloom. "You'll have bells of Ireland and snapdragons coming on in March and April. You'll have foxgloves from seed, and you get rocking blooms," she says. Take it from a flower farmer: "We do the same or less than home gardeners," Ziegler says. "We just do it with the right plants at the right time."

SIDEBAR

LISA ZIEGLER'S TOP TIPS

-- Timing is everything. "People miss the opportune time because we are all afraid to plant when it is too cool," Ziegler says. In Newport News, she plants seeds for many cool-season flowers directly in the garden in late fall, and they survive winter freezes without a problem.

-- Some cool-season flower seeds have a hard seed coating. Soak them first. To grow bells of Ireland, place the seed packet in the freezer for two weeks. Take the packet out of the freezer and place the seeds in water for up to five days. Then plant them outside in the garden.

-- Choose the right flowers. "Foxy" foxglove blooms the first year from seed, but other foxgloves are biennial, producing leaves the first year and flowers the second.

-- Grow more. Ziegler grows five different kinds of snapdragons with different shapes, colors and different bloom times. "We used to be lucky to get them to bloom by Mother's Day," she says. "Now we have them in bloom in March."

-- Harvest your flowers. If you cut sweet pea flowers every week, you extend the growing season to as much as two months.

-- Mulch to control weeds and help retain moisture in the soil. But wait until the plants are large enough to spread mulch around. "We use anything organic and free," Ziegler says. Crushed autumn leaves and pine straw are both excellent organic mulches. If you buy mulch in a bag, avoid mulch that contains a pre-emergent herbicide, which could kill your plants.

-- Make pollinators welcome: Do not use pesticides. You'll have more birds and butterflies in your garden. Good bugs, and birds, help control pests.

-- Plant a separate garden for cut flowers in addition to your regular garden beds. "Everyone would enjoy a cutting garden, but not everyone knows it," Ziegler says. A good size to start with is 3 feet wide and 10 feet long.

SOURCE

-- Lisa Mason Ziegler is the author of "Cool Flowers" (St. Lynn's Press, $18), and the owner of The Gardener's Workshop cut-flower farm (thegardenersworkshop.com) in Newport News, Virginia. She sells flower seeds and supplies, and is a frequent presenter at garden symposiums and workshops.

(For editorial questions, please contact Universal Uclick at -uueditorial@amuniversal.com)

There's nothing like flickering firelight in a garden, and modern fire features make it easier than ever to add a golden glow in your own backyard.

A warm fire invites you and your guests to linger in the garden when the weather is cool. Fancy fireplaces, which may stand 10 to 15 feet tall, are irresistible destinations in themselves: People naturally gather around a warm hearth. A cozy fire pit is no less magnetic, but fire pits create the mood of a campfire. Modern fire elements -- torches, flares, bowls, dishes and fire sculptures -- are the cutting edge of a new tradition of decorative and cozy fire features, providing the light, atmosphere and warmth of fire.

"Fire is a purifying element, and it really does bring an essence to a garden," says Sabrena Schweyer, a garden designer in Akron, Ohio. Schweyer and her husband, Samuel Salsbury, work with clients to create gardens that are "a sanctuary and a sacred space," Schweyer says. Fire elements, in particular, "can be very cleansing," she says. "If there is something you need to let go of, people take their intentions and put them in the fire. Meditating and fire are so powerful."

Easy, low-cost fire pits are among the most popular fire features with her clients, Schweyer says. "People often do not want something elaborate and built in, and they like the versatility of something that is moveable," she says. In her own backyard, she and her husband have a two-foot wide copper fire bowl. When they have parties, "it becomes a focal point of our tiny little backyard," she says. When they're not entertaining, it is stored out of the way in the garage.

Clients often have strong opinions about the way they want to incorporate fire into their gardens, says Howard Cohen, a landscape architect at Surrounds, in Sterling, Virginia, near Washington, D.C. "They might get it from when they were Boy Scouts," he says. The type of fire feature they choose "depends on the client and on their budget," he says, but clients who come to his firm tend to have a good idea of what they are looking for.

Fire pits have a low profile, so they don't interfere with views in the garden, Cohen says. He suggests a three-foot circle as a workable size for most gardens, with plenty of room around the sides for chairs or a garden bench, and for people to move around. If a fire pit is too big, "it's overwhelming -- unless you want a bonfire," he says.

Well-placed fireplaces actually become an important part of the view, and designing a fireplace that fits gracefully into a garden is a bit of an art. "If they are too small, they look like a Munchkin fireplace," Cohen says. "It's cheaper, but it looks silly." Larger fireplaces anchor a landscape and frame the views dramatically, he says. The smallest fireplaces his company designs have chimneys 10 to 11 feet tall; in a large garden, a big fireplace that suits the scale of the landscape might have a chimney up to 16 feet tall.

Modern fire features offer lots of possibilities -- tables with fire pits built in as the centerpiece are among the most dramatic, but big fire bowls, architectural flares and kettles of fire are changing our garden landscapes. One of Cohen's designs, a modern fire lounge, involved a built-in couch and a marble coffee table with a flame source in the center.

Brown Jordan Fires (designed to complement the company's line of outdoor furniture) and Ecosmart Fire are two companies that have introduced energy-efficient modern fire elements. They burn an ethanol fuel called e-nrg, which is smokeless and odorless and does not spark, yet still provides enough heat to take the chill off a patio.

"These are my favorite new fire feature," says Sarah Conine, owner of Garden Cottage, a retail and mail-order specialty company with two shops in New Jersey. "Eco-burners are very user-friendly," she says. "They save homeowners money and hassle." They also do not normally require permits (as fireplaces usually do). Conine has an ethanol-burning fire feature on her back porch. In the summertime, "it's just great for atmosphere -- and it adds extra light," she says. "In the fall, it extends our use of our outdoor space."

Ethanol-burning features also do not require a vent, so they can be placed on a rooftop terrace or on an apartment balcony. These fire elements are technically classified as "decorative heating units," says Kim Rodgers, marketing coordinator for EcoSmart Fire and Brown Jordan Fires. "That can be helpful if you are having issues with installation."

When you light a fire outside, the technical details disappear. Having a fire in the backyard, whether it's in a fire pit, a fireplace or flickering warmly in the center of a patio table, "is like a mini vacation," Sabrena Schweyer says. "You're getting away from the everyday experience -- to something more natural."

SIDEBAR

DESIGN TIPS FROM THE PROS

-- Before you start shopping, check local zoning regulations and building codes. If you are working with a landscape architect or garden designer, they should know the rules and the permitting procedure, if necessary.

-- A fire feature should not be exposed to strong winds. There should be no tree branches or overhangs above the fire.

-- Chairs are usually better than benches around fire pits. They're more versatile. "We like to keep things flexible," says Sabrena Schweyer, a garden designer in Akron, Ohio.

-- The area around a fire pit "should be cozy and not too tight," Schweyer says. "You want to be able to walk around it.

-- If you're having a fireplace built, you probably do not need a gas line, says Howard Cohen, a landscape architect at Surrounds, in Sterling, Virginia. "Just use starter logs," Cohen says. "You can buy a lifetime supply for what it would cost you to put in a gas line."

-- A freestanding fireplace may cost $20,000 or more, Cohen says. Fire pits are much less expensive, "maybe just a few hundred dollars if you have rocks around a pit in a pea-gravel area."

-- If you don't want to have to lay fires or clean up ashes, flickering-flame fire elements are the solution. "You can have the look of a wood fire without the smoke," says Sarah Conine, owner of Garden Cottage, a retail and mail-order garden specialty company.

SOURCES

-- Salsbury- Schweyer, www.salsbury-schweyer.com

-- Surrounds, landscape architecture and construction, www.surroundslandscaping.com

-- Garden Cottage, www.gardencottage.com

-- Brown Jordan Fires, www.brownjordanfires.com

-- EcoSmart Fire, www.ecosmartfire.com

(For editorial questions, please contact Universal Uclick at -uueditorial@amuniversal.com)