Northeast Gardening: Welcome to my gardens... and messes ;), 1 by MissFabulous

MissFabulous wrote:
Well I haven't done a real introduction here, but I must say I feel very welcomed already. In all the years I've been gardening and all the years I've enjoyed online forums, I can't believe I never found or joined a gardening forum, and you guys aren't going to get rid of me!

So I thought I'd post a thread with some of my gardens and a little bit about me. I'm 37 and my mom is 82. She had a stroke a few years back so I moved back in with her. The house was built in the early 1900s and needs a lot of work. I have the upstairs and she stays down. She was a lifelong gardener but started slowing down before the stroke, and that put her out of gardening. She still gets around but has balance issues and can't get up from a kneeling position. The house has been in the family (my dad's side) since the 1930s, and it sits on 12 acres of land. I have a big barn, a couple fields, several acres of woods with a creek running through it, and many flower beds around the front. If this all sounds like paradise... well, it isn't exactly ;) It's a lot of work and a lot of things have been neglected for a long time. I also have to deal with a lot of invasives, both in the woods and in my gardens. I'll probably copy some of this post in my blog for my own reference, too.

So I'll start with my biggest plans for this year: tilling out vast areas next to the kitchen side of the house and putting in fencing so the dogs can run around and pee on some of my flowers. I know that will be a constant battle, but it can't be helped. If I'm fencing, I'm flowering...

I'm fencing in this entire area. The line of brush/trees is coming out (save for a few butternut trees) and the fence will extend back about 20' further than that, into a field. The fence will be edged with beds, but I'm not sticking to square. I'm putting in a patio and having walk-through gardens on one side, and leaving grass on the other. I (think I'm) planning well to address mowing issues and accessibility...