Xenia, Ohio Newbie - Hollering for Help!

Bought cute retirement house several years before actual, fulltime retirement. First time homeowner.... well the loan rates were great and the short sale proved not too short. Now I am visiting the property quarterly for 3-week "vacay" stints. Want to start establishing a cottage-style garden and don't know a soul for info and orientation on corner-lot ideas. Will somebuddy adopt me for a bit?

Present on the property now is:
. a huge multi-trunked maple shading a lot of the front,
. 1 failing rose on the lot line, amid weeds
. 2 small, narrow, shady front beds with hollies, a brave daffy and tulip, and a lone young peony clump
. 1 magnificent weed tree that was a mere shrub 4 months ago
. 1 shallow depression in med sun where a tree ir shrub had been.... hole w ditchy area extending out from presumed roots

First time to own what I garden. Lots of ideas but don't know squat about what grows here... budget too small to waste!

~Susan

Front of house...

Hello from northern KY, Susan, and welcome to davesgarden! Unfortunately, I think I'm the only one who checks this thread, and I have no experience in cottage gardens. If you copy and repost this on this forum, I'm sure someone there will be able to help:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/cottage/all/

Nice place you've got there--have fun building your gardens!

Howdy, neighbor!

I suspect that till I'm here fulltime all I can/should do is design, dig, abd mulch.

~S~

welcome
You might also post under beginning landscaping directing people about your thread here (put a link on yr post)
I am in a similar situation with retirement home. We bought our retirement home a little early as you did and this year I started turning the sunny backyard from grass to garden beds, the planning stage is as much fun as doing the real gardening it's a lot of work but it will pay off when you put everything together and have your first season of blooms. While I'm not very well versed at cottage gardens, feel free to email me if you want to chat about yr project.
you'll find a lot of ideas here on Dave's Garden and on the web in general. Do some searches regarding cottage gardens
Best of luck!