"Wild" garden vs. tidy gardens which do you prefer

my front yard two years in and we're still planting

Looks great!

Here's my side yard, 2 1/2 years old. You can see the catmint in the front

Mobi

What a lovely serene setting. I've never seen a canopy like that. Very pretty. What is the large bushy plant on the right side up against the fence?

Toni

The bush is Solidago Fireworks, hasn't bloomed yet and needs staking, in back of that is some Magnus coneflower. The dark purple flowers are Campanula Joan Elliot - probably my favorite flower.

In the picture the Solidago looked familiar to a plant I have in my garden that I've never officially identified. I think I have Soapwort. My neighbor gave it to me and she called it "wild phlox". Spreads like crazy by runners but the flowers are pretty. I googled Solidago for an image but they are not the same plant. Guess I should take a picture and visit the ID forum. Thanks!

Soapwort is considered a noxious weed here, so to be nice to our environment I did not grow it.

If my plant is indeed Soapwort then I can understand why it's considered a weed. It sure spreads like one! I keep after it though. Will be visiting the ID forum tomorrow.

Jerry, what a beautiful front yard! I love the pond in front. It's all so green and healthy looking!

Mobi, yours is beautiful too! I have catmint planted in several places this year. Mine must be the smaller version, but I sure want a big one now. I have that Solidago Fireworks too. I can't see it this year because my Butterfly bush decided to become gigantic, so I'm going to have to move some of it, then I'll have 2. :)

This catmint is Walker's low, it said it was only to get about 2 feet but this is more like 3'.

Jerry and Mobi--thanks for posting your pics. You've inspired me to get outside and keep working on my 'project'! Love the pond, too. And the (french style) swing garden...so romantic.

I think my garden qualifies today as 'wild'. Four trees came down in the windstorm yesterday, and we are cleaning up from that...

That is pretty wild!

I see all the other gardens and I think I want one like that and that and that. Then I "see" pictures of my own garden and am surprised because it does look like "those gardens". I have a smallish yard so although it is not as much work as a larger garden I want all kinds of different gardens.

My "project" for this year is a cutting garden, strawberries and some roses. Pretty much finished with the bones now to see what will grow!

Tabasco, wow four trees, no damage I hope. Just think of all the neat stuff you can make from the "fallout"...

Viv

Tree guys are coming today, so good bye to our mess, I hope.

The weather guys are saying a small tornado made a path through here, and I believe it!

The tree guy said he had fifteen trees that fell into houses to remove...

What neat stuff are you thinking of? I asked my DH if he would make me a twig pergola or little gazebo with some of the limbs for my 'woodland/wild' garden (he said 'no, no talent for that'...and a log for bird feeding is all I could think of...and firewood, but I wood have to chop it myself (and we have gas fireplaces, anyway)...

Gardens are fun--never know what to expect---and they are palettes to play out your dreams and imagination and creativity...so I better get busy!!

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Don't let those guys take all of the trees.

lol I sent the Green Wood Projects book info over to my DH at his office! We'll see what he says. I like the bench on the cover a lot!

After the scare from that mini tornado experience, I'm going to have the tree guys take down several more old hollow trees near the house so will have some more limbs to work with...maybe a log cabin's worth?

Eeek. That IS a lot of wood.

my yard has changed so much thanks to my wife and plant stores in just one week. oh the idea's keep coming

I think tidy gardens ar botanical gardens are nice to visit. My yard tends on the wild side. It is in its third year, and every year we dig another row. I told my dad I was trying to make it so he didn't have to mow so much.

I also have the problem of going to nurseries, and having to have just "one more plant". Every weekend I visit three nurseries to see what they have. My dad says I have a sidewalk garden, and can't stand to see it empty once I plant.

I have no rhyme or reason, other than trying to put the short things in front, and the tall ones in back. But again, I'm on my third row, so that doesn't tend to work. Its one big mismatch of all the plants I just had to have. If it says butterfly or hummingbird friendly, it tends to get shoved somewhere in there.

I like catmint, and your pic was so pretty. But we have a lot of loose neighborhood cats that like to hang under the bird feeders. I think if I planted that, it would be like an open invitation, and they'd all come out here and hang around. lol

Catmint isn't a huge cat attracter. My cats like it when I first plant it and every once in a while they roll around in it but it's not like catnip which really attracts the cats.

It sounds like you have a cottage garden. One of my favorite types of gardens. I do the same thing. Although I do try and put all the plants together that have the same water needs. Makes things easier in the long run.

I try to keep the front areas a little neater than the side and back beds, but I tend to overstuff everything because I figure the more plants I have in the less chance there is for the weeds to grow..this works in theory but at least gives me an excuse for dragging more plants home. We are constantly dividing and moving things that have gotten too big or that need more sun, but on the whole, I prefer cottage type gardens with lots of variety and something in bloom all the time. This is the front, will post side and back next.

This keeps timing out on me, I'll try again later.

Concreteblond, I love your garden, its just right. It has different sizes, shapes, color and textures which makes it interesting but not too crowded. What is that bluegreen grass like plant in the front.

Thank you barbur! I will take that compliment tonight. I've been worried about quite a few of my plants the last few days. We've not had any rain in forever and I'm having a hard time keeping things watered evenly and alive. I started mulching again tonight. I tried not to put down too much earlier so I wouldn't smother seeds, but things really need more now. Things did get a little crowded but I just yanked up some red salvias since there is no shortage of those. And that blue grass is Blue Fescue, and since then it's almost died. It just started getting less blue/green and more brown. I don't know why, but my dad says he thinks it doesn't like much water. Mine are sitting right where the edge of my bed used to be, so I think I'm going to dig them up and move them to higher ground soon. Geez, you didn't think you were going to get all that from one post, huh?! lol Thanks for listening. :)

konkreteblond,
I work for a grass seed company and blue fescues are used for drought areas. So no, it doesn't like much water.
Carol

Thanks Carol! I think maybe I found out the hard way, but I'll see if I can rescue them. One of them reseeded a lot, so maybe I'll have some babies from it.

konkreteblond, I understand the feeling behind the words. I thought things were set in my garden so that I could sit back and enjoy (and water). But this morning I discovered that some things in the zeriscape garden that I thought could go without water for a week are looking desparate. Some coleuses are drooping and I don't know if its too much water or too little. Some that I thought could take the sun (after all they were sun coleuses) are struggling in the west sun. The "dwarf" celosia are growing so much they are crowding each other and of course I can't just pull the excess out and throw them away, I have to try to save them in pots. The cannas that my friend gave me are beatiful, but giants, and are shading other plants. I did have the guts to just cut some down this morning (but I couldn't just throw them away so I took the blooms to my neighbors) Its kind of like raising kids isn't it? They have their own personality and you have to nurture it if they are going to be happy.

So I guess that answers the question for this thread, I like a wild garden but like my kids (and grand kids now) I want them to be free spirited but not too wild and out of control.

Well put!

Exactly! I love taking care of them and watching them grow, but it's stressful when I have to do everything because they can't take care of themselves. lol

SOOOO pretty! Thanks to you all who shared pictures.

My yard is trying to flower this year but it sure is having a hard time making up for all the water I didn't give it last year with the water restrictions.

I have to say I like the more tidy look but I have many LARGE Chinese Elms on both sides of my home that my neighbors own and I could not afford mulch when I made my gardens so I made the "living mulch" with plants and it sure looks wild. :)

I did purchase a little mulch this year and some soaker hoses to help water and pulled out many of the repeat plants I started from seed a few years back...Here it a shot of my bench arbor so far this year.

Very pretty! I love that arbor too! What is growing on it?

Water restrictions sounds really scary to me at the moment. I was just talking about that today. We've not had any in the last 4 years that I have been gardening. I'm mulching now to try and keep everything alive in our 100 degree temps this week. I think if we had to ration I'd be filling up a few gallons inside to sneak out in the middle of the night. lol

Notmartha - Your garden is like a Monet Painting! I am new to gardening after apartment living for years and this is my kind of garden. Thanks for your inspiration.
Barbara

Ok since I'm loafing around inside because it's already HOT outside, I'm going to try the pics again, and see if it works this time. This is part of the front entry where I try to keep it somewhat neat.

I love the crowded and colorful gardens like Konkreteblond and Notmartha's, and others, in fact that's my goal in this only three year old effort. Building on old farmland gives you a chance to start from scratch....thisis also in front, but it slopes down to the lower driveway, and there are tiered rock walls, so lots of room to plant a big variety. The allysum and the snaps joyfully self seed every year to my delight.

Edited to remind you to ignore the crab grass ...

This message was edited Jun 29, 2005 8:32 AM

Steps going down to the lower drive.

This is one of the "side" garden beds, which is gradually filling up but not as quickly as I would like. Oriental lily finally bloomed this year, but a volunteer bush came up in front of it, so shovel pruning may be the required next step to get rid of it. I'm going to put some more lilies here as they do seem hardier than some of the failed perrenials I've tried. This is definately a work in progress, but this area is doing much better than the one way in the back corner, see next photo, which has been a labor intensive crabgrass pulling nightmare.

Not much seems to want to survive back here, what with the trees and crab grass fighting for nutrients. Wild Phlox comes up all over, and I let it bloom and then pull it out so it doesn't take over. Some Rudbeckia, which is pretty aggresive even has trouble spreading, but I say, let it go, at least it blooms. Pretty mixed with the artemesia, and the sedum seems to be holding it's own. I can't even list the number of things I've put in here that didn't make it. Slowly, we progress to a cottage garden effect. VERY slowly.

mezzersfive, I love it, especially how you have incorporated the rocks. Are the rocks naturally there or did you have to import them? We have no rocks so I have to bring any in that I have. I realize that those who have to dig rocks out of their soil wish that I had them. You know, "greener on the other side of the fence"!!!!!!

Barb

Gorgeous! I love the rock garden, so colorful. I have a small place in my garden that I am having difficulty growing things. It is right by a brick fence facing west and things die from the heat. I have tried all kinds of things.

It looks beautiful, and I love the rocks!