If you could start over with a completely empty palette...

that is HUGE, what would you do differently? What would you add that you didn't have room for before? What would you not bother to take with you or rebuild? Let's say you have a big flat acre right in the front of your house, with absolutely nothing on it, what would you do with it, garden wise of course?! Oh, just for kicks, you are gonna be on a really tight budget. LOL

OT Badseed, but please let us know what you hear on Friday about the house. Then we can imagine new acres for YOU!

Leslie

There are so many plants I would NOT plant the second time around!!
I have been weeding and tossing flowers out of the garden all day, my hands hurt and are stained.
You have seen what I would do with an acre!!

I would plant lots of Lilies and Iris and Dayliles and Hosta and
some roses.
I would go to eflowergarden and get lots of great plants for great prices.
more daylilies
Make sure you have focal points even if its a huge rock ;) or a bowling ball covered in gems!
more dayliles
Benches everywhere-they are easy to make--2 stumps and a board.
Night stock by every bench too!

Beautiful eye catching plants where they can be seen!
more dayliles

Paths-winding paths or different types
arches --can make out of tree branches!
more daylilies
some kind of water feature-fountain-something relaxing!
NO MINTS! NO ONETHERA! NO ANTHEMIS!!!
more dayliles

A CHEAP GARDENER!!! ;) LOL
oh and.........
more daylilies!

HUGZ!

Dori has some great ideas, everything she said would have to go with you. OH did somebody forget daylilies? lol
I would take your butterfly bushes or cuttings and starts of your grasses and your sedums all your tropicals and water plants I know you will take anyway. Trying to go through your yard and think what all you have. I am sure I will be back with more.

LOL lambchop! So far as I understand it, I am qualified for the loan, it is just a matter of terms that is holding us up. Besides, who doesn't like to dream?

Thanks Dori! Do you think I should take my daylilies with me and maybe buy more? ROTFLOL

I have kind of been thinking about putting a pond in the center, with beds radiating out from it. I have also thought about a huge long bed all the way across the front with huge grasses and small trees in the center line with plants getting smaller as they reach the edges.

I will actually have shade too! I'll probably have to start begging for and buying shade plants. The shade garden will be my biggest challenge! I have never had more than 80 square feet of shade.

My other big trauma is whether I should mix in the tropicals or have them have their own beds. I do have them in the pond and rear beds but have never put them in the front beds. This is going to be so much fun and so much work!

If anyone wants to show me some of their huge rambling beds, I would love to see pics. :)

Speaking from my own front yard, I would plan where the paths between the beds will be before I started planting the beds. Some of my beds are really funny shapes and my paths are not as ergonomic as I would like. For example, I end up walking way around a long bed to get to another bed, or I climb right through it if I am impatient. It would have been better to have two smaller beds here instead of one long one that I am constantly going around.

Very sage advice! The home has a big long driveway going back to the buildings and home. My first thought was to line that sucker with plants. Then I had that realization that we will be building on before too long and I also did not want to have to walk an acre length to cut across. LOL I am thinking islands are the way to go!

As the land is very flat, it does sit wet in the spring, but not like puddles or flooding. I am sort of thinking of using a backhoe to put in paths and using that dirt to build up the islands. Then I would go back and mulch all that. This is sounding like a lot of work and money. LOL

Hey, if I am going to dream, may as well dream big, right?

Can I borrow that backhoe when you're done with it?

LOL I have rented a walk behind and even borrowed one from my neighbor. They are so much fun!!

If I were doing it over, I wouldn't start with flowers! I would start with the lay of the land first, creating berms, terraces or flattening if needed. This doesn't have to be all at once- it could be over a couple years if money was tight. Then I would add structure ( fences, paths and patios, walls, arbors). Evergreens next (knot gardens and backbone plants for each border or area). Then shrubs.Then fill it up with perennials! Then the annuals and containers. Oh, and I would not take anything I didn't really want just to please someone and then find out it was invasive!

If I started over again, I would add shade trees, my burning bushes too. Under the shade, I would have a huge variety of shade loving plants with my hosta. Swings and benches to enjoy your plants and company. A large outdoor type area for entertaining with an overhead trellis for my vines. Several bluebird boxes.
In the sun many daylilies, clumps of them, and iris beds. A snowball bush to remember, Granny. A small formal rose garden with an arbor for the climbers. Also a corner for fresh tomatoes and the compost.
I would keep mint, but in a POT.

Good morning Michele,

I receive P. Allen Smiths garden newletter everyweek in my email. This morning I was reading it and saw something that might help you with some ideas for tackling your huge blank area. It shows how you can break up the space to make different areas. It's not real intricate, but maybe just another little idea for you to read about. If you click on the first image, it will enlarge to see how his plans work.

Oh how I would love to live closer to you so I could help out in your gardens. It's going to be so much fun, but hard work too. Don't forget that you have to start in one area at a time, don't try to do it all at once.....hehe . I'm saying all this, and you don't even have the house yet!!!!!!!! lol

Donna

I want to thank you for your advice and opinions! You are so special and helpful to me. :) Please keep posting any thoughts and ideas as I can print this out and hopefully not make mistakes that I will have to fix later. I have done plenty of that over the years! LOL

On another note, I have decided to spend less time on the computer this week and more time trying to shore up some things here at home.

We did find out today we are approved for the loan but we are still listening to what the other lenders have to say before we make any decision.

Thanks! Love ya guys. :)

Congrats! May all your gardening dreams come true!

A pond and daylilies... I think of Oakes, have you seen their catalog?

This message was edited Jul 30, 2005 5:17 AM

Yippee. Congratulations!

Well, we are going out to look at the property one more time. This is our final make or break the deal visit. If we decide this is definately "the one", we will place our bid in a few days.

I took pics last time around noon and will get them this time around 4pm. I am keeping track of where the shadows fall so I know where my shade and part shade areas fall. I also want to go later in the day this time and see if I can find any future neighbors at home and find out if they crack up at the idea of gardening there, in case eight herd of deer live in the back pasture. ROTFLOL Hubby already did the check for known sex offenders, we have checked the crime rate, the school system looks excellent... The realtor is bringing me a map of the septic and leach lines. Whew! I even checked out the well situation in that part of Ohio and how deep the water is and what the earth is composed of in that area and the proportions. Okay, I have issues. LOL

Has anyone ever seen or done beds all one color? Do the shades of a color seem to clash or work together? I am sort of toying with an idea of single color beds in order of the spectrum, rainbow if you will. Plants that have more than one color could be placed in more than one bed. I'd like to see something like this. :)

I liked sylvie's remarks about planning the paths, Also plan where you will be sitting & drinking your coffee. So you have a good view from ALL of those spots.... LOL And then your foundation trees.
Start close & work out.

Congrats to you! Will you still be a buckeye?

I didn't like my moon garden.... all silver... with splashes of vivid color... It was boring, but it sat all alone... A wide expanse of color followed by another, is always pleasing
Ab

i will say a prayer for you that it all will work out!!!!!!!!

Thank you both!

The new property is only about 45 minutes from where I live now which is what makes the move less daunting. LOL It is close to Blanchester and Hillsboro and not too far from Lebanon and Wilmington.

Hey, good job with your research on lines and water and such. That's the kind of thing you will need to know and it is better to know it now than to find out by surprise later.

If I had it to do over again, I'd have to take ALL of my plants with me. Over the years, I've culled out the "weeds" (like shasta daisies, coreopsis, and blackeyed susans. Hate 'em!), and I have kept the plants I love. Some multiply a little too abundantly, but I keep making friends who want starts of them. So it's not a problem. The only thing I wouldn't take with me is bermuda! My entire lot would be grass free. I would have concrete sidewalks, about 3 or 4 ft wide--wheelchair accessible because I want EVERYONE to be able to see my masterpiece. LOL

I would have a BIIIIIG beautiful pond with a stream and a bridge. Somewhere nearby would be a gazebo for my guests. Since I'm on a tight budget, it would be made using one of those huge satellite dishes that people are always carrying to the dump. They make a great roof. Just build some walls under it.

I'd do English style gardening, creating numerous "rooms", each with it's own theme. I'd continue to collect the most unusual plants and garden ornaments I can find. So it would be an adventure for my guests to tour my gardens.

And, since I'm dreamin here. If I had it to do all over again, I'd do it in Texas! LOL

Some ideas from very flat Michigan--Try to create some topography in your yard by making raised beds using boulders or dry-stacked rock walls. They can be edged by steppingstone, gravel or grass pathways--or by some lawn areas. Set off some areas with picket fences or split rail--whatever matches the style of the house. Maybe paint them the color of your house trim or shutters. Grow hollyhocks, tall dahlias, daisies, echinacea, tall lilies, etc. next to them. Use shrubs, arbors or pergolas (maybe a series of arbors), vines on obelisks, etc. to add height. You can also plant large clumps of tall plants like Joe Pye weed or boltonia to accomplish the same thing. Tall grasses can be side-planted with foxtail lilies and 3'-4' allium to disguise the big holes in the spring. I think a large space would be a great place to use lots of the prairie plants, especially grasses. Go for varied foliage colors (reds and chartreuses especially) so your palette will be interesting no matter what is blooming. In the shade, especially dry shade, I've had good luck with hostas and some ferns (Christmas fern and Japanese painted fern). The hostas out there now are wonderful and easily divided to make more plants. You'll need some of the huge-leafed ones like Sum & Substance or Elegans, or the garden won't have enough texture. I also love Gold Standard and Guacamole for their bright colors, and Francee and Krossa Regal are wonderfully reliable. These are all common plants now, so they're less expensive and widely available. If you're planting in heavy shade, start with larger plants. I have learned that if I want color variations in the shade, where blooms are sparse, I need to use chartreuse/gold, variegated or grey foliage. Red shrubs and perennials won't be red without sun--they stay green. Make any garden wider than you initially think it should be to maintain good scale on such a large property, but be sure you've got places to step to get at the plants (the occasional flat stone works). In the sun, especially, plant big sweeps of perennials for impact or the effect may be too busy. There are quite a few "weeds" (goldenrod, wild aster, mullein, ditch lilies) that make a nice showing in a larger space, but will need some kind of confining border or they'll take over--especially the ditch lilies. Throw in some fun garden art. You already know that no pond is large enough, so I'm sure you'll have fun with that. If you have a two level pond with a stream, that will make the topography more interesting, which is where I started this long ramble....and where I will end it!

Wow! You guys just keep throwing out great ideas! Kneff, are you busy later this month? It sounds like you are on my train (of thought!). LOL NancyAnn, I am leaving behind some butterfly bush, unamed iris and daylilies, black eyed susans, ground covers, etc. I have grown some of the plants I have long enough to know I do not want to dig them out at another house. LOL I will definately take all my tropicals because I am not sure how quick we will sell and I don't want them dying here anyway. The yard here will go from extreme cottage style to nice landscaping. ;)

I've always wanted huge mounds of each perennial but never had the room. I think I will start with a pond that is at least 20x20. I am already pricing new liner. :) This time I will pile most of the escavated soil in one spot, because I want a kick butt waterfall will tall plants behind it for visual impact from both sides. It is looking like this will be near dead center of the front yard. I saw a really neat one on the way out to the property with three levels. The lowest part was level with the ground, the mid level was about a foot higher and the third was about a foot higher than the mid level. It was all finished off in a lovely buff colored flat stone. I may have to sneak back soon for a pic. Watch me get arrested....

We do know exactly where the septic tank and leach lines are now and we have figured out where we can put a pool and the area for the kids. I have also already mentally built a pergola between the house and garage for the Wisteria and grapes. LOL I haven't figured out where my small greenhouse is going yet but I know I will want to keep that one closer to the house for the time being.

I did take a tape measure but didn't bother getting it out of the car. I just quickly walked it off and it the house sits roughly 90 feet from the road. At about 60 feet, is where I want the pond. That puts it exactly center of three maple trees and an apple tree that are planted on a sqare. I mentally planted three shade gardens around the maples and across the front of the house with 4' paths of grass between all of them, surrounding the pond.

The garage sits about ten feet deeper back than the back edge of the house and 35 feet away. I think I can 'squeeze' a nice pergola there. LOL I also painted the house and garage a nice tan color. :) I don't think I care for all the white and the front entrace sits on the side and makes no impact at all!

I guess I better stop playing on here and go get the other papers for the bank. Time for the hurry up and wait game!

Badseed, I'm not starting out fresh but this thread is loaded with good ideas.

Yeah, and I am still sitting here....LOL I figure I can print it all out and highlight the best parts. :)

Here is the palette from the road. LOL

The lone child there, represents the pond area, about 40 feet out from the house (room to build on. LOL).

This is the other part of the front yard. The mowed part represents about 1/4 of the actual land. For now, all my gardens will be in this area.

This is the rest of the front half of the land. Over there I picture my full size commercial greenhouse. :)

I really am going to get going now. I am sick and feel awful but I am gonna go take care of business. Hope you enjoy the pics!

Simply glorious! That's exactly what I've been looking for too, but we don't plan to buy for 4 more years. Congratulations.

Tabula rasa? Oooh.

Changes in elevations
Cozy, private nooks with their own unique focal points
Lots of places to sit and enjoy.
One "rain free" area (I'd love to be able to sit in my garden in the rain. The porch is nice but...)
Winding paths
Shady areas and open areas
Two or three plants throughout for cohesion but stong plantings of different kinds in different areas.
A balance of "beautiful when planted" and "will be huge and glorious one day"

TucsonJen, Tabula Rasa is what I named my hard drive! I love a blank slate, as Michelle will love in her new home.

Badseed,
I know I am a liitle behind on this thread, I just found it and it has certianly made me smile. 4 years ago we did the exact same thing you are doing. Found a wonderful 5 acres in the country. I spend most days outside working in the gardens. then the evening planning what I can do next, my husband is going insane.
The best advice I have read here is from Ivy1... It is the perfect plan... why didn't I think of that. It sure would save time in the long-run. I have several garden spots and the biggest dissapointment (if you can call any garden a disappointment) is that it is all flat, Flat does nothing to enhance a garden. This fall I am digging up, building up and replanting one of my favorite beds. It is gorgeous but is so flat you cannot enjoy all the treasures planted there. So in a way I am "starting over", but just a little at a time.
Good luck to you, I can say I have loved every second we are out here. Never an idol moment.

Frans, that is absolutely beautiful! It does not even look real!

I have had to put major design plans on hold because of the cool season that is sneaking up on me. We didn't get to close until September 16th then ran into some problems with a moving truck. Long stories. LOL

Right now I have a Go Mini in my driveway, a Uhaul trailer strapped to my suburban and we have already taken two 26' Uhaul trucks worth out to the new house-one full of house stuff and one full of plants. :) I do have my priorities. The Uhaul trailer is stacked half full with cardboard to lay out for beds and more plants are piled on top of that. I guess for now, I will lay out as many beds as I can 4'x100' or so, have them piled with good dirt and just cram all the plants in. As soon as we sell the house we live in, I can start on the permanent beds at the new house.

I have already gone to the new house and dug the pond, have it lined and filled. I even have several ornamental grasses planted around it. There should be enough rocks around the makeshift beds that are there to trim out the pond then I can start expanding the bed around it.

I am really having a lot of fun, but the running is taking it's toll on me and the gas budget! LOL I can't wait until I am the owner of only one house and I have the time to redecorate that house and get the beds the way I want them. Then I can concentrate on building a commercial greenhouse and pulling the landscaping up to it as well.

Have a good day all! Keep us safe in your prayers. I am about to pull out of here with a couple hundred sheets of cardboard, about a hundred plants, six kids and me. Life is short so here is to living!!

BUILDING A COMMERCIAL GREENHOUSE? Wow. I was simply going to say that were I to start over, I would want a bigger house (how was I to know I'd have 4 step children?) with more land. There is lots of extra space in the back but it's all nicely overgrown and giving us lovely privacy from our neighbors on three sides. I guess I could rip up all the undergrowth - may even be shrubs the old owners planted! They did a lot of landscaping but then sold the house to people who just wanted a dormitory and let the yard get all overgrown. But good luck on your greenhouse - will you be selling mail-order [crossing my fingers]?

P..S. Now, before you've actually done anything, is a great time to make it wheelchair accessible!!!! Wheelchair users like gardening too and we adore looking at gardens. I've had trouble with gravel at some nurseries, and steep hills are also problematic. Check the handicap gardening forum for more info.

This message was edited Oct 9, 2005 12:37 PM

Thank you for such kind words. I like to think it is the most special place in the world. That picture does not begin to show the many gardens we have going. I was so very lucky, 3 owners ago had loved to garden and the ground work was there for several gardens, all I had to do was a LOT of cleaning and waiting for spring to see what came up. What treasures we found. We had moved in, in January. I was so pleased. This place had sat empty for two years, it was a repo, so there was NO care. They came out and "bush-hogged" the place right before we bought it. We were so lucky, the grass under all the overgrowth was just beautiful, it just needed a little sun and air.
Food for thought... we had to divide the grounds into six different sections, so when I gave my husband a honey-dew project he would have a clue as to what I was talking about. We have the orchard, the park, the south forty, the forest, the outback and of course the front yard. Now we have started to name our gardens.. ie the electrical garden, named because we had to trench to the electric pole when we redid the wiring, the red garden, the pond garden and so on.
But enough of our little space. Yes the weather is cooling down, but I think its probably perfect timing for you. It will give you a chance to settle in the new house and plan for the outside... get everything in order so that the first day of spring you are outside. You may have to trade your stove in for a vending machine though.
Good luck to you nad keep us updated.

Carrie, it is very nice to meet you! Welcome to DG! I bet if you got your land cleared out, you might have some lovely gems hidden in there!! I am realizing how much work it is and how much more things cost when you are so far from things. There is much to be said for privacy but you could also get that from desirable, quick growing plants that you could actually enjoy and possibly some you could eat.

We have six kids but gained them one at a time. LOL Our present house has three bedrooms and our new one has four so that is a bonus. We were using the basement as a bedroom as well. It will be nice to have everyone on the same floor. :) We do intend to add on after we sell the first house. We can add on a large family room and a master bedroom, turn the old living room into a new laundry room and bedroom and have 6 bedrooms. I do not believe it will be terribly expensive since there won't be any plumbing issues unless we add a third bathroom and with six GIRLS, we may want another bathroom! LOL

I have been collecting plants and seeds and growing from seed for about 12 years. I knew that someday we would do this but really didn't know it would be so soon. We want the kids in a different school system and planned to look next year but this just worked out so well!

I stopped and talked to a neighbor last week who told us about some of our other neighbors. It was hard to catch anyone outside though because we normally go in the afternoons on weekdays. We stopped yesterday to talk to a man we saw outside and we found one of the guys the other neighbor told us about. He is going to brush hog for us for $75! Even better, he used to use our land for straw and is familiar with it. He even told us our driveway is the old township road and at the back of the property there is a gate that goes through to his property. He was explaining how it made it easy to get to his land and back to his sisters. He is going to help us clean up the fields, clear out the junk and possibly open that gate back up so he can cut through. :) Aside from that, he has all sorts of farm equipment, tons of manure and is willing to help us out. I think I will let him use my driveway. LOL His uncle is also the one that built the house and used to own all the land out there. As I am sure I will want more land down the road, it is nice to meet all the people around me and find out if they use theirs and what they do with it. This is all so fun and fascinating for me!

I will probably start out doing mostly mail order and probably Ebay until I have enough of everything to actually open my doors and sell to the public/local area. It will be easy enough to come up with bedding annuals but it may be a bit longer before I can offer perennials or enough daylilies to justify advertising them. I also have an assortment of tropicals and ornamental grasses. I figure I will spend a good year or two growing out some perennials and starting seeds. Luckily, I LOVE to do this.

As far as wheelchair access (and I know that is a really good thing to mention!), I am raising the beds and leaving grass paths for now. The land is very flat and dips or humps will be very easy to adjust. I am going to spend the bulk of money on ammending soil and figure keeping the grass watered a season or two will be less expensive in the long run then mounded mulch or mulch with landscape fabric. I have started the beds at 5 feet wide with 9 foot paths between them. If I have figured well, I will still be able to work the beds and have left ample room for foot traffic and mowing by tractor if I can suddenly afford one. LOL It is two swaths with my riding mower.

Frans, I do really mean that your property is beautiful! I will not be so lucky though, seeing what comes up! We started looking at the property in June or early July and there really is not much there. If I dug up all the obviously planted plants, I bet I could not fill a pick up. This is good and bad for me. It is bad because there is no established soil but it is good because I can do whatever I want. We had someone come out and mark all the utilities so I was able adjust my rough draft plans.

As for that honey-do list.....hubby works 7 days a week right now. He should be able to give up the weekend job once we get settled and sell our other house. To be honest, he is not much on the physical labor, gardening.....he will do a load of laundry here and there and probably more now that our laundry room is on the first floor. He has rheumatoid and degenerative arthritis and the steps are sure not friendly for him. He does also help clean, run the kids, run to the grocery and do other things. As far as garden stuff, I am the one with the plans for things and he is good with making stuff work. I do not touch electricity or plumbing! LOL I guess one of these days I am going to have to get brave and attempt those. If I am brave enough to use the power tools, I guess I can learn to do the electric. My utmost respect for it has kept me away from it. LOL I can do minor plumbing stuff but why bother if/when I can get hubby to do it!

I think it would be best to start up by the house and then slowly work your way into islands around the property. You could even assign an island to separate children and have them (with your help) pick plants to put in them.
I think what I did wrong the first time with an empty slate was to skip around too much and try to fill the property with anything and everything.
I don't care too much for perennials as then it limits your digging the next season. I have tried putting in new things and forgotten about some perennials and then later figured out I destroyed thier roots while weeding and preparing for the next season. Perennials would be orderly and placed in such a way they wouldn't need to be moved again.
Lots of spring, summer and fall flowering bulbs and plants. Something to take over each season without leaving the whole place barren during a set season. Somethings with winter interest and plants that can be left without care over winter.
I would have more grasses in large masses and many more shrubs and hedges. I would have grown more from cuttings which saves money and they quickly catch up anyway.
I don't have a water feature yet and still don't know if I want one. I started 8 years ago with just a seeded lot. Now I have a lawn in the back mostly with a perimeter of wild flowers and shrubs and large specimen plants.
The front yard is where I do most of my flower gardening and have the trees and islands of plants. It is more fun mowing when you can mow through some chocolate mint, which I wouldn't do without no matter how it spreads. It smells so good I sometimes mow through a patch just to get an aroma therapy high. LOL
Looks like you are in for a lot of fun and adventure there or anywhere else you choose to buy acreage.