Newbie from (very) NW Indiana, 5 miles from the Lake!

Moved here from Chicago not too long ago. Grew up in Michigan and New Mexico (very different climates!) , and somehow managed to be raised by two generations of gardeners without learning much.
I'm a writer and a graphic designer. I live with my husband, and we are hoping to start
a family.

I own a house, and I need help! Unfortunately, I don't have much space to have a real garden. However, there's a lot of landscaping that desperately needs to be done. I don't really have the money to throw at people to redo the planters, so I'm hoping to get some ideas for a plan so my neighbors don't hate me forever! :-)

I should also mention that I'm interested in botany, ecology, and native plants, as well as anything that will survive my shady sodden yard!

Lacewing121, a warm welcome from the South. I cannot give you a lot of advice because our Mississippi climate is so different from yours. But you will be welcomed in any of the forums in your region. Give them a try!

Welcome from middle Indiana.
Is your soil sandy there? I know they have lots of dunes up there. We use to visit there(the lake) a lot a couple years ago when the kids were younger.
Cinda

Sand? LOL. It's a good guess, but I live in a strangely sand-free area that has deep dark soil that is higher than the sorrounding area for at least 20-35 mile radius... including Chicago. You have to go to Valpariso to get higher, and yet they have lots of sand there... and they are further from the lake than we are.

The soil almost acts swampy. It's dark, heavy soil that retains moisture. When wet, it can swell lIke peat without texture or oxygen. We get loads of rain out here, especially this year... in fact, some of our near-ish neighbors (less than 5 miles away) had to be evacuated in boats thanks to flooding!

Hint: there's lots of agriculture near here... or at least there used to be. Though we still have corn fields and sod farms...
yet the wilds of this area are mostly deciduous forests with locust and maple and oak. And more Elder trees and cane willow than you can shake a stick at!

I'm going to have to do a PH test of the soil, because frankly I have no idea what it's doing.

a very belated welcome from upstate new york

Me to welcome.. sorry late to be on here..

Hi from Missouri, sorry I missed this thread before. Are you close to Michigan City. My grandmother grew up there and she always had beautiful gardens, she said her soil was better than most of the out lying farms. She was close to the dunes and also the the bogy areas. You might want to research that area at the library, it will give you an idea of how it got boggy, I can't remember what pops use to say about it, but he grew up in Salt creek by the lake, which is no longer there, that was Porter county.

I remember she had (granny) had roses, glads, lilacs and lilies. I hope you have fun with the new gardens.

Robin