This is my friend's house-

OK!!! Thank you for sharing that vital information. I thought your gentleman friend was in a position to pay for the improvements but was being.... well... dare I say it? Cheap! LOL, sorry, I am embarrassed to admit it but it seemed like he was expecting you to do the work and provide the bulk of the plants, wanted a GREAT curb appeal without having any expense OR doing the work!!! I think I understand more fully now I hope. (And hope you no longer expect to print this out and share it with him!!! :-0 )

Landscaping on a dime in some ways is easier. You don't get the luxuary of EXPECTING to buy expensive stuff and spending lots of time oogling catalogs for stuff you can't afford. You can throw out lots of the ideas right off the top because they are not doable on the budget, which brings me to another important issue. Can you get him to commit to a budget for you to work within? THAT would seem to me to make planning much easier. If the budget is really small, you know to concentrate on JUST the front yard this year.

Since you have LOTS of hostas you are willing to share, why not use part of the budget for POSTAGE and trade to get some of the beautiful things you want for his garden? That seems like the most economical way to fill the flowerbeds. You might even decide to not be quite so "discerning" and open it up for trades for ALL plants people offer in the right color scheme and see what comes up? Just a thought....
Look ahead NOW for cuttings and starts from Clematis you want etc. You could tenatively begin to set the trades up now so when spring comes you can go full speed ahead - knowing what you have to work with based on the trades you have set up.

I just realized that when I cut and paste the whole thread into a word doc before printing it out for him that I can go back and delete any content I don't want him to read so I'm no longer worried about editing posts here. He will never pay the annual fee to join here. No credit card.

He, like my Dad, is very responsible with money which is why he is in a position to even think about paying to have curb appeal. He's not cheap so much as very careful with how he spends his money because he doesn't ever want to be a burden to his children. He has money, he just spends it within his means. Although he doesn't mind the gift of the Beautyberry, he will spend his money to buy plants. I will be able to buy him one more plant this coming year as a gift and that's about it. As far as trades, no time to do it for myself let alone for him. He's on his own at K-Mart, Menards, Home Depot, etc... Well, we will be driving out to The Possibility Place which is about $10 in gas one way. Yup, he figured that one out. I was planning on going anyway so he's not allowed to reimburse me for his share of the gas. He said I could order some of the clematis mail order for him as long as I gave him the original receipt not a copy. It's a blessing my Dad wasn't a detective or I would have been caught a long time ago with my plant pricing deal.

He doesn't particularly care for my style of gardening at all. It's too busy for him and looks like way too much work and he can't afford the hardscaping I've done. He does like the suggestions people are coming up with here. It's nothing personal against me and how I garden, he just doesn't want the prairie/woodland/wetland look on his city lot.

The budget he has to work with is $1,000 this year. Given the sale prices of homes in his neighborhod, I wouldn't want to see him go over $3,000.

As far as what I want for his yard- I want that infested prunus thing in the back yard and the nekkid evergreen thing in the front yard gone and I'd really like to see lattice work installed up against the poured concrete to his front steps. Those three just make sense to me from a curb appeal standpoint and I think the white lattice work will look nice with the white trellises he wants which I forgot who suggested. This is not my project, this is his project. If it was my project he would end up with something that did not make him happy that went way over budget. He makes the final decisions and he does the digging but for bulbs he said I could bring my heavy duty drill and bulb auger over but he said he'd be the one dropping the bulbs in the ground and covering them up.

I'm really grateful you all are suggesting ideas and plants because he does like most everything being posted, he's just being selective about what he's going to add. He priced that arbor and a good sturdy one that would last longer than a season or two was around $250. That's why that idea was ditched. In addition to the cost of the arbor he would have had to factor in the cost of getting someone out to connect it into the chain link too which would have cost even more money.

Right out the gate his one splurge item is going to be a B&B to replace that nekkid thing I keep moaning about to shut me up. He doesn't want a bareroot stick out in the front lawn for everyone to see. We figure with delivery to his house the cost of whatever he picks is going to be around $300 plus 50% of that for the landscaper digging the hole and sticking it in the ground but it will come with a 2 year guarantee. That's still going to leave him with over $500 for this year and that's a decent amount to work with.

Whats a B&B?

Very true about your time and money, you dont' have the time to do it for YOURSELF, you sure can't do it for him. I am soooooo used to not having money that I have to make do with what I can trade with, and I have to do THAT very carefully so it is worth the postage cost!

I traded labor for some plants here locally. I just plug along with what I can "almost afford"! LOL.. speaking of which... I saw a clearance sale on trellises yesterday I meant to go back and look at!

Ball and Burlap. They are considerably larger than what you get at a Home Depot and they will have some height to them which will fill out the area a little bit where the nekkid thing is being removed. That nekkid thing is the only thing with any height in his front yard and I can see why he wouldn't want to replace it with a $15 native stick that's going to take at least 5 years to get going. He's probably right in just biting the bullet and going for a B&B for that area. Me, I would have gone with a native stick so I could afford more native sticks but then I'm about 30 years younger than him too.

I grew up without money and there is something very honorable about a person who lives within their means. In this era of credit cards, it's very easy to overspend which gets lots of people in trouble.

By the way, I have to tell you a funny story about the plant pricing deal. He must have known what I was thinking once when we were talking about plants and what they really cost these days. He reached over and tapped his finger on my nose a few times and said, "Don't you be trying none of that price swappin BS with me, you hear. Because I'll catch you."

Good point about trellises being on sale. I'll mention that to him because he did say he was going to buy a few. It's definitely off season right now so he might have a chance at picking a few up for a song. I'm going to run the gutter trellises by him too next time I see him. A pack of those are only $30 plus shipping and handling and I can mailorder for him if I give him the original packing receipt.

If the two of you order the gutter trellises, I'll bet you can split the shipping cheaper that way too.

Yes, I admire anyone who lives within their means. Nothing wrong with doing with what you can afford, making do, or doing without until you can pay cash. We live in a society that seems to have forgotten that ideal.

I have been lucky enough to have some skills that have enabled me to trade for things that I WANT but cannot afford. I've trades my sewing and mending skills for wood projects I wanted; a fireplace mantel, a shelf, a hinged box that I use as an end table that stores my catalogs. I enjoy trading, it seems more personal than money. The man that I traded with to make a family sign a year earlier, had my 4th son's name added and hung before I got home from the hospital! (He had inside information, he was friends with my SIL)

You gotta love that one!

I have to see if he's interested in gutter trellises. He may be because he likes the clematis.

My parents used to trade the way you do. My Dad would do side jobs and come home with a side of beef or a whole lamb already packed for the freezer. I think that's how we got a car once. My Mom and her friends always set clothes aside for each other's kids. I was sort of left out of that one because none of her friends had girls older than me. It's the way to go if you can.

I've learned to buy parent plants and to propagate from there on out when possible. That's a real big help. What's really been great is that most of my personal friends are all into the same types of plants as me so when they have divisions or extras from starting from seed, we share amongst ourselves.

Thank you, sempervirens. I'm glad you enjoyed my pictures.

Being on a budget is highly commendable! There is nothing wrong with that!

Lauren, what did you mean about "Classic Viburnums"?

Unless your friend is willing to grow out his Clematis for several seasons prior to planting the Clematis in his garden, I would not recommend "starts" or cuttings of Clematis. They are too immature to survive by themselves in the garden. Yes, some varieties are more vigorous than others, but again you need to have the Clematis' root system fill a 1 gallon container before planting it out. Keep it well watered. Do not let it dry out or forget about it. It will reward you with beautifully flowering vines, some of which are scented.

The best time to look for Clematis vines will be in early Spring. That's when you'll find the largest selection in the stores. However, I would look at the various web sites that I listed above for Clematis sales. During the winter season, you will find reduced prices and larger plants. Nurseries won't send them out until next Spring or when the weather warms up in your growing zones. You can always let them know when you would like to have the plants shipped as well.

Here's another suggestion for your friends garden. Since he like purple, how about Eragrostis spectabilis, “Purple Love Grass"?

http://www.anniesannuals.com/plants/plant_display.asp?prodid=2178&account=none

Classic Viburnums is probably the best Viburnum Nursery in the nation. If you are feeling as if you can resist the urge to buy one of everything they have, I can forward this past season's catalog to you. You could also call them and ask them to mail or e-mail a catalog to you. Nice healthy plants, you won't be disappointed. They don't have a web site.
http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/5988/

He's not willing to grow them out for several seasons, but I am ;) I plan on taking cuttings of any Clematis he buys once they start maturing for me to play with propagating. I also plan on taking cuttings from clematis that I already have growing here for him. He might be interested in a few for along some of his chain link fencing.

There are quite a few I want for myself at the links you posted so I'll check them out for sales. He's going to purchase several for the trellises he will buy but he wants to be able to see his plants so I don't think a cutting would do it for him on his trellises. Cuttings work for me though as I've got lots of places to stuff plants.

I'll run the grass by him. The only grasses we discussed were the species I have planted here and he wasn't interested in them. They looked to shaggy and wild to him. He might like an ornamental though.

WOW!!! That plant is awesome! The picture is stunning, although the colors they describe are not how I would have described them. The foliage looks more dark purple and the bloom more rose colored to me. Maybe it's just my monitor but anyway to see it, the plant is gorgeous!

Yes, I agree psychw2. Apparently, this flowering grass does have a rosy glow to it. Sorry, its name suggested otherwise. "Clouds of pink, tiny seed heads swarm over 10" mat of twisty green foliage, creating a cloud of color from a distance." http://www.bluestoneperennials.com/b/bp/ERSPS.html

Lauren: Here are a few other purple plants to consider:

Allium aflatunenense 'Purple Sensation'
http://www.langeveld.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=plants.plantDetail&plant_id=380

Aster dumosus 'Sapphire' (these names can be sooo confusing!)
http://www.naturehills.com/new/product/perennialsdetails.aspx?prodid=2711

Perovskia atriplicifolia, Russian Sage
http://www.hort.wisc.edu/mastergardener/Features/flowers/perovskia/perovskia.htm

Eupatorium purpureum, Joe Pye Weed http://www.critsite.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/plants.plantDetail/plant_id/100305/index.htm


I didn't realize that you were the one who wanted to propagate Clematis. I need to slow down and read more carefully, duh!

Here is some good info on propagating Clematis vines. Air layering them in the Spring is when gardeners have had the most success.
http://www.gardenaction.co.uk/plantfinder/clematis_23.asp

Thanks for the lead on "Classic Viburnum". I'll definitely give them a call and ask them to send me a catalog. Oh dear, I know I'm probably already in trouble and I don't even have their catalog in my hot little hands yet! :~0

TAKING CLEMATIS CUTTINGS:

This method is guaranteed to reproduce plants exactly the same as the parent plant. Common clematis which can be grown from cuttings are:

EASY FROM
CUTTINGS

Alpinas
Montanas
Clematis Tangutica
Clematis tibetana
'Bill MacKenzie'


MODERATELY EASY
FROM CUTTINGS

Macropetalas
Viticellas
Large-flowered hybrids


EASY FROM
CUTTINGS

Clematis armandii
Texensis

http://www.gardenaction.co.uk/plantfinder/clematis_22.asp

I'm beginning to know some of his tastes in plants based on the books we have gone through. I think he will like the Allium. Can't quite get a take on the others though so will have to show him photos.

Yup, I'm the one who will try to propagate the Clematis. I would normally have gone with air layering because it produces good solid results in about a year but I really want to play with my clone machine this coming season so that will be the route I'll take. This coming year, I'll try propagating from mature plants that I already have in the ground as opposed to taking cuttings from the few I plan on buying or from the few he plans on buying. Maybe I'll try a cutting or two from new purchases the following season but it will depend on how well they do between spring of '08 and spring of '09.

That wasn't a lead on Classic Viburnum per se, it was more of a... here... try these people and see if you surface with a bill less than $100. Think of it as a challenge.

Time to go read your links to Garden Action.

Lauren:

Check out this link. The British Clematis Society has a wealth of information on their website. Please keep in mind that their growing conditions will be different from ours, but regardless, you will learn a lot. http://www.britishclematis.org.uk/cutting.htm

Your clone machine will work beautifully on soft wood cuttings, like Clematis. I would be very interested to know how long it takes for the graft to become a new vine. I've seen the clone machines available in various gardening catalogs, but I never invested the money in one. So, I'll be very interested to see & hear about your results, not only with Clematis vines, but with other soft & hard wood choices. Probably, a new thread should be started for that subject, because this thread is getting rather long. It makes it difficult for subscribers who have dial-up.

I'm sure I'll have problems staying under $100 for new Viburnum, but I accept your challenge! :~0

Although I didn't have the clone machine at the time, I did air layer in late summer/early fall from that one honker clematis I have out back for a girlfriend. Most, if not all, of them rooted and I potted them up the following spring. My girlfriend has them because I was just playing around for her. I like to start plants from seed for sport and I'll try to propagate just about anything for sport even if I don't intend to keep it for myself. I'll have to ask her how many are still alive. I'm definitely open to trying a soft wood cutting in spring of a Clematis in the clone machine and I know I'll try a semi-hardwood cutting taken in late summer/early fall too. We can start a new thread for this when the season is up and running. Supposedly, we're going to have a propagation data base. Right now we have a winter sowing data base that was just started. I'll add to the propagation data base when it is up and running too.

Yes, please do let me know if you escape Classic for under $100- tee he!