Don't know how to start

Recently bought a home in Zone 8B and I have no idea how to start landscaping the backyard. It is a large yard with several trees - a bald cypress, 2 oaks, and a river birch. The ground in the back of the yard stays soggy long after a rain. Even when dry there are spots that you sink into when you walk on them. There is also some clay in the mud here. Nothing grows under the largest oak because of the shade. It is hard to dig into the ground because of all of the tree roots. My ultimate goal would be to have a cut flower bed, a herb and vegetable bed and possibly a rose garden. Would appreciate any suggestions on how to get started and what I should do about the soggy ground. Thanks!

If you have more shady areas than sunny ones the first thing I would do is determine spots for your vegetable/herb garden and your rose garden since both of these will need at least 6 hours (8 is better) of sun. Also keep in mind that if you are going to use chemicals on your roses, you don't want your rose bed to be anywhere near your veggies. I would consider doing a raised bed for the veggies so you can fill it with good organic soil. The roses will need to be given their own little raised mounds so you don't have to have a raised planter for them if you don't want to. I'll stop there for now...

plantfreak78 - thanks for your advice. I have been doing some research since I first posted and realized just how much I don't know! I have decided on raised beds after reading about the tilling versus no tilling issue. No tilling seems to be the answer for me and the raised beds also help with the soil problem. I have picked the sunniest spot in the yard for the veggie/herb garden, and another sunny spot for the flowers. Roses seem to require much more care than I thought and will probably wait a while before I decide to attempt growing them. That was a good thought about the chemicals - it never crossed my mind! Any suggestions on a shade garden? Can I create a bed around the base of the oak tree? I have seen some really nice shade plants I would like to try and nothing grows under the tree, not even grass. Thanks again for your help. Have a great day!

If you are going to do a bed around the Oak, and are doing a raised bed, don't pile soil around the trunk...this goes for any tree, if you are doing a raised bed. Build some sort of collar or barrier the same ht. as the walls of the bed, around the trunk or you'll kill the tree.

I've seen people kill trees very quickly by doing it the wrong way.

You have to be really careful when creating beds around existing trees because if you dig around under a tree too much you can really disrupt the root system. But, also remember that adding too much soil over top of the roots can suffocate them. Instead of trying to build up the soil around the trees I would choose to create little pockets of good soil between the major roots and then choose plants that do the work for you.
(I'm going to give you the plants' Latin names because it will make it easier for you to google them for pictures and info.) You can use perennials that form groundcover-like patches (here I use Lamium, Epimedium, creeping types of Tiarella). You can use actual groundcovers like Mondo or Dwarf Mondo Grass, Lamiastrum, variegated Vinca minor (variegated ones are usually less invasive) and creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia - and it really creeps!) Many shade plants naturalize well, meaning they make more of themselves by way of seeds, spores or roots; plants like Dicentra eximia and D. formosa, Helleborus x hybridus and Cyrtomium falcatum. Seedlings that germinate and root by themselves usually takeoff without any help. Lots of shade plants are pretty tough and drought tolerant if they get a good start. I love Heucheras for their variety of colors and Carex (especially 'Evergold') for it's soft textured foliage. And many ferns like Autumn fern (Dryopteris erythrosora) and East Indian Holly fern (Arachnoides simplicior) are amazingly easy-to-grow and evergreen. Check out your local garden shop (not Lowes or Home Depot!) and you should be able to find lots of plants that will be good for your area.

And before you decide against roses, check out this article: http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/540/ As the author points out, roses can be extremely durable plants and don't have to be as tough to grow as people think they are...

JasperDale and plantfreak - thanks so much for your input. I wondered if I could do that or not. What about a rock garden around the base with maybe some plants in ground and some in pots or all of them in containers? Any problems with putting a layer of rocks around the base? Or would it be best to just try some pockets of plantings like plantfreak suggested?

Plantfreak - your knowledge amazes me! I have written down the names of all of the plants you suggested and am slowly researching them. I really appreciate you taking the time to help educate this ignorant wanna be gardener!

I thought I had heard some where that you didn't want to plant vegetables next or near some tree's has anyone heard of this or am I completely nuts?
As far as your shady areas how about planting hasta's?

The problem with planting under existing trees (the larger the tree, the worse the problem) is that the roots of the tree utilize almost all of the available nutrients and water. I think you are on the right track considering the use of containers. Whiskey barrels with ferns, flowers, almost anything, would look real nice. I think the large size of the barrels wouldn't get lost next to big trees. If you decide to put any type of ground cover plants, just be sure to fertilize them every so often so they can have a little before the trees grab it all. I know vinca vine is pretty tough--I've seen it growing very nicely under trees out in the woods. But then it gets the advantage of "fertilizer" from all the decaying leaves that fall every year.

Nature lover 1950.. you are probably refering to the walnut tree which puts out a chemical that keeps anything from growing under them.
EPB - I would also watch the use of any hebicide near the bald cypress. I have seen round-up take out a large bald cypress.
Best of luck Dave tulsa zone 6b

Pughbear7,
Actually, I've never had a walnut tree in my yard. In our other house, I made the mistake of planting a magnolia tree too close to my veggie garden. As the tree grew larger, it got where nothing could grow in the end of the garden closest to the magnolia. Everything was dwarfed. I also had a red maple and an oak that were bad about stealing all the water and nutrients. I'm sure there are probably other types of trees that do the same thing. My mistake with these trees has made me think twice about planting under certain types of trees. I have had success with azaleas under pine trees and I've seen flower beds under trees in other folks yards so I'm not saying it's impossible to grow things under trees--just be more careful about it. I lean more toward containers under some of my trees now.

What you're talking about doesn't have anything to do with particular types of trees, it's something that's going to happen with pretty much any tree when you plant things that needs lots of sun and/or water under it. There are some flowering plants that can handle dry shade, those are probably what you see flourishing under other people's trees. (azaleas are fine with some shade for example) Veggies typically need full sun and lots of nutrients, so I don't think you're going to find any tree that you can you can grow a veggie garden under.

I think pugbear has the idea I was thinking of, I knew there was a tree, a rather common one that you shouldn't plant under and the walnut sounds right....it was either that or the oak, but pugbear I think your right on!

Pughbear is absolutely right--that's why I don't have any walnut trees in my yard! As I stated earlier too, I made the mistake of planting a magnolia tree too close to my garden spot (about 30 yards from it) and the roots eventually extended into my garden area and ruined it. I don't plant any of the larger trees closer than 300 feet from my garden now.

Thanks for all the info. I did not think about the consequences! Pughbear - thanks for that info on roundup - would never have thought that roundup could kill the cypress! I would be sick if I did that - it is gorgeous! I just love those feathery leaves. Of course I am not too crazy about all the "knees" that have sprouted up all over! LOL

Glad I could help. best of luck with the garden. Please post pics of the garden once you get it going