I can feel your excitement... A tabula rasa.. What kinds of plants are you planning to set out?

This is very similar to the setup I have in my backyard. It looks like a lot of work but it is worth it. Do you have any design in mind?

ha ha! Next year you will be widening those (narrow?) beds next to your fence. What do you need all that grass for anyway?

Just an FYI.. Walmart came out with their perennials already. Around $2.19 per plant.

Hahaha. ontnative may have a good idea there. Start widening that bed now... Do a British style trick to create large backyard impression. Create beds diagonally against the fence. You get a wide bed and still a large looking grass space.. Just a suggestion...

Yes....someone else came over to the house and mentioned that I should widen the old bed. I just don't feel up to it right now, means I have to uproot the ribars holding the mini ties and all that :-)

Making them curved instead of straight will make the space look larger too.

I decided to take a challenge: my morning glories seeds and columbines are in the soil for a week already - in Al Gore I trust and global warming.

Nanumi, That won't be a problem. Morning glories will reseed from last year's seeds and columbines are hardy... This cold weather will not harm them.

MG not necessarily reseeds from last year in our zone. Sporadically I see few regrowing but it's scarce.
My hyacinth bean vine is begging for release from domestic confinement - should I risk it? 20+ for the next couple days then 4C next week...

Such memories. Our first purchased house looked so much like your pictures. Dear lassie you have a sun trap and should do wonders with any plant which loves heat. I see you know about raised beds so that is good. We now live out in rural Victoria County and it's a lot of land to handle. I had a vision of what I wanted to do about 18 years ago and it's just starting to happen. The native trees take many years to fill out. Good for you. I can envision your corn far above that board fence.Out here in the rhubarb it's not safe to plant anything tender until Victoria Day and real tender things like squash must wait until early June. My newbie this year will be Heritage tomatoes to accompany my other 5 varieties. Tabla Rasa...oohhh..Ron Squared

Nice yard. Those new homes are excellent for gardening.. The older homes usually have too many dang fully grown trees around in the neighbors yards. I see one growing there in the picture. In 20 years that tree will ruin your gardening!
or anyone else who buys that property. Trees suck in backyards! I wish I had a backyard like that with clear sky with no trees. I would growing huge tomatoes! haha >:-)
Cheers.

Nanumi, We are in the same zone and I have grown morning glories which germinated from the previous years seeds (although I agree not all seeds) that had gone through winter outdoors. The point being, these seeds will be fine for seeding out now. If you still find that doubtful, then wait until Victoria Day. I'd say, it's already ok to start the hycacinth vines but again in doubt, wait till May 18. In my case, I'm going to seed my sunflowers this weekend.

glaswegian -- I think you can still create yet another bed diagonal to the side beds without having to remove the boards. Just a suggestion in case you need more bed space.

Front yard as of today April 25

Climbing hydrangea

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Clematis

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Sandcherry shrub

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European snowball

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Serviceberry

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Cranberry bush

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kiwi vine

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Planted potatoes in the backyard

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