1. Areas 5,6 & 7 will make up one large perennial bed shaped like a bulbous leg/foot. 6 & 7 already exist as my lone perennial bed. I plan to add Area 5 yet this year. I am thinking "drifts of color" in this area. The X's across the back represent a line of blue spruce trees that screen the yard from the neighboring property.

2. Areas 3 & 4 will be bean-shaped beds with roses flanking the path and other plants in the rest of each bed.

3. Speaking of paths, they'll be grass - at least for now. I think they'll be less work in the beginning, since the lawn already exists, but I may change them in the future. In addition to the grass walkways, there will be stepping stone paths in all the beds (samples in areas 6-7) to allow easier access to the plants.

4. Areas 2a and 2b are low-height borders. I am thinking "annuals from seed" in these areas.

5. Area 9 will have some seating; area 8 will be a feature of some sort (bird bath or something).

I have a long list of plants (which oddly enough did NOT include the six I happened to buy yesterday at a big-box store - how did THAT happen??) and am trying to think about height, bloom time, etc., but that gets overwhelming so I think I will just focus on sun/water requirements and try to place stuff where it will do well, and maybe move it around later :)

I would welcome any thoughts you all might have about this, in terms of things I should be sure to add, plants I should try, colors or color combinations you love, etc. I'm so excited to get started!!

Do any of us really have a plan? Or just tiny parts of plans?

I do actually think this plan has a purpose... not so much to dictate which plants will go where, because that is the part I KNOW is useless to plan given my past history :)

But, this just gives me a guideline for how to locate the flower beds - what I want the "birds-eye view" to look like. (Because I was having trouble visualising how a few stray flower beds were going to constitute the walk-through garden I had in mind.)

It was also used last night to show my DH that when I talk about a walk-through garden I am not talking about taking up the whole lawn or even a signicant piece of it... just talking about expanding my existing flower bed and then adding a few more. :) So it is a peace-keeping plan as well as a general guideline for where to put some flower beds.

The rest of it, I'm quite certain, is completely "up in the air" and will evolve over time. Thanks for the chuckle, Token - I think I will steal your idea and, once I have my flower beds dug up, put this away for a few years and see how things end up. :)

Janet

Nell

My "masterplan"

Annette

I also plan onto paper. Trouble is, my plans change almost too often to keep up the habit! But the main stuff stays the same, the larger stuff. That's why it seems like a good idea to get the backbone in first.

I would also like to add my favorite tree, Cercis canadensis (eastern redbud)... but am still figuring out whether that goes in the garden itself or elsewhere on the property.

I did make a little MORE progress on this bed after I posted the photo yesterday... I got some of it dug out and planted several things there - some things I moved into the sun from elsewhere and some "newbies" that were waiting in pots on the patio. I will be doing more digging this weekend - I have lots of iris that can be moved to this area!

Plans are a funny thing. I agree that a plan of the beds' shape/size and where trees and shrubs are going is a great idea. That doesn't seem to change too much from a master plan.

But, it seems that no one ever told perennials to FOLLOW THE PLAN! I swear you can plant a swath of let's say salvia and although they are all planted in the same conditions somehow those plants decide that one will take over, another will be small and then the following year some decide to "jump" into a different spot. I'm sure that some of my perennials check out their neighboring flowers over the course of a season and then the next spring migrate to be next to some other sexy plant they checked out previously! Many times I'm asking "how did YOU get over THERE?" when I planted it 2 feet in the other direction. Shrubs and trees seem to be much more obedient about following orders! LOL!

Your plan looks great and I think grass paths will be really nice. Have a fabulous time and I hope you post more pictures as you progress!

ROFL this made me laugh out loud - I think I will try to paint up a sign to stick in the garden that says,

"Would someone please tell my flowers to stick to the plan?"

Or the more authoritative version:

"ATTENTION FLOWERS: This would go a lot smoother if you would all just stick to the established plan. Thank you."

Then, you go to buy the plants on your wish list and they are no where to be found. So, you start substituting. Then comes the domino stack... change one thing, that makes you change another... but, you end up with a glorious garden after all.

That's my experience. Lack of availability of the plants on my plans.

Cameron

I realy like the shape of the bed, and the little red shed is darling. Please post pics identifying the individual combos that you come up with, that is so much fun.

I love this thread! And will follow it with interest, so hopefully you will continue to post more pics through the seasons. :)

Janet

I love this thread. My husband has given up saying I have bitten off more than I can chew. He even cut sod out for a 12 by 15ish foot bed in the front yard last summer! I had to laugh at all the plan talk. I had put a couple plans on some graph paper, but when time came to plant, I couldn't find them. Later, when I did find them, realized I didn't come so close to following either one. I had laid the plants all over the place, and moved them around until I liked how it looked. But then, I added plants all summer to fill in the bare spots.

Your area is taking shape nicely! I see you are from Iowa. On the internet, that kind of makes us neighbors.

The reason I mention the blue spruce, that is the single biggest regret I have for MY gardens, so it is the voice of experience talking. I really wish I had left it alone (I let my BIL do the awful deed itself). Maybe later you'll get interested in dwarf conifers, layering them into this bed. In any case, it's one of those things that can't be undone.

FWIW, the peony CAN be moved, the fall is the best time for that. I moved mine last year, and it bloomed this year, same as always. I think digging the new hole beforehand and not planting it too deep are the keys to success with that. Besides, it is much easier to replace than a fully grown, mature specimen conifer. IF you decide to move it, but it looks fine where it is from here.

I can see in the flower pic that you have a nice strip of lawn between the bed and the tree, and I personally like how the turf sets off the shape of the bed. Push mowing, and digging, are good exercise (beats having to go to the gym), esp. as it sounds like you already have a push mower. I've been looking for one, they're getting hard to find! I have a very small lot (shrinking every year, heh) so my battery-powered mower works great.

I think you're doing a fine job, keep it up. :)

Prairiegirl, thanks for the encouragement - I promise to be kind to my blue spruce, they are beautiful. I should be clear about the kind of mower I'm using - LOL - I just mean a pull-start, walk-behind mower. Not the old-style "whizzer-reel" kind, which would be the BEST in terms of exercise! And yes, I LOVE gaudy colors... one of my favorites is still bright yellow and bright orange, side by side. Mmmm, citrusy! :D

J.