You might be interested in doing some lasagna gardening. It did really well for me with soil that really wasn't all that great. I've forgotten now which forum I found it on, but you could just do a search for lasagna gardening and it will show up.

Not much limit on what you can plant. What sort of look do you want? Cottage garden, formal?

This bed was made over the corner of a gravel driveway using the lasagna method.

In gardening, always start with your soil first. (Repeat three times! :) Just a couple of things.

Compost does not smell, assuming you are using a reasonably balanced combination of green stuff: grass clippings, plant prunings, kitchen peels, etc; and brown stuff: fall leaves and pine straw. It's not difficult to make compost. Start piling it up.

I would wait to add grass clippings to the pile until next year, if you add them at all. We have a mulching mower and just let the clippings fall to feed the lawn. I get plenty of green stuff from the kitchen and beds.

If there's anything that will make a compost pile smell bad, it would be grass clippings added in thick layers. Mix them in to brown stuff for sure.

If you only have one thing to compost, leaves are the best. You can pick them up in the fall with your lawn mower (bag on), and dump the (now) chopped up leaves on your beds as mulch, use them in your compost pile, or as a very important ingredient to your lasagna gardening.

Truly, you'll do a better job if you think about soil prep this fall and planting next spring. (Repeat three times. :)

If you have heavy clay (don't we all?), you'll be happy to know that horse manure is a nearly perfect amendment to break it up and improve drainage. If you have a limitless supply, count your blessings and use it. You won't need much else, though other manures plus leaves are all the better.

Note: Manure will burn plant roots if it is fresh, especially chicken manure. Always add it to the compost pile for awhile, OR let it set in your beds through the winter before adding plants in the spring.

For a no cost, wonderful soil prep job, take your shovel and plunge it as deeply as you can (shovel's depth is good) into the soil every six inches and pull back to break it. ( No need to turn or till.) Then put down a l0 sheet thickness of newspaper over the entire area, then layer on chopped leaves and manure this fall, as deep as you can get (18" is not too deep), rake it level, and cover the whole pile with pinestraw. Come spring, you'll have the most beautiful soil you ever saw.

If possible, collect extra leaves from neighbors to start your compost pile this fall. Pile them up in a convenient, but out of sight place (tomato cages will keep them from blowing away) and add kitchen scraps (no meat or oily stuff), and manures, etc. to it through the winter. Weeds are okay too, as long as they don't have seeds or bulbous roots. (Compost aficionados will tell you even these are okay, but I learned years ago to take no chances.) Keep adding green stuff to it throughout the year: pulled up pansies in the spring, spent daylily foliage, prunings, etc. Even if you never turn your pile, in a year's time it will be ready to add as a top dressing to your beds. Start a new pile each fall.

Make it a rule to add a shovelful of compost to any and every planting hole you dig, except that first spring when it's unnecessary. The secret to good soil is plenty of organic matter. It breaks down over time, though, so you have to keep it coming. Every fall, add an inch deep layer over your entire bed area. Your plants will love it.

As far as plant choices are concerned, open your eyes. Look at landscapes in your area and note the things that you like and that are doing well. Where are they planted? Sun? Shade? How big are they? What are they growing near that looks nice with them? Ask questions. Find out the names of things, so you know what to get at the garden center. If the people don't know the name, take a picture of the plant with you to the garden center.

Ask family and friends for cuttings from their gardens. You can start evergreen cuttings now through fall. You can start deciduous cuttings fall through winter. Alot of the most popular old fashioned southern favorites are easy to start this way and grow quickly: boxwoods, Indian Hawthornes, loropetalum, hydrangeas, spireas, weigelas, gardenias, etc.
Also let your friends and family know that you would love their extras when they divide daylilies, monkey grass, and such as that. When I am dividing it kills me to throw away plants. I am thrilled if someone will just say they want them. If your soil isn't ready when the plants are available, pot them up and keep them watered until you're ready for them. It will save big money.

Just FYI it typically takes a shrub about three years to grow from a cutting to a one gallon sized shrub. The trade-off for you is time versus money. Which do you have? If you're short on patience AND money, use seeds in your beds for those early years while your shrubs are growing in. Gardening doesn't have to be expensive, if you can be creative.

Have fun!

What a great idea! Not only do I have plenty of horse manure (field-leached, not fresh), I also have unlimited wood chips, cardboard, newspaper, and leaves. My partner and I love to cook, too, so it looks like composting is right up our alley. I'll have to start on that and the lasagna garden ASAP!

Since not adding plants to the yard is not an option (it's currently a bit unsightly for my taste), I have a few other questions:

I have a bunch of broccoli and tomato seedlings ready for a fall garden. Since I don't yet have available ground to put them in, I guess I'll have to use containers until spring. I've had modest success with tomatoes in 5-gallon pots, but have never grown broccoli. Can I do this in containers? Also, is 5 gallons enough for the root system of a tomato? My plants were quite large, but produced few fruits.

Instead of containers, would it be possible to dig out spots in my freshly-layered lasagna garden, fill with good soil, and plant seedlings? I know that the plants can't access the nutrients from the surrounding organic debris until microorganisms process it, so I don't want my roots to outrun the decomposition process. Thoughts?

Any other suggestions on the subjects of container gardening, fall- and winter-blooming flowers, or anything else that might keep my yard from looking as run-down as it does now would be greatly appreciated.

A five gallon container will hold the root system of a SMALL tomato plant. I have had really good luck with cherry tomatoes and bush tomatoes: Better Bush and Bush Goliath are two I have grown with success. The secret to success is plenty of sun, regular liquid fertilizer (every two weeks religiously) throughout the season, and a steady supply of water. Never let the plants go completely dry. I have had tomatoes in pots still producing as late as Thanksgiving. Although they say you can grow larger plants in half barrels, I personally think you're better off to put them in the ground.

I have not grown broccoli before, though I plan to try it this year, but I see no reason you couldn't grow it in five gallon buckets too. Again, keep the water and fertilizer coming.

As far as planting veggies in your lasagna garden, the answer is, it depends. The wood chips will definitely tie up nitrogen in the soil until they break down. However, if you are willing to use plenty of liquid fertilizer, I know from experience that you will have success. Once you build the lasagna garden, you will have several inches of soil on top ready to host plants within a matter of three or four weeks. As time goes by, it will only get better. Be sure to use plenty of mulch over the bed and around the plants to hold in moisture and keep down weeds.

Thanks for the quick reply!

As far as nitrogen goes, would I possibly be able to mix in something high in N (grass clippings?) to compensate for the wood chips' slow decomposition?

It certainly couldn't hurt, but I rather doubt there would be enough nitrogen in it to compensate. If you want to stick with organics, try mixing a generous amount of cottonseed meal into the holes. Cottonseed meal is cheap, too. A fifty pound bag is less than $10.

Great, thank you for all your help!