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naxosmom

Gardening books/plans

naxosmom
18 years ago

We bought a rambling ranch house out in the country. It sits on about an acre of land. We have completely gutted the house, and it is in the process of being redone.

The acre surrounding the house is another story. We are located in the Midlands of SC, which millions of years ago used to be the beach. Our soil is white sand just like a beach! My husband went to a horse farm and has been bringing in manure, and now we actually have green grass growing everywhere. He has covered most of our front lawn area now with a layer of manure, and the grass is coming up in places where we had just sand.

The house had azalea bushes around the house, but we had to cut all of them out per the general contractor. There are a few dogwood trees, water oaks, and holly trees in our front yard. In the back we have a persimmon and a catawba tree. There is a small lilac bush that bloomed this year, and a larger one that didn't. Neither one are in a particularly good location. The people who lived here before us just stuck things here and there.

There are a few huge, out-of-control bushes that we haven't pruned or cut out yet. One is an orange butterfly bush, and there are two others that we haven't been able to ID. Again, the bushes were just stuck in the middle of the yard.

We aren't sure where to start in terms of making a garden plan. I don't want the "Go to Lowe's, buy annuals, and stick them in the ground" garden. I love gardens that have lots of flowers without wide spaces between them like we saw in the UK and in France. We are also interested in perennials, but have no idea how to choose plants appropriate for our area and sandy soil.

We would appreciate any advice on how to get started.

Thanks!

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