How'd you get started?

[MaryAnnDVC]

Did you all grow up gardening? Any late bloomers (no pun intended) like me?

Actually, I haven't done a thing to even start growing anything yet. DH grows great vegetable gardens every year, but the other "landscaping" gardens haven't gone so well, and he finally tore out EVERYTHING this year. We need to do something...I keep saying that, but I don't know where to start.

I live in the Northeast, and I need really hardy shrubs, due to weather as well as gardening incompetence. Nothing fancy, as we live in the woods and prefer a more "natural", unlandscaped look.

Should I HIRE someone to come here and get us going? Take pictures of the areas we need plantings and take them to a nursery? Have our soil tested?? Where do I start?

 

[mommytotwo]

My dad has had several gardens so I grew up with plants ever since I was born.
I would take a walk in your neighborhood to see what sort of plants your neighbors have and see if there are ones that you may like in your yard. You will be able to get a feel of what will do good in your area.
You could go to your local nursury or gardening center and see if they have any recommendations. A picture will help in making decisions so if you have one, bring it with you.
One suggestion-how about pine trees?

 

[DebºoºS]

Growing up we had gardens galore. My grandmother used to take me to flower shows when I was little. DH & I got married in my father's rose garden. I guess I have green roots

As far as landscaping in the northeast, there are great books out with gardens plans for your area.

Good idea taking pics and bringing them with you.

Talk to local landscapers and if it's within the budget maybe they could get your foundation plantings in and you could add from there.

Ours foundation plantings and beds were prof landscaped but I've moved everything so much since then it's not even close to the same look. Plants grow and tastes change.

Vegetable and flower gardens are not too hard to do because you can do them gradually. Start small. Ours keep growing and growing.

I've had 6 cubic yards of planting mix delivered this spring alone and it might not be enough.

Happy planting.

 

[Snowwark]

It took me awhile, but I found it!! I'm kind of cheating here because this is from a thread that's almost two years old!! Yep, I copied it!

We always had a vegetable garden when I was growing up. We had a flower
garden or two, but nothing special. With 6 always famished kids, the vegetables won out over the flowers. It was never a huge garden, but we enjoyed tomatoes, carrots, beets and beet greens, peas, beans, lettuce and radishes. For a long time we had a patch of yellow raspberries, and of course, rhubarb.

My grandmother (on my father's side) always had a big vegetable garden. She had polio when she was a child, and I can still see her in my mind's eye, in her specially built up shoes, with her awkward gait, maneuvering between the rows of vegetables, pinching, weeding, harvesting. She had long white hair that she kept coiled in a bun at the nape of her neck. She always wore dresses and a big apron, the pockets bulging with twine, garden shears, and wrapped candies that she gave us when we helped her out.

Every summer we would visit my grandparents at their cottage in Quebec. Berry picking was a favourite pasttime. Depending on when we went, our cups and pails would brim with wild blueberries, strawberries, raspberries or blackberries. We quickly learned that "one for the pail, two for me" usually resulted in no pie for dinner!


One summer when I was 11 or 12, my girlfriend and I joined a kids garden program at our local Royal Botanical Gardens. You were assigned a small plot for you and your partner to plant vegetables. Bright and early every Saturday morning, her mother would drive us there, and we would tend to our small garden, talking and giggling all the while. If you had asked me at the time if I was doing this because I enjoyed gardening, I probably would have rolled my eyes and giggled.

I guess that all along an interest in gardening was growing, fed by pies and fresh vegetables, and rooted in happy childhood memories.

I have flowers now, and a few container grown vegetables. I'm still dreaming and hoping for a big garden, with lots of vegetables, maybe a berry patch!

I might even garden in a dress.

Patsy and Deb have given you some great advice on getting started, Mare.

You could get someone from a garden centre (or a landscaper), to come to your house and draw up a plan for you. You don't have to buy their services (although you will probably be charged a fee for their visit), but you can use the plan if you like it, and plant at your own pace. It's a constantly evolving process....lol.

Knowing how the sun lights different parts of your yard/garden, is of course, very important!

Magazines and gardening books will also help you decide what look appeals to you.....casual cottage garden, something more formal, or a hodge-podge of plants, like mine.

 

[Kirby]

I had a green thumb growing up. My parents didn't do anything beyond mow and water. They did plant some trees and bushes when I was small. After that, anything new in the yard was because I put it there.

My husband's parents had a pecan tree and a grapevine, other than that it was just typical yard stuff like my parents.

We experiment a lot. When we moved to Rockwall, we thought we would try a vegetable garden mostly for the kids. We have an acre and a half so we have plenty of room to try things.

Our house isn't landscaped yet (we've been here 9 years) but that is high up on the list. We have planted a number of trees since there were none when we buildt the house. I love trees! If I could get away with it, I'd just have trees but landscaping will help if we ever want to sell.

 

[marydmjj]

I was not at all interested in gardening until we moved to our first house which had no yard or gardens at all. We put in the lawn and cut in gardens ourselves. It wasn't very pretty to start with but eventually I got the hang of it. Then, we moved! Since then, I've been completely hooked.

 

[amid chaos]

My sister gave me the bug...she is REALLY good! She lives close by so we are always sharing stuff!

 

[DebºoºS]

Marydmjj,
Our first house was a learning experience too. We learned by doing. We put in the lawn, foundation plantings, vegetable gardens, beautiful roses and trees.

In those days the Victory Garden was the gardening show on TV. I got the book and tried square foot gardening, raised bed, organic gardening and preserving what we had grown. All new to us since we had watched our parents but never really done it ourselves.

After 10 years we moved when I became preganant. Started from scratch again using our experiences from the first house. In that house we did even more because we had a few more $ to spend. Put in all new lawns and dug gardens.

We moved here after about 12 years. Dug out all the beds for veggies and flowers one at a time using our past experiences to guide us. This time we had a few more $'s to spend on planting mix for the gardens instead of making our own soil from the rock hard clay. Still dig our own holes though.

Each house I left happy memories along with my precious rose bushes and much loved perenials. I took some peonies, a few lilly of the valley and a tiny azalea to this house.

 

[marydmjj]

Deb: Whew! I'm tired just reading about all you've done. I don't feel like I have an eye for designing a garden. My beds at the old house were just a straight line down the yard, very boxy! This house the beds were already in so I just add to them and tinker around.

 

[orvilleair]

My brother is in landscaping and is majoring in botany in college. He recommended a book by Michael Dirr titled "Handbook of woody landscape plants." It covers everything you need to know about trees and shrubs. He is from Georgia, but he talked about shrubs on some of his travels. It's very descriptive on foilage, flower, growing height, varieties.

Garden Center. Visited many times just to look around. Wrote down the many varities of "Vibernum" shrubs they had, then researched which one would fit my landscape.

Ohio State University has a website that recommends plants for Ohio, and I'm sure a college/university has the same for your part of the country.

Local park showcases plants and most of them are labelled for reference. Even though "Clethra" was described on the web as showy, the ones in this park were shabby. Nevertheless I didn't use any "Clethra" in my landscape.

Locally we have a "homerama" which showcases new homes. All of them are professionally landscaped giving me ideas for my yard.