Lesson 2: Planning Your Garden
Visual Impact
Once your garden is in, you’re stuck with what you see from every room of your home. This is particularly a problem with new homes, which often feature loads of windows looking out over their lots. Take the time to consider carefully what you want to see from each viewpoint. Even more importantly, what don’t you want to see? Privacy screening can be critical to your sense of well being. In many new communities, homes are built side by side, with barely a handspan between each of them.
A word of caution: most police departments recommend against blocking entry windows and porches with heavy shrubbery, trees or walls. All they do is create an easy point of entry into your home, concealed by the plants you placed there. These areas need to be immediately visible from the street. It is much safer to use drapes or heavy sheers over mini-blinds to create more privacy, yet allow light into your rooms.
Choosing the right outdoor lighting can set a romantic mood and create a sense of drama. The use of small landscape lights can accent a path or walkway and increase security around the outside of your home. Plant spotlights can highlight a specimen plant, creating an evening focal point for your garden. Once you’ve made some decisions about these very basic elements of your garden design, you can then begin to think about what types of plants you enjoy.
Armed with the tools to make wise choices, you can begin to fill the palette with gorgeous color, texture and fragrance.
Here is a link to Rebecca Koll's plans for a new garden: http://www.rebeccasgarden.com/howto/item...
How Much Time Can You Devote to the Garden?
Gardening is supposed to be a relaxing and enjoyable way to de-stress from the hectic lives we lead. Many gardeners give up before they truly get started because they didn’t understand how very important planning for time is. Typically, they either hire a designer or rush out and cram every square inch of their gardens with high maintenance plants. Once these start growing out of control or simply start failing due to inattention, they throw their hands up in despair and quit.
If you are in love with the English cottage garden look, be aware that you need to spend lots of time pinching, pruning, feeding, weeding and watering, to maintain the cultivated disorder of this style of gardening. I happen to love this look and know it takes one or two hours an evening to keep it healthy and tidy.
Sit down and decide with your significant others just how much time you can realistically devote to your new garden. If you want vegetables, factor in the almost daily harvesting a healthy crop will give you, plus checking for diseases and pests.
I strongly recommend new gardeners start out slowly, with small projects. This is an excellent way to get a feel for what really works for you. Instead of a full English style garden, plant a corner with hollyhocks, larkspurs and delphiniums. Plant one or two tomato plants, instead of a full vegetable garden. Plant herbs and get used to the rhythm and time spent outdoors.
Small successes build confidence and skills, without the huge disappointment a major failure can bring. Be wise enough to recognize your limitations.
