New to gardening!

[heat]

Hey guys,
Good weather outside, just want to know what I can do in my backyard as well as the front.
I dont have any plants in my backyard, so I was wondering what I can do and if possible are there any plants that can stick around during the winter as well:).


Also every spring I get these plants growing in my front yard, beautiful flowers and all, but as soon as summer hits, these flowers dry out. Even after giving it water, those flowers never come back:mad:
ANy ideas

THANKS:)

[nalababe]

If you are looking for zero care plants, there are many. One of my favourites is the blackeye susan "goldstrum". Other plants like yarrows and mints are wonderful flower/herbs. Same with Annise Hyssop.

As for the other plants....could be annuals that once they seed, you have to wait until the next spring...or they could be bulb/rhizomes (i.e. anenome) that die off until the following spring.

[heat]

If you are looking for zero care plants, there are many. One of my favourites is the blackeye susan "goldstrum". Other plants like yarrows and mints are wonderful flower/herbs. Same with Annise Hyssop.

As for the other plants....could be annuals that once they seed, you have to wait until the next spring...or they could be bulb/rhizomes (i.e. anenome) that die off until the following spring.

thanks for the help. I googled rhizomes and thats the exact same plant that grows. Problem is the flowers die by summer and it looks bad

[pkguy]

Few plants other than evergreens stick around thru the winter and few flowers flower continuously throughout the spring summer and fall. The trick with flowers is to plant varying types which come into full bloom at different times so you have a continous display. Simply put you start with crocuses which should be just close to blooming soon, followed by tulips and daffodils for May by which time things like Iris and daisies and roses etc come out.
If you buy roses there are so many types, some only bloom once, some bloom continuously, some are hardy, some arent etc etc. Midsummer you be getting bigger showier flowers from things like Hyacinths, gladiolas etc.

Also important is not just the flower itself but the leaves.

None of this even includes all the flowering shrubs and bushes you can get such as Lilacs, Kerria, Forsythia.

It all depends on how much you want to spend and how much time you have to maintain it all because a showplace garden is a ton of work.

Best thing is to go to a large nursery now before the masses show up and ask a lot of questions, take a photo of your yard etc so you can tell them what direction it faces, where the shady spots are etc etc.
Heres a pic of my back yard in late summer. In the spring that center bed, tree, etc are all full of flowers. I'll post another pic of it if I can find it.
http://pic80.picturetrail.com/VOL860/4446054/9681619/238382454.jpg

[pkguy]

In this picture you are looking at the same bed as the picture above from a different angle, notice the flowers in the above picture,, they hadn't bloomed yet when this picture was taken, but below them was all that purple stuff which was gone by the time the flowers of the above plant bloomed
http://pic80.picturetrail.com/VOL860/4446054/16368902/254938898.jpg

[pkguy]

All these flowering shrubs and trees come out in July,, you can see in the very first picture I posted they are there but out of bloom in the center flower bed.
http://pic80.picturetrail.com/VOL860/4446054/16368902/254938891.jpg

[pkguy]

Heres another flower bed "after" in August
http://pic80.picturetrail.com/VOL860/4446054/9681619/238385655.jpg

[pkguy]

Here it is in June/July. If you look closely you'll see that once those big flowering shrubs are gone,, the bleeding heart etc.. the ones behind it have flowered in the "after" shot above
http://pic80.picturetrail.com/VOL860/4446054/16368902/254868683.jpg

[leonkaz]

pkguy, beautiful garden, kudos.
is it just a shed in the back?
the paths look good are they functional, I mean they lead somewhere, or just there for looks?

[heat]

wow thanks for the advice!
and really nice pics.:)

[pkguy]

The paths are functional, they take you round a tour of the garden and out to the front yard.
What you have to do is start with some basics, invest in some very easy to grow flowering shrubs such as Lilacs, many types available, a shrub called Rose of Sharon (available at every nursery) is a good one for lots of flowers. Kerria (sp) is another good one with golf ball size/shape yellow long lasting flowers, sometimes flowers all season off and on.
Nothing more boring in my mind than a back yard sea of grass. And this stuff grows pretty fast.

But then all good things come to an end.. here it is in winter, groan
http://pic80.picturetrail.com/VOL860/4446054/9681619/228974253.jpg

[granite_grrl]

Another way to go (personaly preferance of course) it to focus on the foliage rather than the flowers when planning. I really enjoy plants like hosta, coral bells and ornamental grasses. Not saying I don't like flowers, but I am planning my garden out more based on what it looks like completly sans flowers, and the flowers that come are a bonus.

We also have these little orange daisys that just keep re-seading themselves through the summer, we had flowers from June to September last year. I have no idea what these were called though....they just came with the house. But maybe other people have sugestion for flowers like this.

[pkguy]

Absolutely, foilage is very important to keeping the garden interesting looking. Two of my favorite shrubs for interesting winter wood is the already mentioned Kerria bush which after the leaves die off has bright green stems all winter long and the Tartarian Dogwood which has bright bright red wood. Looks really nice in the dead of winter, sort of Christmasy if you have them side by side they really stand out in the snow.

[urban1]

PKguy, what is the size of your yard?

[pkguy]

My yard is a pie shape. 70 across the front, 140 & 138 angling out on both sides and then the back line is angled out as well.. 80 feet and 70 about 150ish width at the back end. It's more coffin shaped I suppose LOL

[nalababe]

For anyone new to gardening, I would recommend that they start with a small project. Take one corner of you yard and become comfortable with gardening. You'll find that your tastes and abilities will evolve quite quickly. In 8 years, I have redone my yard 3 times...I now have something that I can live with for the next few years....

[gh05t]

Beautiful Garden pkguy. Simple yet classy taste from you granite girl, don't forget to add some red mulch around that greenery. And great advice from the rest of you guys so far.

I find one of the biggest problem with gardening is planning the area where you are going to put stuff and then choosing the type of plant and color scheme to go with your plan.

Better Homes and Gardens website has a couple free plans that may help.

http://www.bhg.com/gardening/plans/

My biggest problem is that I like too many types of plants in varying colors,sizes and shade and soil requirements and often very confused about how to separate,bring them together and place them and off course not enough space.

I also like the use of Pots and hanging baskets but also like a bit of green lawn area like pkguy's garden.

Most importantly, I like water features and rock gardens as well as arbors,paths etc.

I don't currently live in a house anymore so my gardening is limited to pots but I hope one day to get an acre like my sister has in the US behind her house.

Recreating Eden on Vision Tv is a pretty inspiring show for budding gardeners.

http://www.recreatingeden.com/index.php?pid=002

[nalababe]

Beautiful Garden pkguy. Simple yet classy taste from you granite girl, don't forget to add some red mulch around that greenery. And great advice from the rest of you guys so far.

I find one of the biggest problem with gardening is planning the area where you are going to put stuff and then choosing the type of plant and color scheme to go with your plan.

Better Homes and Gardens website has a couple free plans that may help.

http://www.bhg.com/gardening/plans/

My biggest problem is that I like too many types of plants in varying colors,sizes and shade and soil requirements and often very confused about how to separate,bring them together and place them and off course not enough space.

I also like the use of Pots and hanging baskets but also like a bit of green lawn area like pkguy's garden.

Most importantly, I like water features and rock gardens as well as arbors,paths etc.

I don't currently live in a house anymore so my gardening is limited to pots but I hope one day to get an acre like my sister has in the US behind her house.

Recreating Eden on Vision Tv is a pretty inspiring show for budding gardeners.

http://www.recreatingeden.com/index.php?pid=002

The best thing about gardening is that the rules governing soil and sunlight can be used as only suggestions (except for hardiness!). A plant for sand can easily be grown in a loam (with a few quick modification in the hole where planting to protect the roots). Sun plants will grown in shade, shade plants in sun....the key is that they may not be as happy...I actually "misplace" a sun plant into shade so that it hinders its growth....I don't want it as large.