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Im originally from NYC, but my father (who died Sept.2001) shared and encouraged my love of nature. I lived in NY until 1988, when I got married and moved to the Boston area. I started a tiny 6x9garden, and was hooked. We moved to our current house in 1996, put in a garden in 1998. This one forms an L around the house, 50x60, mostly shade. The front gets morning sun, the back (rather the side--at the back we have a deck) gets afternoon sun. We are under a canopy of Norway maples (mostly our neighbors, but we have 2 big ones on our tiny plot as well), and while we were warned of their voraciousness, we went right ahead, rather naively, although with some design help and advice from a landscape designer, and planted 30+ shrubs and hundreds of perennials (and not even doing raised beds!). Many plants have bit the dust, but many have survived, and even thrived. I just read a thread in the shade gardening forum on planting under maples; I was already worried how long this garden would last! But I am never so happy as when I am out there. We have a bench, a small fountain, a stone lantern, a winding gravel path lined with rocks we dug out of the ground; several dwarf mountain laurels, pieris, ilex, enkianthus, clethra, and a large assortment of shade perennials, ground covers, bulbs. I work as a therapist, and for me, gardening is the best therapy. I just wish I had more time for it. We also have a 9 yo daughter we adopted from Romania at age 2--a delight and a challenge! But that is a whole other story. I look forward to starting her off with her own little garden.