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Vegetable Gardening

How long did it take you to finish your garden design?

14 years ago

This is my 2nd year and still working on it like a part time job. Hope someday to just work on planting and harvesting...but have no idea when that will be!

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Comments (20)

wce5204
14 years ago
Finish with the design, you gotta be kidding!! :) Mine changes yearly. I think that is half the fun. Sure it is work but things are always changing. You need more room for something and add a row or a bed then the next year want something different. Or at least I am!!

Carl
lantanascape
14 years ago
It's taken me three years, but I honestly didn't do much with it last year. The first year I managed to build and fill my beds, and build the fence, and since then I've slowly built better trellises, filled the paths with lava rock and pavers, and reconfigured one of the beds. Now I'm at the fun stage where I'm adding nice touches to make it look more like a potager.
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How long did your design process take you?
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Comments (6)
Emmachas is right--a successful plan is a series of compromises. It also requires the future homeowners to plan their home within the real world and not the dream world many of us find ourselves in. Like the other posters above, it took years. -6 months to to find the plan. -8 years working on the changes we wanted to make to it off and on whenever we had some time. -Another year working with a designer that charged us an arm and a leg to redraw in the computer what I had drawn to scale at home. Did I mention that half of her submissions to us had changes in them that weren't on the drawings I gave her but they were ones that she thought would work nicely and then she'd charge us a second time for the time it took her to delete what she had put in & replace it with what we originally asked for. In the end between her ineptness (the plans were not structurally sound) and the turn in the housing/banking market we had to start over--but not with her again! -We scoured the online houseplan sites for 6-9 months to no avail. -We finally lucked out on a referral to another designer that actually builds custom houses on the side. We started over with a set budget in mind and planned the house size accordingly. We were able to salvage our original first floor layout and shrink some of the rooms, reconfigure the master bath & closet, change the living room to a bedroom and add another bath and the layout was done. Maximizing efficiency of space was key. Summerfield on GW came up with the elevations for us and they were awesome! The new designer was FAST. We had plans to review approximately every 3 days. I think it took 6-7 weeks from start to finish. -We broke ground 2 weeks after the final set of plans was in our hands and the house was 98% finished (enough for a CO & move-in) 4 months later. I wish you lots of luck, patience--lots and lots of patience--, creativity & the ability to know when the plans are crossing the line into the dream zone vs. the reality zone.
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How long did it take for your GC to price your job?
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Comments (9)
We interviewed 5 GCs. First was sort of interested, but our job on an older home was different from the usual work he did building new and/or remodeling newer homes, and it didn't "feel" like a good fit, so we didn't pursue it, even though he seemed like a decent guy and his portfolio of work looked like quality. Second came to look, but when he saw significant structural work he wasn't interested - he was more a cabinet installer/internal design kind of GC than somebody to handle this project. Next one came HIGHLY recommended from a friend who had just done some similar work a few months prior. He came round and gave us some quite attractive rough figures compared to the previous and we wanted some time to think about his suggestions; called him a couple of weeks later to come back, we talked further and asked him for a written bid. Never heard back from him, although we continued to call him to try and get a formal bid. #4 was referred to us via a very bizarre chain of events: even though we got the feeling the project was stalled since we couldn't find a builder, we decided to close on the equity loan anyway since it was all ready to go. At the closing, the title agent started chatting to us, noted that we lived in the same neighbourhood as her family including her brother who oh-by-the-way was a contractor and did we have one yet? I took the number partly to be polite and partly because he was (literally) around the corner, but didn't hold out much hope. In the meantime, I already had an appointment scheduled with a fairly glossy design-build firm so I kept it - they said that we would need at a MINIMUM double our budget, so that was a short meeting! So... feeling somewhat trepidatious I called the guy around the corner that had been recc'd at the bank. He was out of town but we scheduled a meeting for a few days later. He spent 2 hrs at the house, and drove me to see some work he was doing on another property (beautiful work - sealed the deal from my point of view). He came back a few days later with his associate to have another look to see how they could manage the structural stuff, and emailed me a basic proposal a few days after that. We hashed out the remaining details by email and he started 3 weeks later. He CLEARLY wanted the job - he was interested in the house, he (as I later learned) was fascinated by the books on our shelves many of which reflected his own interests and he definitely wanted the gig and he just liked us as much as we did him - it was clearly a "good fit". I had seen his work, his licence and checked his insurance was ok (they all were, of course!), but other than the title agent had no personal references. The day we started work I was PANIC STRICKEN with "what if's?" - I was letting a perfect stranger cut my house in half, I had no human references and aaaaaakkkkkkkk... what was I doing! A neighbour reassured me that she'd seen his work in the neighbourhood and, that in fact, he'd turned DOWN a job she'd asked him to do, but even so - I didn't necessarily do this "by the book"! As those who have been following my renovation know, this guy has been AMAZING, transforming our ideas into reality at a more than fair price (in fact, I truly believe he undercharged us somewhat given the numbers I see other people throwing around for their work). And he, his wife and kids have become friends in the course of it all, so it has truly been "win win" even if we DIDN'T find him via a "conventional" route. Anyway, long answer. I guess the short version is if they follow through, they want the job... !
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How long did it take you to pack up your kitchen?
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Comments (17)
Too long!!! It seemed as though things came out of the woodwork. I would start packing ASAP. There is always the chance that the schedule will have to be modified and kitchen demo could come sooner than expected. About 2 weeks prior to having to demo the kitchen I went through and packed up what I didn't think I would need (food and all other kitchen items). MY DH thought I was packing too early. There is no such thing as packing too early. This allowed me to use and live with that I thought I would need and adjust what I packed if I had to. I probably didn't pack enough, but with 2 young kids I didn't want to be stuck without. I did pack all dishes and glasses and we are using plastic and paper. I am washing the plastic and recycling as much as I can. I didn't want to use "real" dishes and glasses b/c my temporary kitchen is in the basement and nothing will survive if it is dropped on the cement floor. I also have young children and wanted to eliminate as much breakage as possible. Don't forget under the sink (in my kitchen it was a black hole). I can't believe how much was back there. And most of that will have to be packed away (kept on-site in a plastic container), unless you are lucky enough to have a dishwasher in your temporary kitchen. I suggest you go to your temporary kitchen location and set up as much as possible before hand. In my case, I have placed food items in the playroom and my sink, range (the construction crew ran a dedicated electrical line so I could move the range to the basement) and fridge is in the unfinished part of the basement/laundry room. I have a large, deep 2-basin utility tub. I purchased 4 plastic tubs (using two as bases for the remaining two where I wash in one and place cleaned dishes in the other). I also have a drying rack with telescopic ends that also fits over the rinsing part of the utility sink for dishes to dry. I had my DH place a drafting table across from the sink to use as a work surface. He will be setting up another for me today. You will also need somewhere to store all your things. Since I have young children, it is a bit more of a challenge b/c they see the wooden spoon, colander, and the like as things to play with (I found a whisk in my bed). The items we are not using have been packed in moving boxes and we rented two storage containers and put them in there. They delivered the storage containers to the house, we packed them and they were removed to a climate-controlled facility. We also had to empty our master bedroom and bathroom, dining room,TV room and breakfast room. We couldn't put it in the basement, since the construction crew needs access to the basement to run pipes for the new kitchen and bath, and to deal with the furnace and the HVAC issues. We used these containers when we put our last house on the market to de-personalize the house and it worked great. What didn't I anticipate??? We are renovating above the unfinished basement/laundry room and we get dust and pieces of who-knows-what coming down through the exposed sub-flooring above. I have moved my work/prep area as far from where renovations are taking place above. I also keep everything covered. Also bear in mind how many things you plug into which outlets. Between the construction needs upstairs and the electrical needs in my temporary kitchen I have had circuit breakers trip. If you can, try to figure out which electrical socket is on which circuit breaker and don't overload it with too many appliances. Our basement is much cooler than the rest of the house so my DH went to Sears to purchase a ceramic heater (this led to the first circuit breaker tripping). Now I only have one freezer (I used to have an old fridge, but it was sent to the dump to make room for the fridge brought down form the kitchen) and this has had more of an impact than I would have thought. Though it is a rather nippy 30 degrees outside so I guess I could just put some things outside...... Other Issues: Do you have internet service and where is your router? We use wireless, however my router used to be connected to a wall that no longer exists. I had to have it relocated so I could continue to have internet service during renovation (the thought of being cut-off from GW was too much to bear...there also was that little issue of being able to pay bills). If it is located near where renovation is occurring, during construction the electrical to that router could have to be turned off and you will lose internet service. Make sure your fridge is not on the same circuit breaker as any of the kitchen electrical sockets. If they need to turn off the electrical you will end up with ice cream soup. I don't know what type of fridge you have but you might want to check on the electrical requirements just to be safe. Will you have adequate lighting in your temporary kitchen? I am sure there is more. All I can say is that so far this experience will make me appreciate my new kitchen even more. I am beginning to fantasize about the first meal I will cook in my new kitchen.... Good luck!
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How long did it take you to get your home ready to show?
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Comments (17)
I started a year before because there were repairs we knew had to be done. Of course, like a 'house of cards' one repair turned into 100! We needed to replace two sliding doors which had fogged up, doing this led to tearing out a sun-room (Carpenter ants were discovered and beams were eaten)...which led to rebuilding that room, which led to replacing the entire roof (we had no plans to do), which then led to repainting, flooring, etc. In my foyer, we had 3 lose tiles. I used a handiman to cement the tiles which led to tearing up the entire foyer floor and replacing with new tile one week before we went on the market. We refinished all our wood floors in January which was the biggest mistake of all. Even though they said they were 'dustless' the whole house was full of fine saw dust. We rented a storage unit and filled it to the brim eventually. It was difficult because we had the holidays and didn't want to remove our holiday things and waited until February to finally clear it all out. We replaced some bathroom counter tops which led to replacing a sink and vanity. I refinished a tub. Long and short, I am glad we started early as we ran into unexpected problems which took time. When we finally listed, the house looked new and spotless. Never looked as good all the years we lived there. I didn't want to move! We listed June 15, 2010 and went to contract Oct 15, 2010. It is never too early to start. Good luck, Jane
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cassieinmass
14 years ago
Mine changes on a constant basis!!! Im pretty disorganized, and if something isnt growing right or I hate something, I pull it out and put it into the compost pile. I have no problem with cheating, so if I have a place I can put something, ill go to a nursery and pick up something to fill the spot, or some seeds or something...-cassie
Karen Pease
14 years ago
It depends on what you call "the design". I mean, I rearrange where my plants go every year for bug and nutrient reasons. The paths and fencing generally stay fixed, but I still make improvements each year -- expanding on section or another, etc. This year I put up some guyed poles so I can train all of my vines to a lattice of overhead wires and dangling strings with vine clips.
jnfr
14 years ago
Finish? What is this finish that you speak of? I've been in this spot ten years and I'm still beginning.
mmqchdygg
14 years ago
What Carl said.
I drew up a design on my computer, bagged it, and then just winged it as I shoveled.
In the fall it'll get tilled under, and I'll start again, likely with a different layout of geometric shapes.
athenainwi
14 years ago
I don't think it's possible to finish a garden design. I knew going into this year that I'd do things differently next year. I'm growing way more tomatoes that I can use this year so I plan to grow fewer next year and only grow the ones that I really liked. The pumpkin and melon are going to go into a spot that I plan to use for something else next year so this might be the only year I grow melons. I'm trying carrots and potatoes for the first time and next year I'll plant whichever is successful but probably not both again. The placement of my beds probably won't change much as I'm running out of room, but what's in them is definitely going to change. I've added new beds every year for the past four years when I bought the house, and next year is probably the first year I don't have plans for expansion.
west_texas_peg
14 years ago
A garden is never finished; it changes and grows same as the people who are enjoying it...as I find new plants and as I age, my garden changes--DAILY! Hubby says I don't leave a plant in the ground long enough for it to get settled in LOL! I takes me a lil while to figure out where a plant is going to be really happy.

This morning my husband installed more brackets on the trellis for birdfeeders, birdhouses, candleholders (I save clear jars from the recyclables and hubby puts wire around the top to hang them), hummingbird feeders, etc.

My garden is a edible/flower/hummingbird/butterfly garden, lots of activity all the time.

Peggy
primarycanary
14 years ago
I've slowly managed to eliminate grass in my backyard........I started with a 35x20 garden. Each year, I till a bit more. This year I added asparagus and strawberries. Next year, I think I want some blackberries.

Like others have stated, I change what I want to grow each year. Sure I'll always have tomatoes, peppers, and zucchini, but this year I skipped on eggplant and tried sugar snap peas. I planted more swiss chard this year instead of lettuce.

In the beginning of the season, I find myself scouring the internet seed stores and looking at things I haven't tried before and thinking...."I might like those". And then you end up trying something new and you either make room for it or you don't grow something else. And things you try this year you might realize weren't all that great so you go back to the drawing board.

I don't plant in raised beds, I plant directly in the soil here, so each year I change the direction of the rows. Last year it was east to west, this year it's north to south. I think that we all might have a "God" complex and we enjoy being in control of our gardens and doing things how we want done.

And we all might be finished in a sense that we have discovered a few veggies that we know we can't live without. I know for me it's tomatoes. But each year, we experiment a little more and hopefully learn something new.
iam3killerbs
14 years ago
I have a beautiful design all carefully worked up on graph paper.

The actual garden bears no relationship to it except that there are tomatoes in the flower bed under the windows of the front bedrooms and the 3-sisters garden is indeed next to DH's workshop/office.
fritz_monroe
14 years ago
How long??? I haven't even started on it. But I promise I have a good reason. We haven't moved to the house yet. The only thing I really know is it is 50x85. I don't even know how the sun shines on it. There's a line of big trees, so some of it could be in the shade.
heather38
14 years ago
all of the above
amprice
14 years ago
I suffer from the everything in its place syndrom and had an excel spreadsheet ready before my seeds even arrived!!! Not Kidding!! And now it is all planted and growing and my blood pressure was 102/60 at the Drs last week so it must not be an issue.
edible
14 years ago
I have had tomatoes, basil etc for many years.

The year before last, we took out a grassy area in the "courtyard", rented a tiller, bought lots of topsoil and compost and put in a garden.

Everyone laughed, as I drew up a "to scale" drawing and layed out the garden in anticipation of the spring planting. When I planted last year, I probably changed things 5 times.

Again, this winter, I layed out a "to scale" drawing, and again, I changed things 5 times.

It's coming along. The herbs are starting to look like an English cottage garden. The vegetables are at home. It is a happy place.

Will it ever be finished? No way!!
farmersteve
14 years ago
Every year I redesign my permanent rotation plan! Every year...
booberry85
14 years ago
Like others here, my plan changes year to year. I start planing in January. However it changes based on what seeds I want to grow, what I can actually get my hands on and what actually grows.
diggerdee zone 6 CT
14 years ago
Design....? Wait... we're we supposed to....? You mean...? I mean, we don't just...?
yfchoice
14 years ago
I changed my garden design every year. Then...when I thought that all was settled and I couldn't change anything else, I moved from the Gulf Coast of Texas to the mountains of Utah. From a zone 9 to a zone 5. It's been 10 years and I still change my design every year..or is it month? week? day?
gardener_mary
14 years ago
Never finished, its always a work in progress. As I read everyone's posts I'm always finding something new to put on my wish list. There is always a new flower that I wish to smell, a new color that I want to see, a new veggie that I want to taste, a new compost pile for making soil that I want to feel, a new feeder to attract birds that I want to hear. I think it would be a bit sad if there was nothing else to wish for and I considered my garden plan done.

Good gardening, Mary
ausbirch
14 years ago
As soon as I get the Spring/Summer planting started I'm working on the plan for the Autumn/Winter set-up. If I didn't have the next season's plan to tweak and ponder I'd go crazy waiting for the current lot of crops to grow and fruit.
Besides, there's always something new to try - last year it was blueberries, tuscan kale, cornflowers (bachelors buttons) and Queen Anne's Lace, this year it's potatoes, blackberries, Chinese Broccoli and rhubarb. And some new varieties of tomato, come spring, but exactly which ones changes weekly.

Seriously, when my garden design is 'finished' you can roll me onto the compost pile, because I'll be dead.

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