"Yardvaark: Apologies if I stepped on your toes... " I didn't perceive that. Plants can be problem solvers, if one knows what the problem is and understands the personality/character of the plant. But not knowing the bed shape, size and way it is divided and what parts of the house one is willing to screen and what parts shouldn't be screened means that the problem is not well enough understood. My sketch is exploring how PART of the problem might be solved, but since it is from only one viewpoint, one must be thinking of how it can be converted (with or without refinements and alterations) to work in 3 dimensions. If you like the plants as low mounds and groups better than the much more common -- lines -- then it would be ok to begin transferring those ideas to plan view for working out and further refinement. I'm not trying to shove an idea or scheme down your throat but am trying to show a process. You can alter a/the scheme to suit your needs. If one begins selecting plants before knowing how those plants should be shaped, sized and arranged, then the chance will be greater that a plant would become a problem CREATOR instead of a problem solver. To take one example, in the scheme I've offered, I see only one place where a single 'Otto Luyken would work. You might come up with a different scheme to work in more, but you'd need to create that need first. Thanks for explaining the "stone border" with the picture. Sorry to say, that is not what I consider to be a good solution as compared to other possible solutions. I'm not saying it to hurt your feelings, but to let you know that better is available. What's wrong with it? First, the scale ... a 3-inch wide stripe embedded in the ground reads as thin as a knife edge relative to the size of the entire lawn ... especially if it is raised above the surrounding grade, which seems to be the common, popular way of doing it. Second, that it is raised ... so as to give the bed an appearance of emptiness instead of fullness. Third, and again this seems the popular way of doing it, but the shape outlined is a quarter-circle ... why is there a flat spot at the 10 o'clock position? It adds an air of sloppiness or cheapness to the appearance. It would look a whole lot better if you: create a mowing strip (a flush, inlaid strip) ... that is at least 8" wide ... that is organized and laid out with perfect plan view geometry. In the case here, you'd be working with a sloped grade, so the strip must be created with a smoothness and uniformity that flows with the grade. If there is an imperfection in the grade (a bump or "pothole") then it would be imperative to fix the grade in order to create a border strip with a uniformly smooth, flowing grade. Granted, my solution costs a bit more than the solution proposed in the photo, but the difference in cost is far less than the differential in appearance between the two different schemes. This post was edited by Yardvaark on Wed, Jan 8, 14 at 17:53

great suggestions, thank you! So it sounds like a lasagna back yard over the winter might be our best bet, since we don't plan to start work till next spring. (It definitely would force us not to put it off another year...). I'm not sure if the city has any restrictions on stuff like that, I know you can get ticketed for letting your grass grow too long without cutting it, but being a back yard and the fact that we ARE doing it as improvement might make a difference. It's a fairly urban area, and while we do compost, it's a small amount in a bin behind the garage, and I'm not sure about composting fresh scraps all over the back yard - I have never seen rats around here, but a friend less than a mile away had them under her deck, and I don't want to encourage a problem, here. Actually, I'm trying to figure out what materials besides newspaper we can get cheaply or free - I'm not a fan of wood chips as mulch, since they don't break down very well. I've used both hardwood and cedar mulch as an overlay, but even that I'm afraid to turn it into the soil too much because there are still big chunkc and I've heard that sucks the nitrogen out. I think you can get compost from the city, but not sure what will be available in Fall. I won't have much in the way of garden clean-up debris, it's a small lot, and my planting areas are fairly small. Plus a lot of that stuff with the tall grasses, lavendar, etc. I leave in place for winter interest and prune back in the spring (unless I'm doing that wrong). So, the idea is - in the Spring there shouldn't be anything left to "peel back" and have to get rid of, it's all decomposed and can get turned in to the soil? And the grass and weeds underneath - they will be dead and we just turn it all in, or pull it out? Maybe that's where the rototiller comes in in the spring?

Hello drscott, One item that drew my attention is spacing in general and #7 in particular. SFG gardening has very little to do with simply growing things compactly. It must be in very good soil. Good soil is more central to the basic concept than space despite its name SFG. If you plant corn in ordinary top soil 1 foot apart I would not be surprised that corn would not do well especially since it is the prime example of nitrogen eating plants. If you are a bit careless with the soil SFG will disappoint and this has been an issue with me when all I had available was commercial compost since I had recently moved. I did have a box that seemed have some issues on the corners with some plants. If you have space and reasonably decent top soil then why not use the space you have? However don't plant in big rows which I think is universally foolish for home gardening unless one is going for a farm appearance. 4x4 beds or some such is far better for weeds, disease and soil compaction. I had come to this conclusion as a teenager when I did a row garden and 4X4 in ground bed side by side. However having done all the above including SFG, I would have to say SFG is the least amount of work. This includes container gardening which is a bit more work mostly because of watering for the exchange of the ultimate in flexibility.

I've been picking Raspberries, Blueberries, and Cherries lately, Cherries about gone but others just starting. Have ONE tomato about ripe, but seems the more I watch it, the longer it waits. I ordered the Petunias I wanted from Parks, The Dolcissima series, planted two weeks ago this coming Saturday, nothings coming up, at 14.00 for 4 packs, I expected better results! Glenda, Karen Rose is a good author, and I've recently read "An American Killing, bu Mary-Ann Tirone Smith, and A Glass Heart, by David Lindsey. Trying to find new authors, because I've exhausted all the books written by my favorites. I read in the hot afternoons, to get Hubby to rest. Seems strange, to not be carrying pans of just picked "anythings" to the house now. I have ONE Pepper plant, and 2 Cucumbers--in POTS!! Strange, the things I miss--Okra, for one--and Squash!!Oh Well, in a year or so, I'll be back at it--LOL. Suppose, as we get older, it takes longer to recover--my Daughter had Pneumonia, and she commented, that since she's in her 50's its taking her a long time to get over it. Hubby's coughing bad lately, ever hear to put Vicks on the bottom of your feet to stop coughing???I read IT ON THE INTERNET!( believe it or not, it works) So, thats enough of my rambling, all you Ladies, and Gents, think of me when you tend your gardens, I'm jealous..