I have some beds in my backyard that look good for about one month and then look a little messy for the rest of summer, so I'm going to plant a bunch of annuals in between the perennials to extend the color season. As much as I hate to say it, I'm probably even going to plant pelargoniums! Ugggh...

I have a spot where I planted too many tall perennials, so I'm going to move some of them to other spots in the beds. Actually, I need to do that this weekend, rather than disturb them when they're growing back next spring.

I'm also going to try to find more low-growing, long-blooming perennials to occupy the front of the beds.

One more thing -- I'm going to wage war on Anthemis tinctoria 'Kelwayi'! This thug is spreading itself throughout my half-acre yard. I need to eradicate the bed that I originally planted them in and the seek and destroy all seed-borne offspring! I'm also doing the same with a thuggy Achillea in my front yard, but at least that one hasn't reached the back yard yet! Grrrr...

I am going to get my mulching in better order. I will need to start early since I don't seem to be getting a lot done this fall. My fall, shredding to make leaf mulch, has been covering the new beds I planted to cover the dirt from rain washouts. I need to spread newspaper and then cover with mulch to make less weeding a priority for next summer.

Our Fall season has been erratic. I have had some nice days, but always seem to have something else scheduled so I can't work outside. With rain every other 2 days, leaves are too wet to do much shredding, so I am not close to being done there! Looks like I will just run out of Fall and not get things as done as I would like.

Too late here for any more plant moving. I am wondering about a few I moved several weeks ago, not looking green at all. I do have the bulbs and tubers all back in the ground, YAYY! Fall purchased plants seem to be happy, a couple are blooming in spite of cold.

I will have to see how the new plant additions work for spreading out my blooming times. I really worked on that this year. Previously most of the beds were good for one-shot of color, then blah for the rest of summer. An addition of an annual border did improve the entire season flower color in one bed. I really liked that, just not the weeding needed to keep them from disappearing!

goodhors, I have to agree with you one-hundred percent! It seems like whenever we have good weather, I have to work, and my time off it is raining. It's been raining every few days here too lately, so the leaves are hard to rake up and shred. On the bright side, it has been fairly warm, so working late into the season is not bad this year.

My usual "next year" goal remains the same - make more beds. I made really good headway this past year with some new raised beds, but those were mostly for my cutting gardens. I need to make more space for all the perennials I have living in pots. I'm hoping to get one or two more lasagna beds done this fall, maybe even over the winter, if my materials don't freeze before I spread them out!

I was eyeing some of my existing beds this year, noticing that some of them needed rearranging, but that will most likely have to wait. I really need to get the other plants in the ground, before I worry about moving around the ones that are already there!

:)
Dee

Boy, you probably don't need to hear it, but I envy you folks with the rain every other day. I don't know if we've had 1/4" of rain since the end of September.

And since we had bone-chilling temps the beginning of October, our irrigation people blew out the sprinkler system and we shut it down for the winter. I'm now going out with buckets of water, selectively giving my newest plants a good drink. Not efficient at all, and certainly not very friendly to the rest of the garden. C'mon, I don't ask for much; one good soaker of a rain before the snow flies!

First of all I'll make nasturtiums climbing over fences, walls and shrubs instead of let them grow in the middle of beds and cover ALL my perennials.

Then I'll move some perennials to give beds more harmonious color schemes (blue + yellow, pinks + purple + reds, pink + grey, etc.).

I'll never sow again that horribly invasive Dichondra Repens around my beds and I'll continue removing every small piece of it (such an hard war!!!).

Lastly I already have enough plants. Next year I'll buy only a few ones. Promised.
(...)
Maybe... ;-)

I will re-read Tracy DiSabato-Aust's "The Well Tended Perennial Garden" next June and then pinch/cut-back even more of my tall perennials. My asters and mums were really wonderful this year with the treatment. I dont really need my monarda, shasta daisys, helenium, and boltonia to approach 6 feet.

First thing I'm going to do is build a raised bed in my front yard. It's dry cracked clay and very hard to plant in. I have added a rose, butterfly bush, liatris and Coreopsis in a bed already. I want to plant perennials like Lavender that can take these conditions. Maybe Juniper and Cotoneaster too.

I will be moving/getting rid of a few plants that didnt like their spot this summer. Gardening is all about trial and error. I want to add more ornamental grasses for late season interest.

I want to start a nice compost pile. The one I have doesnt get turned enough and it's molding. I hear you all about the wet leaves. I have 3 large oak trees just in front and have only gotten to the first half that fell. Maybe it will stop raining for one day straight for me to get something accomplished. Cant wait for Spring!

Jen

1. Make more compost. I'm stock-piling leaves so I'll have enough to mix with all my grass clippings up until about mid summer.

2. Start a mini lasagna bed around 5 shrubs and cover with mulch so I don't have to weave in and around them with the lawn mower.

3. Stake more of my perennials early.

4. Prune my asters twice like my mums.

5. Maybe pull out the blackberry lilies and plant another perennial with larger blooms.

try very very very hard to not buy so many plants and pay more attention to nurturing the ones I have. I recently finished card catalogueing all my 2006 purchases. OH-MY-GOD..... It didn't seem like that many throughout the season... (well, my Visa card begs to differ...)

I did manage to buy less than the year before, but thats not saying much. The year before I was out of control because I had some newly created areas to address.

I'll say that I'm going to keep better records, but I really probably won't be too much better than this year. I have a shady garden by the gazebo we put up this summer, so I have this lovely new area . I'll spend the winter with plant lusts (oops I mean lists) before finally narrowing my selections. I've been researching some small shrubs for the area as well as some perennials. I'm actually going to graph the area and make a real honest to goodness plan over the winter. Whether or not I follow the plan remains to be seen.

This is a really interesting discussion.

I want to get the new "Well planned perennial garden" and read it. Also, get the colors more perpetual and planned in my existing beds. Buy fewer plants and divide and tend the ones I have. Focus on the back yard and develop private spaces for us. Follow my plans for once. I think I could go on for ever. All of what everyone has already said. I have all winter to think of things. Oh my.

I've started a journal of sorts and have plans for next year and treatments for problems that I noted. I have to completely reorganize the herb garden as the plants are totally misplaced for height and bloom season.

And there are many more things to change in that journal I made.

I want to let go of the garden earlier and stop trying to push the season. Really put things to bed before the weather discourages me.

My garden resolutions seem to be quite similar each year: 1) don't be afraid of open spaces between plants in spring, they will fill in - resist the urge to add more perennials or annuals in between the existing plants 2)don't let plants such as peonies, rudbeckias, sedums "flop" - stake or ring them early 3) don't let invasives like violets, etc. take over - rip them out, no matter how pretty (see resolution # 1) Those are all the don'ts - I have one "do" which is grow at least ONE new thing each year - life is too short to simply repeat last year's plants all the time.

Ditto what shapiro said!

Plus, after washing 23 pots today and a similar amount 2 months ago, I resolve to not do so many container plantings. I think this goes hand in hand with my earlier resolution to not buy so many plants.

Try not to kill things!!!
It seems like I lose things every year and I don't know why.
Also try to intersperse annuals so I have more continuous color.

I am going to move any plant that I decide is too tall, too short, the wrong color or what ever, as soon as it becomes apparent. I'm not going to make a note to move it in the spring, then look at it all summer, wishing it was somewhere else, After all they're just plants. If I kill one, I'll go buy another. Or better yet, I'll make taking cuttings a part of the job of moving it, just in case.