Landscaping goals, is it? I'm still working keeping all my plants alive and keeping myself alive amid clouds of mosquitoes, which every year seem to be carrying some new, deadly disease.

My one major goal I have always had is that when I step into my yard, I want the yard to feel ALIVE. I want to see birds, insects, toads and frogs, (non-poisonous) snakes and bats. I want to hear the bees humming and the birds chirping and the squirrels twittering. I like squirrels, and I will gladly plant a few extra veges for them. OTOH, when I found that some animule had eaten my brand new, prized alba semiplena, I was NOT amused.

nastarana, I love what you said about wanting your garden to feel alive. I suppose I didn't mention this most important quality of all since I'm in the happy state of already having achieved it. Last night there were EIGHT small frogs sitting on just one wall of the house. I have everything you mentioned except unfortunately there are no bats. However, we did have a bobcat a few feet from the dining room window, calmly sitting among the roses. Also lots of rabbits, a very mixed blessing (such as my little Mme. Lambard being chewed down to the nubbins).

Ingrid

uhm, I never came as far as to actually make some sort of a list, although there were occasional attempts to draw some sort of idea draft, but I often got bored pretty fast and decided that planting stuff is easier than drawing. :D

From what I remember it was like this:
* improve the soil in a whole garden at once before planting stuff (was doomed to fail, because I brought too many plants from old garden and they had to be planted somewhere).

* plant stuff so, that there always is something blooming, from the very early spring to the very late autumn. (Fairly good at this actually, now my goal is to have a lot of bee favorite plants at any given time).

* get some sort of arbor in front of the living room window, because otherwise it is a sauna in summer. (no arbor yet, but roses were planted for it - although initially there were less roses and more other climbers planed).

*get plants that produce berries for winter season prettiness and birdies (partly there, not happy where some of them are planted at the moment).

*have a veggie garden (fail, not enough space for a proper one really, also maintenance was a bit too much last years, as well as I did not like the idea of back garden being too dull due to it).

oh dear, any 'plans' I might have usually stay in a deep recess in my poor taxed brain. Certainly never make it into print. However, these 'plans' (whims, fancies, wild wishes, ridiculous fancies) are many and various and almost never achieved in any recognisable form. A bit like New Year Resolutions, I mean well, but life rudely intrudes. The year on year additions now make any sensible and rational plan doomed to fail since the garden and allotment are nightmares of pots, more pots, weeds, millions of plants in the wrong place, huge bushes and shrubs which resist further movement. Also, there is NO real landscaping anywhere, just many plants. Paths are practically nonexistant, seating has pots on it, the garden edges have long been hidden behind layer upon layer of climbers, some of which now meet overhead. In short, the only solution would be to get a massive skip, remove everything and start again. And, hey, every year, this is what I plan. Ever come close? not a hope. Resigned to chaos but hope that, with selective blindness and ability to swoop and focus on tiny treasures while ignoring the rest of the horrible jungle, life will go on as it has done for the last 13 years (since my garden epiphany and conversion).

I find it difficult to make lists or draw plans. I spend hours planning in my head. What I wanted was beauty, romance, mystery, and gloroius profusion. I wanted to build a world apart, a fantasy. I intended to engage all the senses. I wanted to draw people on by the sound of water tinkling in the distance, the dissappearing pathway, perspective, the play of sunlight into shadow, and back again. I am bold and impulsive and I don't like to be told that I can't accomplish something.I think mostly I've acheived what I set out to do though sometimes I stand back and think I've created a monster.

Ingrid, I must commend you for creating a list and ticking it off. I must admit that I barely can do lists for shopping and often leave one on the dining room table. It is a hopeless task for me.
My poor garden has been sadly neglected these last three years due to a few operations on a naughty clavicle which refused to fuse. Now I am back in gear and ready to roll.
After a wonderful vacation in the UK, I have decided to start pulling out more roses that do not delight or are poor producers, plant some that are in pots and add companions that will bring butterflies, bees and birds to sing in my garden.
The English know how to integrate plants. My late summer visit to Mottisfont was a delight. Dave Stone's companions made the garden come alive with color, texture, and depth, as the roses are now producing hips and getting ready for the long winter. I am lucky as my garden usually has an offering for a good solid 7-9 months a year.
I look forward to aging gracefully with my garden.
Carol

I guess my goals these days are:
1) Create a garden that is beautiful and harmonious with nature, a haven for birds and butterflies.
2) Be easier to maintain as I get older and have more aches & pains and less time on my hands
3) While scaling back to reduce maintainance and keeping only healthy roses that can grow no-spray, still have an overall effect of abundance and beauty in different seasons.
4) Balance between roses and perennials/other shrubs and some fruits and vegetables too.

I have varying degrees of success in all of these. I think I'll never be done but each year I try to come closer when I make changes to my garden keeping the goals in mind. I have a wonderful array of wildlife in my garden and the garden is alive and beautiful most of the time. Where I need to improve on is to reduce the maintenance/upkeep, add more edibles (without adding more maintenance/upkeep LOL), and have more interest in winter and in-between times.

My goal was something in bloom year round, and thanks to my climate, it's a no-brainer. The most barren month is August when it's way too hot to go out in the garden anyway -- thank goodness for crepe myrtle. I thought fall would be a problem since I'm not that crazy about chrysanthemums, but in a head-slapping moment, I realized that roses are the perfect fall flower here.

My goal was to create a garden as different as possible from the present trend in Swedish gardening, now quite an old trend, dating from the 50ies. I wanted to go back in time to the older cottage garden style, not an exclusively English style at all. I started with an almost blank canvas of lawn but luckily there were two old apple trees and one tall plum tree already in the garden. Shade is important for the overall feel even if it means some areas are too shady for roses. But there are so many other things to grow.

One fourth of the plot is a piece of natural wood and I've left it almost untouched with its bilberries, lilies-of-the-valley, Solomon's Seal, hepaticas and wood anemones among pines, junipers, birches and young oaks. I had great plans for this part but now I'm glad I've left it as it is. I've planted a few rhododendrons and species roses at the edge and in a clearing but sometimes I regret even that. Living as I do surrounded by neighbours on all sides, five of them, this little wood is the only focal point I have and provides most of the vertical interest.

I've had many of Ingrid's goals and I've achieved some of them. I didn't improve my very heavy clay soil from the start and this sad fact hampers all my attempts at growing plants well. Roses are not fussy, they like clay and we've enough water, but many perennials don't thrive the way I see in some other gardens. We improve our soil gradually but it is a heavy task as we can't take in truck loads of manure or soil because there is no easy access to the garden. There are two heaps of gravel and stone meal on the parking place, the only available space. The car has lost its front fender because my husband missed the gravel in the dark.

We have achieved some mystery, there are nooks where you can be unseen and it's not possible to see all of the garden at once. Our grandchildren love it. We have wildlife, bats and birds, frogs and toads, butterflies and bumble bees, the occasional red squirrel but no hedgehogs. Too many deer and hares, though.

My husband and I must be lazy because we have six paved areas for sitting out, three large enough for dining with guests, three small with only a bench or two chairs. The latest is for admiring our new kitchen garden, our project this year.

I just love coming over to this forum and reading the title of this post for a good giggle to start the day.
Renee

Ingrid, color me green (with envy).

I am now starting over in a cold climate, short growing season, BUT with marvelous fertile and healthy soil. And, I (finally, thank you Lord!) have a landlord who LIKES gardens--has a huge one himself. Said I could grow anything I want. Says I can have all the leaves from his yard that he doesn't need himself. The man actually apologized (!) for the fact that the yard had been neglected by the previous tenants. Neglected. As in, no herbicides, no pesticides, no blasted it-could-grow-on-the-moon Bermuda grass insinuating itself into every corner. Just Mother Nature growing plants and soil. I put up a bird feeder, and the yard is now filled with little mosquito munching friends.

Ingrid I really admire your ability to be organized and goal-setting. I'm just not that organized. I'm lucky the dogs and husband get fed and things in the garden are (mostly) deadheaded and watered.

My main goal was #1 lot of color and #2 screening out the neighbors for a feeling of privacy, and a feeling that this is a garden much larger than it really is. Goal #1 achieved for sure, maybe too much so. Goal #2, it's been difficult. I've tried for screening plants just large enough to screen but not so large that they overshade the property or have a huge root system that will interfere with roses. It's been tough to find just the right plants to do that. The Cercis in the front yard are a miserable mess and have got to go. Still pondering what to replace them with. A few happy accidents, though. The big 'Laguna' climber has screened out certain parts of the yard from the house across the street, a win-win.

I have met many landscaping goals.

Unfortunately, when invited, very few have come to stay.

my goals were/are

None. My dreams will always out reach my grasp.

Rosefolly

This is very interesting. All kinds of people love roses don't they?

I achieved my 1st goal. 4yrs. ago. I needed to prevent the W. slope of my new yard from eroding (pure sand). I did it by growing yarrow in little seedling trays I started. I planted them across the top of the slope. They along with some other perennials, did the job. It only lead to a new goal.

Remove as much yarrow as possible and other messy perennials and replace with something a little neater. I still am working on this.

Somehow, I became obsessed with roses. This isn't my 1st time growing roses. I planted a few rugosas and some Champlain roses at my previous home but, it wasn't an obsession. I don't know what happened. I started reading all kinds of gardening mags. and rose books. I think it happened in the winter. I decided that purple roses were for me and, I looked everywhere. That is how I found this forum. I didn't think I would want any more than purple roses, and I thought I could find out everything on my own. So, I didn't join. Now, I know I am completely obsessed with roses and here I am to figure out how to make them fit into my unplanned plan of making my own garden of eden.
Kitty

I had gardening goals, but I don't think I ever wrote them down as such; rather they started as unvoiced and inchoate passions. I do write garden plans and take note of ideas as they occur to me.
I wanted, and want, the following: a biologically healthy garden; a great variety and profusion of plants and abundant green flesh; a garden that's beautiful according to my ideas of beauty; a garden that's frugal in its use of resources; a collection of roses in particular, to be propagated and shared with other gardeners.
As to whether I've met my goals, well, they will never be met. The project is too large, the means--labor force, money, skills--are too small. But we're working on it. We're coming up on the ten year anniversary of the purchase of our property, and eight years of those have been dedicated to gardening. Parts of the garden are shaping up. The weeds are amazing and the ground is still poor. We've have four land slides and slumps in the last three years of heavy winter rain, as well as having had the lower parts of the shade garden flooded with manure and weeds from the trampled pasture above: they're being duly incorporated in the plan. The job, like our land, is a steep uphill task. On the other hand we currently have about five hundred roses, three hundred varieties, and at least some formerly infertile areas now support tolerable plant communities. The yews we bought as six inch tall plants and planted in a line are now a wall whose tallest members are up to six feet: a gratifying sight. Time passes. All in all, I think it's worth it.
Melissa

I just completely enjoyed reading your amazing and wonderfully variable replies, some humorous, some lyrical and beautiful, others detailed and informative, all fascinating. It does seem that most of us have goals and are working toward them. As you can tell from my comments, many of mine are far from being met but that's not a bad thing; it keeps me going forward and every little success along the way is a thrill. I noticed later that I'd completely forgotten about the large bench under the pergola and therefore have three seating areas; what a delightful discovery (duh).

Thank you for the wonderful response; I can't help but hope that more will be forthcoming.

Ingrid

Ingrid, my goals were much more basic than your lovely list. The first goal for the front garden was to plant all the roses I had bought apparently while in some sort of inebriated state. The second and last goal was not do it in a tacky way. I do think I have achieved some designed order, but I'm hardly ever sure I've avoided tackiness. It does seem to be improving as the bushes get more mature. The plan was to have grass not gravel in the inner ring, but that part failed since the local grass proved far too aggressive for the situation, required too much attention and effort, and then it got bugs and frozen so with more effort it was removed. But I miss that cool, emerald space. With some current tweaking, i.e., eliminating all plants and roses that are not great (thanks for the phrase), I'm pretty happy with the front garden. The back garden is another matter, probably because the front has gotten more attention. It needs reorganizing...and tweaking.

What seemed to be more of an impossible dream than a goal was the improvement of my sandy gray soil, and nature has taken care of that nicely. Free composted horse manure is such a wonderful thing.

I think an unplanned goal was for the garden to age gracefully, growing into a lush and colorful place. Time will tell on that one, though I think it's moving in the right direction, but, Ingrid, is it too late for me to borrow your list?

Sherry

My goal started three years ago with needing to cover my 6' chain link fence that is almost 100' long. Had to remove shrubs from outside the fence as they were growing into the alley. From a 6' straight bed, I widened and mulched a curvy bed that is about 20' wide in a couple of places filled with roses and companion plants, which are in their first year stage but growing nicely.

Am I done? Never! Next is a larger bed off the patio in an octagon shape, then cover a 70' long chain link along the side with very wide beds, in other words, get rid of as much grass as possible.

I LOVE doing this, and it keeps me sane. The only time I don't like it is in July and August, so use that time to catch up a little on the house!

Sherry, you may happily borrow my list but I must say others have added many wonderful things to it. I wish I had written Pam's (mendocino rose) answer. It was so beautiful it stopped me in my tracks. Your comment about a goal being to have the garden age gracefully is right on. That's what I very much want too; I just wasn't able to say it nearly as well. As so often happens here, I feel such a sense of kinship with all of you. It wouldn't be nearly as much fun if we couldn't share this wonderful (and sometimes crazy or infuriating) passion of ours.

ogrose, you're my kind of girl. Getting rid of grass is a truly honorable goal. With all that space to fill I wonder how many roses you've planted so far. I think in a few years you're going to have an amazing space.

Ingrid