While I think that the "FAQ" as outlined by swanoir was presented tongue in cheek ('the humus'), many of the subsequent comments and/or links to threads that could/should be included in a FAQ were presented in a more serious tone. And maybe they do make sense as a foundation to a real LD forum FAQ. But I've also sensed something else in these comments that may contribute to the apparent lack of communication between new posters seeking advice and those that regularly frequent this forum and offer it. And that is that the long checklist provided by Miss R must be (or should be) answered in detail before posting. Well, of course not! But it is definitely something worth reviewing and giving some thought to. This checklist, or something very similar, is what most designers utilize when first meeting with a prospective client. It gives them a feeling for what the client wants to do with the property, how they intend to use it, what they hope to get out of it and how much effort (time/$$) are they are intending to put into it. Hopefully, reviewing an outline or checklist such as this could help to refine and focus some of those blank slate questions and even educate those new posters totally unfamiliar with the process the degree of complexity, the number of variables and exactly what is involved in the formulation of a landscape design. Even DIY landscape texts intended for the homeowner with no previous design or landscaping experience offer similar checklists to get one started thinking about the process. Obviously, this is overkill for those questions that are more issue-specific, but I think very appropriate for those that are much broader and far less focused.

I have been slowly loseing faith in gardenweb over the last few months, after getting in arguments about people rleasing farm animals into the wild and people feeding cats and letting them outdoors I've become pretty pesemistic about gardeners as a group of people, but this thread is so fantastic to find that I just swell up with hapiness at reading it. Regarding birds, many people underestimate there importance, birds are invaluable to us because they are resposible for spreading the forests. They spread seeds from mullberries and cherries andapples and pears and all sorts of fruit trees providing a source of food for us to use if we really need to, and they also spread nonfruiting seeds as well, and those grow into trees and bushes too, soaking carbon dioxide up from the air and providing a fuel source should we need it. anyways back to the main topic. Rhubarb makes agreat foundation planting, the heat off the house can lead to a very early harvest and it can be a great source of food to restore dwindleing winter stocks fast. Strawberries can be laid out in curving rows below bushes to form attractive plantings. Cherry trees are often fantastically ornamental in spring, and blueberries provide a bit of winter interest. Scarlet runner beans produce well as a green screen covering the south sides of houses in spring and fall. Grapes hardy Kiwi and Hops (I know, its more of a spice, but beer is important too dagummit) can also provide great shade in the summer, even shade for two storry houses roofs. in the hot summer months peas can be grown in shade in many locations. Man flowers are themselves edible; Nasturtiums are completely edible, leaves and all; roses not only produce edible hips but the petals are edible aswell, if you are careful you can harvest the petals first and the hips later; Violas and Pansies are edibe; Marigolds are edible aswell and offer a significant degree of protection from nematodes in the soil that attack tom's and pots. Garlic, Chives, Leeks, and Onions are also easy to grow and provide a degree of protection, and these can be easily fit into corners of a garden. there are also medicinals to be grown, given the right kind of wood/grain medium mushrooms can be grown anywere, even in your root cellar. You can grow your own digitalis if you use it, untill not too long ago digitalis was issued from pharmacies in leaf form (fox glove) although some effort would need to be put into regulating the doseage. Asparagus is another early season producer, goes well planted along fence rows. and there are a miriad of great trees to choose for an orchard, some plants will even atract deer and squirels, which are edible aswell. Animals also fit into this story, guinea fowl and muscovy ducks provide eggs and pest controll. Sheep are an excilent way to keep a lawn trimmed (especially cosidering that the entire reason that lawns were developed was to mimic the look of sheep pastures.) if you have an acre or two of pasture land you can consider alpacas for wool rather than sheep, or if food is more interesting to you dexter miniature cattle produce more milk for there wieght than any other cow, a very high cream content aswell. I tend to dislike goats because billies will spoil the milk and they will strip the bark off of your trees. There are just so many things to talk about, I wish I could cram them all in. oh, rooftop gardening is a great place to go too, No deer or rabits to eat your hard work, Wyat Erp (sp?) grew veggies on his roof top when he lived here in AK to keep them out of the mooses stomach. and it really does keep your house warmer in winter and cooler in summer.

hi, nice website. It doesn't look like you provide actual landscape design or construction- just ideas. Am I correct?

Happy new year everyone! GGG - excellent advice on sticking with native plants. In fact, that would work well for me. One of the reasons I wanted to order heirloom seeds was that I'm kind of tired with the same old store variety veggies. So seeds would give me a variety of things to grow that one normally doesn't see or eat. But your thought on staying with native plants in a sense does the same thing. It gives me a chance to grow and try things I don't normally get to have. I'll still go with some things that I find interesting, but I would like to stick with natives as much as possible. It just makes sense, really. If you happen across your Jerry Hightower notes, I'd be most grateful. Being able to read up on and study native plants now gives me a chance to understand and learn well before I plant. I will follow up on the other references you gave as well. Liliumskygazer, I understand what you're saying in that the author is a bit judgmental at times. Please note though that I am very new to taking gardening seriously. So for me, nearly the entire book has brand new ideas, or old ideas presented in a new light. For me being a newbie and all, I found it one of the best gardening reads in quite some time. That being said, when I find an author who appears closed minded or single minded on certain topics, it's tough look past that to see the rest. But what I got most from the book, and what I respected most about it was that: - The author emphasized looking at gardening spaces as a whole, living, symbiotic system. - It gives several realistic, real world examples of the systems he was discussing; before and after. Too often, I find this lacking in most educational books. - That each eco system has a *tremendous* amount of variety, created using a very specific strategy. It is these concepts that made me rethink everything I had in mind about gardening, for the better. Good news y'all! I moved into my new home over these last few days, AND...!!! And I bought my first rakes, gloves and a shovel. I'm going to get some soil tests done this week some time, and Duane will be by next Saturday to kick off my gardening adventure. I'm going to take lots of "before" pics and post them on a yet uncreated web site so we can all get a good laugh from the newbie gardener. ;) Once again, thank y'all for the help and advice.