Welcome, mcr! I know, it's easy to be intimidated by everyone else's glorious gardens (why can't mine be like that?) but think of them as a goal to work toward. I once saw a gardening video from England where the homeowners said it took them twenty years to achieve the glorious cottage look the film crew captured in a morning. Be patient with yourself, your budget, and your planting zone, and in time you'll get there. :-)

Thanks for the welcome remontant. I agree 100% about being patient and setting goals! My hubby and I moved here in 2005 and we've been making plans for different areas of our yard since. We started a flower bed in the front of the house in 2008. As of right now, it holds a dwarf burning bush, Dwarf Josee lilac, hardy pink geranium, 2 spiderworts, a Provence lavender and a second set of 9 mums (I guess I killed the first set. They bloomed so pretty in 2008 but never came back :( so I finally got some replacements this year.) I have a few more plants on my list to get for this garden. Everything is still so small and the garden looks sooo empty. But I know that with time and trial and error, it'll be pretty in the end. This years goal is to create paths and a patio. Sorry... didn't mean to ramble on and on. Caffiene overload! Thanks again for the welcome!

Welcome mcr - one thing we like here at the Cottage garden Forum is PICTURES!!!! Please don't hesitate to post yours. I know from my own experience that I have learned so much from all the posters - each and every garden is unique in its own way ......

Lynne

Welcome mcr,

Hey, you can't ramble on and on. I AM THE RESIDENT RAMBLER ON THIS FORUM!!! (jk) You weren't rambling. You were introducing yourself and your garden. I like "newsy" posts. They're interesting reading.

If you have questions, please don't be afraid to ask. No question is dumb. We are all still learning. I ask questions all the time.

Welcome aboard, and good luck with your garden.

~Annie

Welcome Mrc- So nice to have you here.

I agree with Annie, If you ever have a question please don't be afraid to ask it. There are so many helpful people on this forum with a wealth of knowledge. Annie being one of them.

Carrie

Welcome to the "neighborhood". These folks have become almost family to some of us.

Now...I will get on my soap box. Research lasagne gardening.
When I moved in here the yard was 90% st. augustine grass.

Feb 2008
You can see that we put down the cheapest roofing paper we could buy.

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Easter this year.

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April 11, 2010

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My best friend and I are widows on fixed incomes. We live together to share expenses.
If we can do this anyone can. We bought plants a few at a time. We did bring a few from the previous house.

One of the best things I did was start a plant swap in 2006.

Kathy

Welcome mcr! This is my 2nd year on this board and these wonderful people practically taught me everything!

I know there are forums for specific plants, but we grow a bit of everything so no matter what the plant, rose, hydrangeas, etc, you'll get help here.

Don't be a stranger! This is my 2nd year of having a big flower garden and we even built two more gardens!

Thank you all for the wonderful welcomes! Plantmaven your gardens are beautiful! OK...I think I figured it out:

This is a picture from the real estate listing of the front of the house. This was taken in 2005:

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I went out this morning and took some pics to share, but for some reason I'm having trouble with my kodak software. Here's another real estate listing picture. It is of the "lower half" of the backyard:

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That's the "sunny end" of the yard. The top half is mostly shady. Just as soon as I figure out what's going on with my pictures, I'll share the top half of the backyard and the side yard on the left of the house. Gotta go for now...thanks again for the wonderful welcomes! You guys are great!

Mcr, I love, love, LOVE your house! What a perfect place for a cottage garden! Something you might want to be aware of is a lot of independent nurseries (i.e. not big box places) are having sales now so they'll have less stock to keep watering all summer. Call around your local places and ask. One of our local nurseries doesn't advertise their -50% off sales (annuals AND perennials!) but they offer it the week before July 4 just to sell down inventory. If you don't mind a little extra sweating to get things into the ground, you might have a golden buying opportunity nearby.

Plantmaven, your photos showing what can be done in only two years are AMAZING!!!

mcr - You have a great house and yard to work with. We look forward to your pictures. If you have a Lowe's near you check out their clearance section.

The swap Kathy started is the best thing (after her beautiful yard of course). When we moved two years ago, we were looking at a huge neglected yard with so many problems. I was thrilled to find GW and even more thrilled to be invited to the swaps where I always leave with more than I bring. The generosity of Kathy and others has let me fill my yard with plants that work in this climate while meeting and sharing information with more experienced gardeners. Oh, and we have tons of fun too! Thank you Kathy!