CCP - I am late to respond, but I am not sure what pictures to add. If you look at the ones I put up on 4/15/11 and imagine grass, you pretty much have the layout. The swings are steps from the patio, and running around space is more open behind the garage. General Update - Another season in, we cured the drainage issue in the spring, mostly. The dry creek to nowhere, that my architect and landscaper thought would work, didn't. We were left with rocks on top of mud, instead of mud. We pulled it, and did a DIY (disaster filled install) french drain going across two and a half properties. We used "EZ-Flow" Pipes from NDS, which is basically an alternative to gravel. We are having some problems with the pipes bucking after a heavy rain and needing to be re-worked in my next,next door neighbor's yard, but we are planning to add more fill to weigh it down. Moving the water away to the community retention pond was the only cure though. Kind of wish we had written a check as opposed to DIY though. In terms of the plantings, almost everything has thrived - except the dogwood and sourwood in the rear. We replaced the sourwood once and its replacement is hurting. There is a bit of grade there and we've read that sourwood's like water, so we think that its iffy that we have the right plant there given that the water drains. The dogwood, we may replace this weekend. That particular tree was always kind of weak even before the transplant from the front yard to the back, so we will give it one more shot before looking at another selection. The patio (and deck above) gather mold rather easily. In a few years I'd like to rip the cheap composite deck out and replace it with something (tropical hardwood?, regular wood?), but we'll live with it for a while. The mold/moss (green stuff) on the bluestone is a bit more disconcerting, as we wonder if it is a sign that the area below the patio is on the wetter side. The ground is firm, and there is gravel below, and the gutters are buried/routed away, but we speculate that water may be a factor. In terms of our enjoyment - we had a labor day party last weekend and could put a couple dozen people in the yard no problem. The kids like to hid in the tall grasses by the side stairs, and the curb appeal is nice. So far, so good.

emmie9999, try corn if you want to and have some extra room (particularly if you expand your beds). I live in the country in PA, with lots of corn around. There's a farmstand a half-mile up the road that always has great corn, but I still grow some of my own, just becauase it feels good to look out and see a little patch of corn in my garden. (But I've got a pretty big garden, so I'm not so worried about the space.) This year I'm increasing the fun factor by experimenting with a couple of open-pollinated heirloom varieties along with a regular supersweet hybrid type. You can plant a small patch of corn, but then it helps to hand-pollinate it to get good ears. When the silks show up, cut off some bits of the tassles from the top and dust it over the silks. CAVEAT: I haven't tried that yet, but I read somewhere here that it works well. I'm going to try it this year. Last year I had one very small patch of late summer corn that didn't pollinate well -- I didn't know about hand-pollinating then. A lot of my gardening is just aimed at getting fresh veggies, but a lot of it is also just for fun. I grow some dried beans, for instance. From the perspective of food, it doesn't make any sense, since you can buy a pound of dried beans in the market for about 80 cents. But I grow old heirloom varieties, like Steuben and Amish Knuttle, which you can't get in the market. I don't have room to plant enough to get more than about 1-2 pounds of dried beans per variety, but the beans are pretty and it's just fun. With green beans, you might consider pole beans. You get a much larger harvest from a small amount of garden space. You also can harvest a lot of it standing up. And the teepees look lovely -- I make mine out of 7- or 8-foot lengths of bamboo. One of the downsides is that you can't use row covers (at least not easily), if you're planning on using covers. You also have to make sure the teepees don't shade something else in the garden. One last downside to teepees is that occasionally a good wind will make them start leaning, especially in the early summer before the beans are strong enough to anchor them. Have fun and good luck with your garden.

Hello, I am tagging onto this thread so as not to break the rule of posting a topic that is already posted. I hope people are still reading this thread and will reply. :D I too am planning my garden for next year. We also just bought an acre, so I'm reading this thread with interest! We also have bermuda and johnson grass growing where I want my garden. We also have moles and grasshoppers in droves! I have created a layout and developed a bit of a plan. I know where I want my permanent plants like fruit trees and shrubs. I have a riding mower and am looking at buying a used tiller. But, my questions will help me make this decision! I am thinking about making the paths between beds lawn that I can just mow with the mower, then just rake or blow the grass clippings into the beds. Would it work to put pavers between the lawn path and the bed to keep the grass out? I am wanting to start some beds right away, so I could purchase some compost and supplies. However, I also have moving boxes I can use to begin a lasagna system. I have tons of leaves in the back area I can cart to the garden area. Do I need to till up any of this space? It will be 1/4 acre (includes area for fruit trees). Or, I could order some truckloads of compost and do it all at once. My biggest worry about that is working it into the existing dirt and killing the bermuda where I want to kill it. The existing dirt is like cement right now - even after watering. Does this mean I need a tiller? Or, do I hope that putting compost on top of compacted dirt will work? How well will plant roots break into that? Thanks for reading. emepro

Are you trying to plant a fall *perennial* garden then? Or just a garden for this fall for the special event? If you were planning a perennial garden, you would be looking for fall bloomers, like chrysanthemum (comes in yellows, orange, reds, purples and whites) and asters. But then you would have to make sure that they came into bloom at the right time for the wedding--which isn't something that I would risk unless I were very experienced with the plant. A more sure approach would be to plant annual flowers, which should flower continuously until frost. Zinnias are beautiful and bountiful (and some varieties come in those colors), marigolds come in orange, petunias, impatiens come in white, celosias may or may not come in orange, tithonia (Mexican sunflower) is a very striking orange flower, and I think there are even white varieties of sunflower. Could you tell me how much sun the area gets, and when you want it to be in peak bloom? Also, check out your zone and tell us your first expected frost of the fall, so we know a little about how risky it will be to make the date.