I've never been to Ohio and I don't know what the average yard looks like there but I did live in Phoenix for fifteen years. I live in Oregon but I miss the desert. My kitchen, laundry room and dining room are very Southwestern. Didn't think of doing the yard..... I think your idea of using a dry stream bed, large rocks, ornamental grasses, Russian sage etc. will work in giving that Southwest feel. There are also pines in AZ so a pine tree would not be out of place. I personally, detest Italian cypress which are the columnar evergreens you see around town but agree that a tall columnar evergreen might give the feel of a Saguaro. Hollywood junipers are very common in Southern CA and would not be out of place. They are very twisted and gnarled. If you build up some mounds from the dirt dug out for the dry streambed that will help too. Most good desert landscapes have them. Decomposed granite is the rock most commonly used in the Southwest as a mulch. I don't think I would use it in Ohio, I think I'd use the wood chips someone suggested above. The rock would just be too out of place. I'm not familiar with Ohio weather so forgive me if plants I suggest aren't going to make it through winter. Lavender and Rosemary can combine with the Russian Sage. Caryopteris too. Flower Carpet roses would be a great substitute for Bougainvillea, especially the magenta ones. Homestead Verbena can double for Lantana and will cover a lot of ground so there isn't so much mulch. I think you should go for a lusher look than many do in the desert. Many just don't realize how much they can really plant or try to plant the wrong things. Lowe's and Home Depot are just as guilty there as having plants that won't grow in the desert as they are having desert plants in colder climates. You need something for accent. A wagon wheel. Drift wood. Pottery. Please not a cement donkey or sleeping hombre.

...growers concerning planting time, and best varieties for this area. Also plot size for a good harvest. Check with your state's Extension Service. Each county should have it's own Cooperative Extension Office which provides free publications and information for the asking. They will have valuable vegetable/gardening tables available specifically for your area determined by universities and horticultural research scientists who have collected data from growing those crops in your state. Your tax dollars are already paying for this service so you may as well get some use out of it. Vegetable Planting and Planning Calendar for Missouri (download the pdf) complete with spring and fall planting dates (underneath the spring planting dates for appropriate crops), how much to plant per person, etc. They can also tell you the average last frost date for your area and ideal planting times for specific crops and varieties in your area. See how detailed this example is: As for plot size, look into the Square Foot Gardening methodologies, it will be perfect for you as a beginning gardener with a raised bed and answer many of your questions regarding spacing. Minimum for a famly of four is a 4x4 bed that is intensively planted via succession plantings. There is an entire Square Foot Gardening Forum here at GardenWeb. Examples Page 1 Examples Page 2 Examples Page 3 Examples Page 4 Examples Page 5

I can sympathize. I have a new bunny that just moved into the side beds. We spotted it last weekend when I was watering a few pots and the spray from the hose must have startled it into moving. My husband and I thought we had it pinned down when it scooted into a hole in the drystack stone wall that borders that part of the garden. So my husband got a bright idea to try and smoke it out. I stood on the opposite side of the wall, ready with rake, while he started a small leaf fire in the middle of the Salvia puberala. There was plenty of smoke, but the only thing that stuck a body part out on my side was a copperhead. It was the tail end, thank goodness, so he stepped on it to pin it down and then pulled steadily until it relaxed enough to pull the rest out. So the rabbit still runs free, and now I jump every time I catch a glimpse of skink in the wall out of the corner of my eye. I hope Salvia puberala doesn't mind ash.

We live in a rural area where ranching and logging are the main industries. Our land is forested altho we've had a lot of trees removed over the years. The natural landscape is Douglas fir, spruce, pine, aspen, poplar, birch, and various wild shrubs and flowers. I've thought about, but not tried to transplant any wild flowers as I doubt it would be successful. For my new garden I am planning to use plants and ground covers that will hopefully survive with limited watering. Some of these are the same, or similar to, the wild plants that survive with no care. Bearberry (kinnickinnick) which I can find on our land and transplant, and red clover as ground covers and yarrow (altho I will use the colored varieties not the wild white that grows naturally) are some plants I'll use. There are limited numbers of plants that like both dry and cold, are not invasive, and that deer dislike but I am researching and *will* find them. I think the typical gardens planted by the early pioneers in this area may have been similar to the cottage/potager gardens in England where many came from. Predominantly food and medicinal plants but also some flowers for 'pretty'. My present garden is more flowers with a few herbs and very few food plants so it isn't typical of a historical garden here. Our house is a modern farmhouse style so cottage flower garden style suits it. I think most people here grow whatever they like that will survive in zone 3. The arrangement of the plants varies according to the gardener's ability and taste. We have, like every other place I've ever seen on 2 continents, the good, the bad, and the ugly! My least favorite style of landscaping is the broad expanse of lawn with the few obligatory coniferous shrubs and there are a few of those around. There are also some very knowledgeable gardeners and it's inspiring to see how they create beauty with the challenges of deer and cold climate. I don't think, at this time in history, there is a typical garden style in this area, possibly because people have moved here from so many different places and that influences their style. I think much of the north west is like that.