Biggest mistake?
cathy09
14 years ago
Featured Answer
Comments (38)
imagardener2
14 years agowhgille
14 years agoRelated Discussions
What was your biggest gardening mistake...
Comments (28)Virginia, I have to agree with you. My new resolutions are: 1) Never visit a nursery right after watching a garden show, reading a gardening magazine or going on a garden tour. ;O) 2) Never buy a plant unless I know exactly where I'm going to plant it. ... And where it's most likely to live. 3) Try harder to come up with an overall plan to integrate what I have with what I want. 4) Try for more perennials and fewer annuals. (I call this last resolution 'buying vs renting'.) 5) Spend more time developing edible landscaping. Now let's see if I can *keep* these resolutions......See MoreBiggest mistake Pt 2
Comments (6)gardencpa said: This is going to sound stupid but I wish I would have would have flipped my house plan (when I still could) so the garage was on the north side of the house. I didn't want to pay the few hundred dollars to flip the plan but when I look at the garden layout, it would have made more sense to have all the water heater, etc. on the north side and not waste the south end where things grow so much better! When we are in the market for a new home (we have moved too many times) the #1 amenity we specify is that the living area, usually the rear of the home, faces south so we have sunlight visible all day long. VERY important to us. Since Florida homes usually have a lanai the sun doesn't come into the living space and heat it up in the summer. This gives me a sunny backyard to plant in also and usually a northfacing front yard. Funny thing about Florida is that a northfacing yard gets plenty of sun. Like all day long. So no shade plants for me. Takes us a loooong time to find a house to buy but we did. My biggest non-plant mistake: not testing our irrigation water. Caused half of the antique roses purchased from hither and yon to perish. I kept thinking it was the horrible hot summer. Not. Now they aren't getting irrigated with salty iron-saturated water the ones that survived are putting out new growth. I encourage gardeners to test their water. It's free through your local extension office. Denise...See MoreYour biggest mistake this year?
Comments (18)Wow... mistakes to come I guess. I've only done a few quilts - one with a group of people, and 2 others (and another i'm working on now). So, really half of what you folks are talking about I have no idea what your saying - I don't know what a wonder ruler is, I'm not sure I know what a sash is - is that the fabric that some people put between the blocks? the way you iron seams can effect the ultimate quilt??? Huh, guess I'll have to learn that one! Heaven's I've probably already made THAT mistake! Lord knows if I'd even know what to look for if it was wrong! I can definitely see me cutting fabric on the carpet and not getting a nice cut... I guess my mistakes are more like not buying enough fabric - and having to go back and not finding it! Ahhh! Or sewing a block one way and getting done with it and realizing it's completely backwards! I kept doing that with the log cabin - cutting the fabric Or slicing an edge off a strip and then when I get to the end I'm JUST THAT much short on the other end to eek out one more strip... The other thing that I'm thinking is a mistake is that I fall in love with fabric and I buy it with no plans to make something with it - I buy it because I like it... now I have this enormous collection of fabric!!! What am I doing? I also obtained this horrendous trait from my father - that everything (alright not everything but most things) have got to be useful. The practicality of items made or bought has got to be there! So I make jelly b/c the fruit is free and rotting. I make tomato sauce b/c I love tomatoes and I have to use the excess or that would be just down right WASTEFUL... I grow plants (flowers, vegetables, not house plants) in the house because it's cheaper than buying them (Ok, not initially but in the long run) *and yes I have a point to my rambling* - I would love to quilt something small but then I run into this 'practicality gene'. It has to be a quilt that would fit a queen size bed... it's practical! So that brings me to my other big mistakeS - I just overwhelm myself making BIG things. Darn that father of mine (who used to pin his socks together b/c if the dryer ate one it was going to TAKE THEM BOTH) being so practical....See More25 Biggest Decorating Mistakes
Comments (101)Littledog, you can get plenty of beautiful fresh flowers out in the sticks in the off-season - if you have enough money to go to the busiest florist you can find every few days and spend top dollar. It's maddening to spend $15 on a simple mixed bunch of flowers at the grocery and have it go all shaggy and horrible-looking in just a few days even if you do all the "tricks". (My mother's a retired florist and blessed with a positively chartreuse thumb, so I know the cut-flower tricks.) If you go to the florist the same bouquet of flowers is more like $30 and you might get another couple of days out of them if their turnover is high enough that you've gotten them really fresh. That adds up to a lot of money mighty fast! And hey, the anti-pillow thing isn't just on the Y chromosome - I see absolutely NO point to the piles of pillows either, especially pillows that are too delicate to actually be used for anything more than looking at. I can't stand it when you can only perch on the very edge of a couch because there are so many pillows on it, and arranging the pile of fiddly little pillows just so every single time you make the bed seems downright ridiculous to me. Last time I checked, I was of the female persuasion. Although I'm unenthusiastic about chocolate, too. :-)...See Morecarolb_w_fl_coastal_9b
14 years agocorar4gw
14 years agosharbear50
14 years agowhgille
14 years agolinda_leaf _z10a_southwest_fl
14 years agocorar4gw
14 years agocoffeemom
14 years agoscogebear
14 years agogoldenpond
14 years agogatormomx2
14 years agocjc45
14 years agogaryfla_gw
14 years agocathy09
14 years agojohnjsr
14 years agosharbear50
14 years agoolyagrove
14 years agocrueltyfre
14 years agocarolb_w_fl_coastal_9b
14 years agoimagardener2
14 years agorainy230
14 years agosolstice98
14 years agobabalu_aye
14 years agogatormomx2
14 years agogaryfla_gw
14 years agoannafl
14 years agosharbear50
14 years agobigpaulie1972
14 years agoRandy Ritchie
14 years agokaren_florida
14 years agonatives_and_veggies
14 years agojkrup44
14 years agosharbear50
14 years agodirtygardener73
14 years agosharbear50
14 years agoHU-161673600
5 years ago
Related Stories
DECORATING GUIDESFrom Queasy Colors to Killer Tables: Your Worst Decorating Mistakes
Houzzers spill the beans about buying blunders, painting problems and DIY disasters
Full StoryBATHROOM DESIGN5 Common Bathroom Design Mistakes to Avoid
Get your bath right for the long haul by dodging these blunders in toilet placement, shower type and more
Full StoryDECORATING GUIDES7 Major Decorating Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Gain confidence to start your interior design project with this advice from a professional designer
Full StoryBUDGETING YOUR PROJECTHouzz Call: What Did Your Kitchen Renovation Teach You About Budgeting?
Cost is often the biggest shocker in a home renovation project. Share your wisdom to help your fellow Houzzers
Full StoryKITCHEN DESIGNThe 4 Things Home Buyers Really Want in Kitchen Cabinetry
For the biggest return on your kitchen investment, you've got to know these key ingredients for cabinetry with wide appeal
Full StoryDECORATING GUIDESGetting the Room Right: Part I
Great Spaces Show How to Avoid the Top 10 Decorating Mistakes
Full StoryDECORATING GUIDESHere's How to Steer Clear of 10 Top Design Don'ts
Get interiors that look professionally styled even if you're taking the DIY route, by avoiding these common mistakes
Full StoryFURNITUREDecorating 101: How to Shop for Furniture
Learn what furniture to get rid of, what to look for when buying, and how to avoid mistakes
Full StoryDECORATING GUIDESArranging Furniture? Tape it Out First!
Here's how to use painter's tape to catch any interior space-planning mistakes early
Full StoryGREAT HOME PROJECTSWhat to Know Before Refinishing Your Floors
Learn costs and other important details about renewing a hardwood floor — and the one mistake you should avoid
Full Story
gatormomx2