What a lovely look you've got going here!! Thank you for sharing your pics with us all. You might consider adding some roses that can grow along and through the fence sections- hybrid musks are very nice, or try Mutabilis, or Golden Wings. Be careful about getting roses that are super thorny on the arch though, makes it harder to tie the canes down on it. Honeysuckle and Clematis on the arch are also great classics to add on the arch. Salvias, russian sage, lavendars are nice for filling out in front of the fence sections, rosemary, oregano and other herbs could work well too. Butterfly bush is always very nice, and cottage flowers of all types. A walking pathway of flat irregular shaped stones running the length between the front planting to those against the fence could be nice, of a similar coloration as the edging rocks placed at the lawn area. Love the peacock sculpture, where did you find it? To see pics of our recent landscaping projects and Roses we grow, ck out out my Picture Trail: careytearose Here is a link that might be useful: look at Landscaping Projects, Favourite ROSES We Grow albums

Thanks so much for all the helpful replies. My father is fine to work with, although I don't think we'll actually be working much together, since he is home all day, which is when he likes to garden, and I won't be there until I get out of work. However, my 17 yo daughter is very keen to garden, as she is planning to major in Biology in college, with a focus on botany. So I have a helper who is voraciously reading up on gardening right now. We went to a local nursery this weekend and picked up seedlings: peppers, cucumbers, cabbage, lettuce, onions, corn, watermelon, cantalope and strawberries, as well as some herbs: dill, tarragon, mint, rosemary, thyme and chives. We didn't bother with tomatoes because my father aleady has too many tomato plants, so there'll be plenty to share. I wasn't sure how big of a plot he tilled, so I didn't get many plants of each of these. We'll probably add some zucchini and pumpkin and some other kind of squash if we have space. We went to his house yesterday, but we didn't plant - there were 3 tilled areas, but I wasn't sure which one was mine, and he wasn't home to ask. Plus, it was raining. He definitely prepped the soil already - there was definitely manure in the mix. I'll keep you posted on the progress of our garden. I'll be interested to see if any of the cabbage and lettuce survive the rabbits - my father has tried various non-lethal methods to keep the critters away, and right now, he plants each of his cabbages in an individual cage of chicken wire.

It all depends on your current soil conditions and how big the garden is. A vegetable garden doesn't have to be tilled or plowed every year. If it has grass on it, the biggest job will be breaking that up. If the soil is poor - low in organic matter - you'll want to incorporate a lot of compost up front and more each year to maintain the levels and build a better soil. Sounds like you are ready to do that. I had my garden plot initially tilled by a guy with a tractor, not sure of the size (of the tractor) but it was finely broken up (tilled) rather than plowed. I would recommend a tiller rather than a plow for gardening. I don't know of any rock-removing implement. Your own two hands is pretty much it. If you pick a spot to toss them into a pile and do that whenever you see them, over time there will be fewer and fewer. I keep a small pot in the corner of each raised bed for rock pieces - mine are gravel about 1-2" across and there are not many at this point. Re planting, you don't HAVE to plant in rows. You probably do want to establish some paths to walk on and beds that you don't walk on. If you plant tomatoes, peppers or other plants that are not grown from seed, you can plant them in a grid rather than rows. You might want to start small with one bed rather than a huge area the first year. Expand it each year as you have time and materials.

Tomatoes have been in the ground for close to a month. Planted onion sets about a month ago as well. I've transplanted a few pumpkins and squash and direct sowed some as well. Put about 20 sweet potato slips out this past week, and have another 15-20 to put in the ground. Planning on doing that this week. Carrots and radishes were put in late, about a month ago. We'll see if the summer heat gets them. The kale and broccoli were put in about 6-8 weeks ago and are doing well. Hoping the broccoli doesn't bolt, but after the next three scorchers, the ten day looks fairly mild. Also put in another 40 or so strawberry plants, as well as about 10 blackberries, a couple of raspberries, and a couple of boysenberry (of which I think only one transplant has survived...boo). Thinking of planting muscadines, but I've got some work to do on my little city lot to make room for them. Might be next year before I'm ready for them.