I was thinking more about Isabellas comment that the garden looked plain on the drawing and it dawned on me that she probably meant that there didnt appear to be anything on the drawing other than perhaps perennials in the beds. There are two reasons for that. The simple answer is that if I attempted to draw all the pretty symbols for trees and shrubs a la Booth and Hiss, all Im likely to produce is a confused mess! But the more important answer, from my perspective, is that when I look at my (and others) garden, I mentally edit out all but the patterns on the ground to decide whether the garden appeals to me or not. By patterns on the ground I mean the shape of the beds, the lawn, the paths, patios etc. If the shape doesnt feel right to me then the plantings, no matter how nice they are, wont totally take away the feeling that the garden needs to be changed somehow. What Ive shown in the drawing of my woodland area is the patterns on the ground as they are now with the proposed/possible changes. The tree and shrub layers have been edited out, other than an indication of where some of the tree trunks are. Im largely satisfied with the plantings I have in the woodland (although changes and additions are made on an on-going basis) but Im not satisfied with the overall pattern. That is what Im wrestling with changing come spring. The Booth and Hiss book is interesting but I find Im doing the same thing when I look at the drawings in it particularly with the masterplan drawings. I find them very busy and have to mentally edit out all the plant symbols and just look at the patterns on the ground before I can conclude whether I like the plan or not. I suspect that, since I have previously stated my strong liking for flowers and colors, I am perhaps viewed as having little interest in real design issues. Certainly I feel that painting the patterns with plants (particularly flowering ones!) is very important to add color, vibrancy and emotion to bring the garden to life. Plus its lots of fun to play with color and plant combinations! But a very important part of what I have been doing over the past 8 years as weve been developing the garden is trying to get the patterns on the ground to look and feel right. Getting the woodland patterns fixed is top of my to do list for 2008 And just to show that there are trees in the woodland :-) here are two of my favorites: The oak tree as viewed from the living room window in mid-November: (The sun was so bright that day that I had to adjust the color a bit or the LR would just appear black the shed is gray, not blue) The white redbud in late May (its bigger now this picture is 2006 as I didnt take a picture in 2007 You can see a bit of the old shed in this picture - it did blend more inconspicuously with the trees but was otherwise decrepit, ugly and impractical and had to go!) I just realized in my previous post with the sightlines on it... I usually look at the drawing the opposite way around - so I really meant that it looks like the shed should be shifted a few feet to the north - left - in that view, not right....

A great start is to search gardenweb on the subject. So much excellent advice for wet areas has already been posted. I started here and made a list of plants and trees on my computer from the suggestions. As people add places to shop at or avoid, or recommend plants, I revise my list. I had to clean up my wet property too, and that really helped me get a feel of what was there. I used this site to identify plants I found. I learned I had many good plants already. Blue lobelia, a brilliant colored wetland flower sprouted for free in a soggy spot I cleared. Another trash dump area became a fern garden for free after I cleared the trash and let the leaves pile up naturally. It seemed impossible at first because I didn't have a clue, but slowly it sinks in. I can now identify quite a few plants. The internet makes it all possible. For instance, box elder seedlings look just like poison ivy - almost. Studying poison ivy sites on the internet I was finally able to make the distinction. Great site: http://poisonivy.aesir.com/view/picqna.html I also use the website of endangered and threatened plants for my state to improve my list. I just ordered a package of wetland seedlings based on a chat I read here. Five each of buttonbush, dogwood, nannyberry, winterberry, wild grape for $20. Many states offer native seedling packs in spring to residents, and sometimes non residents. My wetland wish list includes red mulberry tree (threatened here but I know it grows well since I have a hybrid already), swamp birch, swamp milkweed, elderberry, arrowwood viburnum, swamp rose, serviceberry, pussywillow, american bittersweet. Two gorgeous plants I want that love water are swamp rose mallow, and queen of the prairie. My last advice: when you see a good suggestion on this site write it down. Sometimes I can never find that reference again and I have lost many good suggestions that way Here is a link that might be useful: A State Forest Nursery Site

It's not always necessary to put it all back, and not always good to keep all the leaf litter either. We just found this out this spring. We put a fence up last summer and never thought of how this would impact our woodlot backyard. Normally there were high winds through our woods and this past winter with the fence we noticed that although we had 1-3 feet of snow our neighbors with no fence had bare soil. Likewise, our leaves never blew around and away either. We ended up with 2-3 feet deep of leaves in some areas of our lot and this was choking out most of our natural wild flowers that bloom this time of year. The dog-toothed violets were just not tall enough to make their way above the deep leaf litter, nor are the trilliums (we have 3 colours) or the blue cohash which was staying white because of no sunlight and some was rotting. Last weekend we went in and removed a TON of leaf litter leaving just a thin carpet to decay for nutritents and the remaining plants are finally starting to bloom. The rest of the leaf litter we threw over the fence into an empty wooded lot and the soil there can have it for nutrients. ;o) I'm afraid if we had of left it we might have lost a great deal of our lovely plants that have just grown there naturally. Regards, Barb S/W Ontario Zone 6a

I agree with john_bonzo on the Houston Garden Centers-a very important tip. They are poorly staffed, I've never been to one where they could answer any kind of question about a plant problem or pest, and the one in the Woodlands area (I-45N @ Sawdust Road) has a manager that yelled at and belittled me in front of her staff and a bunch of customers while I was trying to just get the grass that my mother had purchased minutes before loaded into my truck (mom showed the "Loading guy" her receipt, he began loading my truck, then mom drove away with the receipt). The manager accused me of conspiring with her employee to steal sod. NICE! (that, and every plant i've ever bought there has died) Anyway, I think you'll love The Woodlands, so many different types of plants already around, nice wildflowers, lots of parks, lots of nature, long growing season... If you'd like any elephant ears to add a little bit of the tropics to your backyard pool area, shoot me an email, I have lots that I'm trying to thin out. I can give you several medium sized, and LOTS of little ones that will grow plenty big. A quick tip on those if you decide to grow them, they do GREAT if you plant them in front of the spot where your dryer vents to the outside. In addition to the plants named in john's post, cannas do well here, mexican heather, mexican petunias, irises, begonias, geraniums, oleander (poisonous if eaten by kids/pets, but drought resistant), pittisporum, plumbago, KO Roses, mountain laurel, crepe myrtles, hibiscus, ginger, the list goes on and on...for the last few years, agapanthus has been pretty popular... This fall, check with the Montgomery County Master Gardener Association, they have a fall plant sale with things that are native or really thrive here, and they have things you won't find in all the big nurseries. They include a seminar before the sale to teach you about the plants and gardening for our area. They haven't posted dates yet, but if you call them, they can tell you when that will be. I've included a link to their site at the bottom of this post. Welcome! Be sure to let us know how you do! Here is a link that might be useful: Montgomery Cty Master Gardeners