This is interesting and very relevant for me right now. I just did a ton on research on heucheras, etc. in full sun and in NC we don't play around, when we say full sun, we really mean it! :) What I found is that the darker heucheras/ellas do better than the lighter and if they are from the villosa (hoping I am remembering that name correctly) lineage, then all the better for heat tolerance. I put in two Obsidians and two Amethyst falls. They are getting full sun from 10 until 4 pm. I read several people saying that they had great success in and around this area or even farther south with these two in full sun. I think Solar Eclipse would do fine in your full sun, definately. I know this thread was from last year, but you still haven't gone through a summer yet, I'm thinking. I love the online pics of solar eclipse, but haven't purchased it b/c every time I see one locally, they are so faded/washed out and ugly, I just leave them there. I am afraid they would look like that for me all the time, just my luck! I did pick up a Redstone Falls this year, though. It is lovely.

Now, comes the 'written' part of the contest. iow, they wanted a description of what and why and such like. Mebbe some of you folks will find some use out of it, as well. ===== Second draft: Formally, Informal English Garden. Before the design process began we re-examined many types of traditional designs, including French box gardens, English cottage gardens, Renaissance gardens and meditation gardens from around the world. We have incorporated many aspects of these traditional gardens into our edible landscape. In our opinion, we have successfully captured the feel of certain types of meditation gardens, as well. When fully mature, the plants in this garden will also be 'bio-intensive', as is often seen in traditional European and English cottage gardens. Our primary goal is to transform every square inch of the front yard into an edible landscape. In time, the sod will be replaced with edible ground covers. Other than concerns for soil compatibility, and allowances for available sunlight, we are planting annual herbs and vegetables in concert with all of the edible perennials. The different nutrients provided by each edible plant has been taken into consideration in the planning and installation of this garden. As an outcome of the design and installation, the garden will be as maintenance free as possible. The design includes a labyrinth, which is more complex than it might seem at first glance. We also incorporated a simplified rectangular mandala into the design. A Celtic Cross, or Solar Cross, can be also be seen in the pathway, depending on your frame of mind. Some have asked why we chose persimmons as the centerpiece of our garden instead of the more traditional water feature. Persimmons are known as the 'fruit/food of the gods'. This concept fits with the imagery of the solar and Celtic cross(es). This idea also fits well within the overall themes and histories of labyrinths and mandalas. The longest part of the pathway lines up almost directly east/west, lining up -more or less- with the fall equinox. That was a matter of happenstance, not of planning, but it was incorporated into the design. These concepts were part of the original design and were a part of every consideration during the design process. Philosophically? (Offered as questions, of course.) Why do the green-ways in the garden narrow around the tree beds? Why did we bother with all of the straight lines, when everything will be so overgrown, even crowded, at maturity? Many of the mature plants will -eventually- constrain your walk through the garden. You'll have to dodge branches and step around plants and bushes as you 'dance the labyrinth' of this garden. Why did we design it that way? How will the rise and fall (remember: grade and level mentioned above) of your path through the garden also reveal your path through life? The garden is not flat or level in our design and installation. The outer edges of the garden are almost level, allowing only enough grade to maintain the original drainage on the property. Each of the four 'rooms' of the garden tilts towards the center of the garden. This part of the design will hold and retain water in the garden and prevent excessive run-off during normal rain showers for the region. The plans include eight raised beds which provide five hundred square feet of space for 'square foot' vegetable gardening. The boxes around the raised beds will be leveled and plumbed. The four short raised beds (fourteen feet in length) are each on the same level. The four beds that are twenty-two feet in length will sit approximately two to three inches lower than the shorter beds. In this fashion, by merely using straight lines and by manipulating the grade and level, the garden has become a three dimensional geometric sculpture. We kept the traditional circular tree beds in order to provide some relief from (and contrast with) the straight lines in the rest of the garden. Most of the major plantings will add contrast and beauty to that geometric sculpture with their naturally occurring 'fractal' growth habits. Although the fruit trees will be well pruned and purposely shaped, they, too, will form a part of this fractal contrast and beauty. We are pruning our young fruit trees using a combination of vase shape and espalier techniques. The exception will be the persimmon trees, which we will maintain in a semi-open shape. We have double planted our fruit trees in order to provide a greater variety of fruits, vitamins and minerals in our diet. Double planting our trees ensures cross pollination, with more and better fruit than might otherwise be found in such a design. The competition for resources will help to further reduce the size of the trees when they reach maturity. Budget and other considerations: This particular design is not a project for a complete novice. I fully recommend that a novice gardener use a professional gardener and/or a landscape designer to install this type of garden. It will be pricey, though. The "OMG!" kinds of pricey. So far, we've invested $2,300 in this garden over a two year time frame. With our current budget and schedule, we plan to spend an additional $1,500 to $2,000 over the next year and a half to two years. The overall costs include soil amendments, compost, peat moss, edging, stakes, sand, mulch, plants and seeds. In keeping with the idea of not breaking too many shoestrings, we provided our own labor and we used nothing but readily available hand tools to install this garden. Most of the one thousand flower bulbs currently installed in beds around the property lines, were gifts. We saved money on the gravel for the walkways by re-grading and leveling the driveway, which was considerably above grade when we bought this property. We've also used over two tons of homemade compost in our beds, saving even more on our installation. ROI? Last year we filled two freezers with fresh fruits and vegetables and had dozens of meals of fresh produce from our garden. In short, over the last year and a half, the garden has fully returned our current investment and has paid for itself. In addition, in a few short years, this garden will be valued at several tens of thousands of dollars.

Carol, thanks for mentioning the grass situation. I didn't specify the growth situation in my post, butt I must say that I have never seen grass grow the way it does here! The first time I tried digging it, I could easily understand how a sod house could be built from blocks of it. The Bermuda problem (along with the ragweed) is an ongoing battle on our property, and I'm nearly positive that the grass is winning the war. As far as the soil analysis, the recommendation is that I apply 4# of 0-0-60 and 4# of 46-0-0 in my 1800 sq ft flower bed to bring it up to something closer to normal, and then do an additional nitrogen application midseason. It's an indication of just how poor it really is. I was amazed by the report. Who'd have thunk it?! As they say, live and learn. Yes, gardening in CO can be challenging, to say the least. Their soils and climate are as screwy as ours. Conditions are even more difficult than here. This has been a really wretched year for OK. One of the things that took me a long time to get used to was all the green here in the summer. You guys will think it's crazy, but I actually took summer photos of it and sent to my friends and family in the west, where green fields later than the 1st of June are pretty hard to find. It only happens if it's cultivated and under massive irrigation. Let me know if you have any luck with the sweet woodruff. I think I'd like to get some started also. I've had good luck with it the past. Other really tough (although inedible) groundcovers for me have been wooly thyme or creeping thyme and mini gypsophila. Once again the main problem in maintaining any groundcover here is the vigor of the grasses that want to over-run anything and everything. I finally put in some tiny sedum brevifolium that I brought back from CA. It seems to be surviving, although it's spreading slower than I had thought it would. It will usually grow in anything . . or nothing. I also had some purple violets hitch-hike a ride from CA and they have now spread all over the place. I have enough room that it's not a problem, and they do help to fill in some empty spaces. I don't mind using them to shade the ground under larger perennial shrubs. If they get to be too much, which they will, then I'll need to start yanking them out. BTW, I'm right in the middle of the state, between OKC and Shawnee. Just wait until you see what Chandra has done with his town garden and the edible stuff he has planted there. It's amazing. He still has the photo link up on the 'Summer Garden Update, July 19' post that's back on page 7 of this forum. He's using a more vertical style than you have planned, but I think you'd enjoy seeing it. Pat

...and finally, a few terse paragraphs about the design and the thinking behind it. (I hadda write it up because an acquaintance insisted that I enter it in a garden contest, even though we're only half finished with the garden.) ===== Before the design process began we examined many types of traditional designs, including French box gardens, English cottage gardens and Renaissance gardens from around the world. We have incorporated many aspects of these traditional ideas into our edible landscape. In our opinion we have successfully captured the feel of meditation gardens, as well. When fully mature, the plantings in our landscape will be 'bio-intensive', as is often seen in traditional European and English cottage gardens. Our primary goal is to transform every square inch of the front yard into an edible landscape. In time, the sod will be replaced with edible ground covers. Other than concerns for soil compatibility and allowances for available sunlight, we are planting annual herbs and vegetables in concert with all of the edible perennials. The nutrients provided by each edible plant have been taken into consideration in the planning of this project. As a result of the design and installation, the result will be as maintenance free as is possible while remaining within our budgetary constraints. The overall design includes a labyrinth, which is more complex than it might seem at first glance. We have also incorporated a simplified rectangular mandala. A Celtic Cross, or Solar Cross, can be also be seen in the layout of the pathway. Some have asked why we chose persimmons as the centerpiece instead of the more traditional water feature. Persimmons are known as the 'food of the gods'. This concept fits with the imagery of the solar and Celtic cross(es) and reflects the overall themes and histories of labyrinths and mandalas. The longest part of the pathway lines up almost directly east/west, and conjoins with the autumnal equinox. That was a matter of happenstance, rather than planning, but it is incorporated into the design. These concepts were part of the original design and remained a part of every consideration during the process. Philosophically? (Offered as questions, of course.) Why do the green-ways in the garden narrow around the tree beds? Why did we bother with all of the straight lines, when the garden will be so 'bio-intensive' at maturity? Many of the mature plants will -eventually- constrain the walk through the garden, making it necessary to dodge branches and step around plantings as you 'dance the labyrinth' of this project. Why did we design it that way? How will the rise and fall (remember the grade and level mentioned above) of your path through the garden also reveal your path through life? In the design of this landscape, the ground is neither flat nor level. The four outer edges of the garden do allow enough grade to maintain the original drainage on the property. Each of the four 'rooms' of the garden tilts towards the center. This aspect of the design will hold and retain water and prevent excessive run-off during the region's normal rain showers. The plans include eight raised beds which provide five hundred square feet of space for 'square foot' vegetable gardening. The boxes around the raised beds will be leveled and plumbed. The shorter raised beds (fourteen feet in length) are each on the same level. The four beds that are twenty-two feet in length will sit approximately three inches lower than the shorter beds. In this fashion, by using straight lines and manipulating the grade and level, the space has become a three dimensional geometric sculpture. We kept the traditional circular tree beds in order to provide relief from (and contrast with) the straight lines. The major plantings will add contrast and beauty to that geometric sculpture with their naturally occurring 'fractal' growth habits. Although the fruit trees will be pruned and shaped, they, too, will form a component of this fractal contrast and beauty. We are pruning our young fruit trees using a combination of vase shape and espalier techniques. The exception will be the persimmon trees which will be maintained in a semi-open shape. We have double planted our fruit trees in order to provide a greater variety of fruits, vitamins and minerals in our diet. Double planting ensures cross pollination and offers more and better fruit than might otherwise be found in such a small space. The competition for resources will help to further reduce the size of the trees when they reach maturity. Budget and other considerations: This particular design is not a project for a novice gardener. We recommend that a novice utilize the services of a professional gardener and/or a landscape designer to achieve an edible landscape of this complexity. Thus far, we've invested $2,300 over two years. With our current budget and schedule, we plan to spend an additional $1,500 to $2,000 over the next two years. Costs include soil amendments, compost, peat moss, edging, stakes, sand, mulch, plants and seeds. In keeping with the idea of not breaking too many shoestrings, we provided our own labor and we used nothing but hand tools to implement this project. Most of the one thousand flower bulbs installed in the beds around the property lines were gifts. We saved money on the gravel for the walkways by re-grading and leveling the driveway, which was considerably above grade when we bought this property. We've used two tons of homemade compost in our beds, saving even more on our installation. ROI? Last year we filled two freezers with fresh fruits and vegetables and had dozens of meals of fresh produce from our garden. In short, over the last year and a half, the garden has returned our current investment. In addition, in a few short years, this garden will be valued at several tens of thousands of dollars. Increasing the equity in our homes seemed like a good idea when we began to plan and install our Formally, Informal English Garden. In view of the quick return on our investment, it seems like an even better idea, today. ===== Oh, yeah...pics... I call this series "fractals vs geometry."