Mike, I love it! It looks frosty! So is it a seasonal bloomer? I want something for the house that smells good and blooms year round! :-) I buy the air freshener sprays, and always lavender. Hubby's tired of lavender. LOL! Cool pot/mug! I like that! JoJo

OK, so I'm going to guess that in the very first picture in your, OP, the house is just out of sight to the left? I am also just beginning to realize how being a committed DIYer can wreck your life. OK, I'm overstating the matter, but I get your drift. I've just decided to hire out almost my first thing ever (OK, we had our roof and gutters done) in hiring someone do make me a website, and even at that my husband asked why I don't just learn to do it myself!! I realize I could have the thing up in two weeks if I hire it out vs. two years and still malfunctioning at that if I DIY. DIY is kind of a luxury. You get to figure it out as you go along, change your mind at a couple of points, and make decisions as you're ready for them vs. all up front. And you get to go at your own pace. This isn't like a leaky roof; there's no urgency to this. So I can't say I'd try to talk you out of DIY in this, but the pitfalls that Yardvaark lists are true enough. On the other hand it's a small area and you aren't going to end up with an "oops" 80-y-o silver maple in the middle of it. And DIY is often about making the trip up the learning curve as much as it is about the end result. You just need to figure out whether the former matters to you this time. You could hire a designer for an hour just to talk it over, and past that, much may depend on whether you have the money to spend. Or you could buy $50 worth of plants that appeal to you to start with, stick them in, and see how they do and how you enjoy them. You might need to figure out if you are planning for the near view or the drive-by... will you get out and pluck a few weeds, check the development of some flower buds, and watch the bulb tips emerge every time you get out of the car, or will you barely notice as you zip into the garage? Or will your eyes rest on this as you look out a window or off the balcony? In which case plant form and structure will be more important. I think DIY or not, and if not then budget, are among your first decisions. Karin L

Yeah those kids are smart as hell! I plan to get the tubing to make it happen just as they show in their videos. Not all teens sit around playing video games and texting I guess. ;) I grew up on a real farm and texting wasn't invented yet (and cell phones were too pricey for any farm kid to own). I just had video games, but they always took a back seat to school and working for my family. Yup.. we both shared "The Yellowing" of our plants. So far so good with adding that sifted pine bark and more perlite. I cannot remember the initial proportion of peat to vermiculite to perlite that I used for my base soil medium, but I remember it was said the proportion that Miracle Gro uses in their non Moisture-control. The only reason I made my own (which was a lot of work) was because I had 5 Earthtainers to fill and it was cheaper in the long run and I didn't mind getting my hands dirty. I mixed this in the 3:2:1 ratio (soil medium:pine bark:more perlite) for this year's mix. Anyhow you're probably asking about the fertilizer mixes, so for that I used 1 measuring cup of OLD Tomato-Tone + 1 cup of NEW Tomato-Tone for the fertilizer strip (in a 30ga ET). I blended those together and laid the strip. Then for EACH tomato hole I put in approximately 1 cup of my homebrew worm casts. My worm bins are very simple. Take two 5-gallon buckets, drill 3/8" holes randomly through the bottom of one bucket (50 holes or something). Fill this bucket with shredded paper (junk mail, paper bags from fast food and credit card offers are what I use). You will want to moisten the paper and squeeze the water out like a sponge, so it is just damp. This is the worm bedding. Add this and then next add worms and organic matter like banana peels (primarily my worm's major source of material). I use red wiggler worms provided by a class I took a few years ago at UK. Put this bucket inside the other bucket which will serve as the outer bucket to catch whatever drips from the worm's activity above. I use that worm leechate on my Blueberry bushes. Also get a lid for the worm bucket bin. The worms get enough oxygen by lifting the lid every now and then to toss in more organic waste for them to work the bacteria off of. I've gone weeks without lifting the lid. The hardest part of the worm bin is collecting the casts 6-8 months later. I can describe that process if you want. Here's what my bins look like: From 050509 Harvesting: From 022810 From 022810

Do you have a lot of bunnies and deer in your area? You may not see any in your own yard because of the lack of foliage, but if you've got a deer population, you're going to have some trouble. We've got TONS of deer where I am, and they will eat anything we put in the front yard (they can't get into the backyard!) But, if deer are not a problem, I suggest Hostas. These are perennials, they're pretty hardy and roughly maintenance-free. We've got a bunch around the yard and we planted them there at least 10 years ago, and probably have not done much since planting them other than feeding once in a while. The rain provides enough water. However, when we tried putting them in the front yard, the deer munched happily on them. Same with the lilies, even though I was pretty sure deer did not like lilies (or maybe the bunnies ate the lilies?). Black eyed susans are self-seeding, and quite strong too. If you want a few smaller flowers for cutting, snapdragons are very attractive and provide a nice burst of color, and depending on your zone, since they are self seeding, they may come back in higher numbers the next year, and so on. Iris is a very nice choice too, as it is a fairly sturdy plant and does not require too much maintenance. I suggest finding some bearded iris rhizomes online right around now, because they are late summer/fall planted. There are a number of very attractive "rebloomers" that will bloom in the spring and again in the summer, which is always nice. Deer won't eat them, and they're nice. However i'm not 100% positive 6hrs is enough sunlight for an iris, but it might be. (iris experts, chime in!) You might want to consider some kind of wild flower seed. check online (i always buy my seeds and bulbs from americanmeadows.com and they do have a section, IIRC, for what seed mixtures are best for each area of the US) as these can provide a colorful splash to your garden bed. If you're looking for spring time color, invest in some daffodils. These are totally maintenance free, other than planting the bulbs. They take care of themselves, you don't have to dig up the bulbs, and they will multiply over the years. Any spot is okay for them, though they do prefer a little bit of shade, and so your 6 hrs of light is perfect for them. If you're looking for some border annuals, petunias are a nice choice, as are portulaca. Portulaca is much easier to take care of though--you really don't have to do anything other than plant them. With petunias you have to make sure they don't get too much water--and if you get a lot of rain, they're going to rot and get moldy. (though this is the same with most plants, i suppose)