I started out years ago with handwritten markers next to the roses and a drawing of the garden bed with the roses marked on it. Then I gradually increased until I needed a looseleaf binder to hold a page for each rose I had planted, and finally I graduated to an Excel spread sheet. I still do the hand drawn map of each bed (there are now over a dozen distinct areas in my garden so that many maps) and I still have markers next to each rose although now I use a labeler to write out the name. I can identify from memory almost every one of my 200 roses. (But now and then I have brain fade and I have to bend down to check the marker, LOL!) The spreadsheet just helps me track where I bought the rose, own root or grafted, what year, fragrance, size, disease resistance and other info I might find useful.

Tree or standard roses can be made without grafting. Select a strong vertical shoot. Prune to 3' or whatever. Dig out the budeyes except for a few at the top. (These are where every leaf is or was attached.) Remove all the other basal shoots at the graft. Install a permanent stake and fasten the standard (trunk) to it. When new shoots appear at the top, pinch out the tips when they are around a foot long to encourage branching. Rip out new basal shoots as they appear. This doesn't work well with all varieties, as in many cases the trunk will wear out after 5+ years and not support vigorous growth. This type of plant is known as a "self-standard."

I've been wintersowing for 5 years or so, and also fighting a walnut tree alongside one border. I also have drastically different shade conditions throughout my yard and have been filling in locations with inexpensive perennials and easy things from seed and then other perennials and specials as I come to them. As I get more and bigger stock to select from and as I learn more about what will tolerate the walnut or specific shade/moisture conditions, I move things around to improve the looks. As a result, the concept of a garden "plan" is very loose for me. I have tried to fill out the beds so that I have something blooming from April til November, and also have planted for winter interest. I do find that my gardens tend to sometimes go through color phases - lots of blue, pink and lavender in May and early June, lots of hot bright color in late June and July, and lots of yellows, pinks and fuschias in August.

My husband just made my first raised bed three days ago using cement bricks we already had. It looks really good and though it was backbreaking work to carry the bricks, husband said it was very easy. Lacking easy access to many of the materials in the sq foot book, we used black silage plastic for the bottom and covered it first with straw seeped in horse manure then a layer of garden grit followed by four bags of compost mixed with grit. The depth is about 12 inches which should let us grow almost anything if it works. My family is very found of American veggies that take up a great deal of space and or grow vertically. So I'm working out ways to get our Three foot by Nine food bed with as many things going up as possible. I'm only 4'8" so the child sized width works perfect for me, but we made the bed longer to conserve bricks. I used old rusted steel beams for the horizontal makers and bamboo stuck under to mark the vertical squares. No link yet as we are just starting - good luck with your bed! Disaster Cat - ex-patriot Californian living in rural Ireland with husband, dogs, new garden plot and many, many cats...