Libby, I feel very much at home in your lovely gardens, although mine aren't as well-groomed as yours. Love the rose growing up on the little building. I love the slope of your property and the wonderful backdrop of tall trees. We are having triple digit temps here now and I am having to run the water all day long every day. Even so, the tips of leaves of some plants have gotten crunchy. Love your Cecile growing on the little shed. A Cecile Brunner cl. rose is on my "wish list", as is Johnson's Blue hardy geranium and one of the tall-growing Nepetas. I've tried growing the Peachleaf Bellflower here and it was not happy and never did bloom and it died the following year. I finally got a Balloon flower going. Seems a losing battle to try to have an "English Country Garden" here on the hot, windy, dry plains where only the native grasses really flourish. Even though I don't have the income for buying all the right flowers and tools and supplies for creating my dream gardens, and I can no longer physically do all the work necessary in cottage gardening, it is photos of gardens like yours that inspires me, and I just can't give up trying! Such beauty and what colour! I imagine the perfume is heavenly. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! Thank you for sharing the results of your hard work. ~ Annie ....greeeeen with envy!

In addition to mowing often to remove the heads of the weeds before they have a chance to go to seed, you can improve the soil health by adding organic amendments such as zeolite and compost. Improving the health of the soil will do more to eliminate weeds than any amount of poison you pour into the earth. If you have never used zeolite you will be very surprised in the long-term effects it will have on your soil. Zeolite is a naturally occuring mineral that has a variety of applications and is available at most garden centers that sell amendments. Zeolite reduces the amount of water needed for irrigation by up to 35% and holds moisture and nitrogen in the growth zone. The held nitrogen is plant accessible but not water-soluble, reducing the nitrogen fertilizer requirement. This not only improves plant nutrition, but protects the quality of ground water since 30 to 35% of most nitrogen fertilizers leach through the growth zone and go into the aquifer. By using zeolite and regular light applications of compost, your soil will improve and your grass and flower bed plantings will thrive. Weeds do not do as well in good soil, or what we would consider to be 'good' soil, but cultivated plantings require 'good' soil to survive. Earthworms are attracted to healthy soil and will further improve the tilth and nutrients through their own natural activity. If you dig up a cubic foot of your soil and find at least 12 earthworms in it, then you have reasonably healthy soil. Microbial activity in your soil ceases when you add poison to kill weeds, because it will also kill the microbes. And microbes are essential to plant, earthworm, and soil health. And just like those nitrogen fertilizers, much of the poison will leach through the soil and into the aquifer. Now you don't really want to do all that, do you? Cheryl

drbeanie - I know exactly what you mean about not wanting to make mistakes and searching for other input. I had to remodel a kitchen in one of our rental homes before we put it on the market last year. We had to rush to choose things because we were only in town for a very short time. I chose things in a budget and really thought it would look great. I had to see everything from pictures when it was complete, but it was AWFUL. I would have hated to have that kitchen and worried that noone would want to buy it. Luckily, it was someone's taste. I definitely didn't have the same taste as my KD and we parted ways a long time ago. My husband teases me about how much time I spend on GW - but it's been such a great place to get a myriad of opinions from people that aren't going to just be nice and say it looks good to keep from hurting your feelings. This forum has saved my sanity this time around! :) Good luck with your choices!

That's what Houzz is for. Be sure that your engineer and architect understand that you're planning several tons overhead so that it can properly be calculated for in your foundation and wall construction. And don't get too hung up on spic and span clean. Stone will absorb all of the cooking byproducts rather easily.