It nice to know that there are others who took the same initial approach that I did. Early this spring I decided that I was going to avoid the bargain shopping trips, and also not buy anything unless I knew exactly what I needed for a specific location, and then I researched my options thoroughly. Except for a few perennial purchases, which I knew I would want anyway, I stuck to my new rule. Here is how I fixed my mess. I looked at every major area and decided what I did or didn't like about it, then tried to figure out how to correct problems that needed correcting. Once I did that, I made lists of everything I had, determined which little micro-climate each plant would grow best in, then proceeded to place them based on size, color, shape, etc. One thing that helped me "see" where to put the shrubs and trees was to use 4' tall stakes where I was thinking about putting something. This gave me a solid point to look at instead of depending on my minds eye. It served to be an invaluable exercise. I also used a person holding a long stake to simulate a tree so I knew exactly where it should go. Another thing that helped was that I made a measuring stick out of an 8-foot long, 1 x 1 piece of wood by placing marks on it for every foot. This helped me place each shrub neither too close or too far from anything. Im not always accurate at eyeballing the spacing of anything over 3Â, anything over 5Â IÂm hopeless. After moving nearly everything, I only needed to purchase 4 major shrubs and one tree. Their spaces were planned and there were stakes in the ground marking where they needed to go. Planting happened almost immediately after the plants were brought home. The first layer is nearly completed, and perennials are filling a lot of the small gaps for now. Next year I will tweak the second layer, but itÂs so much easier to see what needs improving because 90% of the first layer was thoughtfully planted. I made a few mistakes, but that was near the end of all the plant moves, my body was screaming at me to stop, and it was just beginning to get hot, so I rushed. I ended up making over 130 plant moves this year. I tossed out or gave away plants that didn't fit, and I got rid of a couple of things that were more trouble than they were worth. It was a waste of money, but a lesson learned. What really surprised me when I finished for the season, was that by establishing the first tier and placing trees where they needed to be, the garden seemed to come into itÂs own, or that it could come into itÂs own despite there being a lot of area that need to be filled. I donÂt know if that makes sense, but what I do know is that I am cured of bargain plant shopping, and rescuing sad little plants from big box stores and other places who have no business selling plants (ignore those little clematis from the big box store, they donÂt count). I found it much more satisfying to carefully select plants before going shopping, and I had a lot more time in the garden than I would have if I had kept up my usual garden center hopping habit. Most of those garden centers carry the same plants, have you noticed that? As soon as you establish the bones of your garden, and you can do it if you stay home instead of going out hunting, you will be in a position that will allow you carefully choose what plants you really want. You will be able to keep up with planting and it will be much more enjoyable.

Mtn, I didn't know about your Dolyestown connection, I didn't see the thread Maire_cate mentioned. If you family is free on whatever day we do the museum, tell them to join us. :-) Marie_cate, I don't know what day I'll be going. I'm just back (just 45 minutes ago) from HHI and have a trip to Dallas & Houston coming up soon. It won't be until mid November at the earliest. The exhibit runs until Jan 26th. If we get a group to meet, I'll post the date here in conversations in case anyone else is interested. Your brother is also welcome, even if he isn't Mtn's brother. Maybe they know each other. :-) Joaniepoanie, They are not suppose to being having cocktails in the particular room, there are other rooms for that. It's not Mad Men. They need to be focused and on their game in there. :-)

Well, against my husband's wishes, I drove down to Costco and grabbed a table. Crazy but for $85, what the heck. (I had my daughter help me get it out of the car.) A couple hours later, as I was writing the CL ad, a gardening friend stopped by. She wants the table. Sold! Incredible. I decided to keep the original chairs because they are so darned comfortable and I haven't found anything better yet. I know that if I sell then and make DH sit on something small and stackable, like I want for aesthetic and functional reasons, he will complain. If the right chairs throw themselves in front of me, I'll get them, But in the meantime, we have something to sit on. Here's the funny part: The umbrella is bronze, the chairs are graphite and the new table is that silvery color. Oy! I contemplated spraypaint, but have decided this is a great opportunity for me to get off it and just live with mismatched. I don't have matchy matchy anywhere else, so maybe I can live with it on the patio. An opportunity for personal growth... The best part is that the new table will tuck into the corner where I won't have to look at the whole array from every darned window, like I did with the gigantic rectangular table. "What do you mean they don't match? I can't even see the furniture..." ;-)

About 90% of what is said above is my DH!! We call him the "house guest" for a reason. I can't even imagine asking him to put up blinds or paint in the first place. I installed a flush mount light fixture in his closet and used one of the last forever bulbs because I knew he wouldn't know how to change it. I installed the light fixture in this picture. It took me 2 hours because it had many pieces and was so long that I (on a ladder) had to hold one end up with my head while carefully reaching over to install the other end. Okay, that's no big deal except the entire time I could see DH in front of the TV watching the football game and never got any hints from my grunting, mild cursing, and moans for frustration. It's pretty sad when the neighbors come over to borrow my tools. Last week one of my neighbors asked DH "does Cathy have any molly bolts?". I knew DH had no clue what a molly bolt was. What amazes me is that he is well respected in his area of interest. Ex: He was inducted into the Hall of Fame for what he does. We attended a ceremony in his honor and they gave him a plaque and a big ole ring! So he is capable and loved by many just don't expect him to know which is the business end of a hammer. I have had serious talks with him lately explaining that I want a partnership in this house and would like him to try harder to participate in the maintenance.