I have a similar problem with my front & side areas. My side area is almost identical to yours but my immediate problem area is the front. I havenÂt a clue what to plant in such a narrow space. The dimensions of my front beds are about 4ft x 12ft and IÂve heard that 4ft isnÂt much to work with, but IÂm not going for anything grandÂ.just something that will look nice from the street. The side bed is much longer, probably about 50ft, but its even more narrow than the front ones at a whopping 3ft 9 inches. Here are some pics to give everyone a better idea of what IÂm working withÂÂ.(***keeping my fingers crossed that erict will do the same with my pics as was done for yours***). LEFT OF STAIRS: this area faces south. I just finished amending the soil about a week ago RIGHT OF STAIRS: this area faces south as well. I started amending this side first and finished about a month ago. This pic was taken around twelve noon so the "corner" bush is still providing shade to a portion of the area. Its doesnt get full sun until about 3pm. LEFT SIDE OF HOUSE: this area faces west and is right next to my driveway. As you can see, I havent gotten around to amending the soil on this side. The area is shaded by the roof most of the day but it does get sun for about 2-3 hours (as the sun is on its way down). Even still, it gets very HOT over here, probably because of the pavement. Should I take that into consideration for plant selection? FULL FRONTAL: View of the house from the street

My fiance and I have been looking to buy our first home for almost a year now. We have been looking for an older home (pre 1930's), because we love the historical feel, especially victorian architecture. A lot of us have that same dream. When I was a teen, I was dating a guy that was in a fraternity that was out of a beautiful Victorian. I remember the stairway, the flowers that were engraved in the wood. I remember the "dome room" and while it was a PITA to put furniture in, amazed me every time I went into it. I remember beautiful moldings, everything was etched and 3 or 4 fireplaces. It had a decent sized kitchen from what I remember, also had a servant room. Man I loved that house and swore that one day, if I could afford to have the house moved I would. The house was located in one of the worst neighborhoods. You had to lock your doors to drive there and run in the house. I bet that in it's day, it was one of the grandest houses. They ended up knocking it down, don't know when but I drove by about 16 years ago, there was nothing on the lot. Anyway, a lot of us have the same dream, to own a beautiful, grand house. Reality is the lack of things needed to live in it in today's world as Tricia said. Since you are not married with kids yet, it wouldn't really matter much, you would probably get by fine. Once you have kids and they start getting older is when you will notice how hard it is to raise a family there unless you luck out and get a house that has larger rooms where you can make closets, or one that has a decent kitchen. I wonder then if my fiance and I should actually change our dream to accomodate the current economy and the deals available? IMO, this might be a good idea, at least for now. Being newly married can be stressful. Unless the 2 of you are currently living together, you have to learn to live with your partner. How do both of you handle stress? Buying a house that you are working on all of the time is very stressful and could eventually start pulling you apart. You'll come home from work some days so tired but you have to sand & throw another coat of spackle on, or paint, or run out to the home store to buy supplies. Hubby & I worked on our last house starting 2 years after I moved in. We removed paneling, faux brick, painted, put in floors as well as putting a new floor frame on a concrete slab in the laundry area to build it up so that we could put a floor down. By the time we sold we were tired & cranky. Add to this a roof, electric upgrade, plumbing, which was a job in itself since there was only 1 shutoff valve, which meant we lost water for the day. We also did central air, a hot water heater as well as new furnace, and had planned to redo all of the baseboards as well. Are there any houses that are in between the old house and new construction for a compromise? You might be able to live a little bit more comfortably and not have to work as hard. It will also give you an idea of how the 2 of you work together as a team (or not). You can save the Victorian house for later on

Just get straight glyphosate - it doesn't have to be RoundUp specifically and there are less expensive brands of this herbicide on the market (Ferti-lome sells a product called Killzall that is less than half the price of the equivalent concentration and size of RoundUp). If you do go with the RoundUp, just select the Weed and Grass Killer - no need for any other additions to the mix. As I noted previously, you may very well need several applications and it is suggested to allow at least 2 weeks after the last treatment before reseeding. And it is too early to reseed - too hot and too dry for most northern, cool season grasses to germinate well. Generally, the ideal time for fall seeding is early fall - September to early October, depending on your specific climate. And any cool season turf grass blend recommended for your area is fine. Most independent garden centers - not the box stores - will have blends that are appropriate for your area.

Thanks. That's my great fear. Neighbors attest to the "two feet" statement, but I'm not sure they measured. It seems unlikely that a ledge would lie at the same depth across the 50+ acre span of the development. Various neighbors do have shrubs that apparently thrive; a few have small trees. The development is only a few years old. It's possible that some of those trees are doomed. My own property has some sort of semi-dwarf-size tree that's apparently thrived despite a visible outcropping of ledge that goes out about three feet from its trunk. The developer told me that the entirely of my own backyard is ledge with two feet of soil atop it. I do plan to dig test holes here and there (though getting all the way down to two feet across the entire 1/3 acre is beyond me). Planting outside the ledge might be impossible if that area exists only in neighbors' yards.! He originally promised to ladle on "as much topsoil as you want," but that turned out to mean "I'll fill some raised beds for you." I wonder if he'd consider three dozen too many, LOL. I asked him about berms the other day, figuring that if I lay out a garden path (planning an S-shaped one) I might be able to persuade him to dump soil here and there on both sides under the guise of berms, and plant my perennials in the berms. Guess I'll find out what his limits are! Friends who have cows have offered me a trailer full of aged manure. I'll accept it gladly, but geez, it's amazing how fast the amounts of dirt provided by anything smaller than a bucket loader seem to shrink the instant you spread them. It could take ten years to build up the soil in that yard. I built new soil in a large area of our old home by ditch-composting garden refuse, (corn stalks and the like), but I won't be harvesting any corn stalks until I can get enough soil together to make a garden! I'm feeling pretty disappointed right now. I'd hoped for a miracle, I guess. Well, there's always raised beds, extra-deep.