I can't believe it's been that long either! Kate, I'm very sorry that I'll miss your visit. I hope we get to meet one of these times. Patricia e, Sangerhausen sounds like a wonderful trip too! I hope you have a great time. Jon, Infamous, eh? I'll try to behave this time. I don't have an itinerary yet. I'll have only five days to look around so I'm not sure what I can fit in. I'll take loads of photos and report!

Vivian, I have written that down "Chalet" in Wilmet. Thank you! (I do believe I will start a "little black book" of garden destinations in the Midwest.) Everyone, I had the most marvelous morning at Rich's. They had only one other buying couple there, and so I had Susie to myself for a good couple of hours and simply lost track of time...considering all the possibilities, and learning what I like. I have never seen so many beautiful conifer selections in my life...much of the "shopping area" is like being in a park, and they will pretty much dig out anything from the area that you want. Holy Cow, so wonderful. Their hostas looked to be very reasonably priced and if you are anywhere near there, Susie told me that they are having their annual hosta charity event on June 7...Mark Zilis will be there to sign his new book...(and maybe to give a chat, I can't remember if she said that or not.) For the charity event (Heifer Int'l), your hosta purchases are tax deductable. At this moment, only a few hostas were visibly showing pips in the pots. I was so bedazzled by the conifers and beeches, that I really didn't focus on hostas for this particular visit. I came home with this sweetie pie...Pinus Sylvestris Nirbeth's Aurea. (Oh, and it says printed right on the tag that the "Nirbeth's" part is not a legitimate name. Too funny!) Thank you Ken! I felt like a made a friend in Susie and will be going back there year after year....

What a lovely gift!! As Ginny said a bit more info about where in the state would help. One thing to be aware of is that spring is prime time for ticks in NH. Some of them are relatively large, but the small deer ticks are the ones that carry Lyme disease. When working in brushy areas I tend to wear long pants tucked into my socks, a long sleeved shirt and a hat, and when I am done working, change all my clothing and check myself thoroughly for ticks. Spraying clothing with bug repellent containing DEET helps also. Any ticks I find go into a vial of alcohol and clothing goes outside or into the washing machine after a quick check to find any obvious ticks. Lyme disease isn't something you want to pick up! Here's a link to a thread from last year suggesting several great NH nurseries (I am pretty sure all the listed nurseries are in the southern part of the state, but range from E to W,) and it also has a link to a 2006 or 2005 list of New England nurseries. Some of the northern MA nurseries may be close to your sister's place. Where you are in the southern part of the state will make a difference as it's probably about 2 hours from Keene to Portsmouth. Also, where you are will affect the seriousness of deer problems you have. In more suburban areas with less hunting and habitat, feeding from deer can be a problem. I'm in a rural area just a few minutes north of Concord and although there are lots of deer, the only plants that I can't grow due to deer are yews and Tricyrtis/Japanese toad lily. There are so many other food sources available that they don't bother to visit my gardens except to snatch a real treat. The seacoast is zone 6, but most of the southern part of the state is zone 5 with some of the hillier areas around Keene and my river valley location are probably on the border of zone 4, but all are in the southern half of NH. I mostly plant for zone 4, but sometimes zone 5 for things I really want with the knowledge that if we have a particularly cold winter and poor snow cover, I may lose them. I don't know what type of budget you have, but often soil improvements can be found locally relatively inexpensively. Many cities and towns have composting programs that make it available to residents. Local dairy farms will often deliver a huge dump load of manure, and horse manure can often be found for free if you are able to pick it up, but it will have more weed seeds. Mulch can also be found from various commercial suppliers by the dump load, which will probably be an important part of the low-maintenance aspect of the garden. Three acres is a large space, so you may want to consider some smaller heavy equipment. You may also be able to find someone to run a tractor for you for brushhogging, moving rocks, moving dirt, etc or if you are comfortable with machinery, bobcats and tractors can often be rented. We have been happy using Carl Mattews equipment in Boscawen. (I laughed when DH bought a small tractor many years ago, but as I age, the ability to move things with that tractor instead of my body makes it one of my favorite gardening tools now.) Some general thoughts on gardening in NH: Depending on where your sister's house is, you will probably have lots of granite (this is the "Granite State" after all) though on the coast and in the Merrimack Valley soil is sandier (or on some areas of the coast there is a layer of marine clay a few feet down) and there may be less rock in general. For building walls, rough field stone is often used while edging, patios, steps, etc are frequently made of dressed granite. It's something you have to keep in mind in planning a garden, that you will probably have a goodly amount of rock mixed in with soil and you may have shallow bedrock or boulders too large to move that you need to work around. We buy dressed granite from Swenson Granite Works in Concord, which is our local granite quarry for items like steps, but that may not be the best choice for you if you are looking to build something that needs dressed granite if you aren't close to Concord. With good planning fall color can last for 6 weeks or more, with the red maples starting the show in September and the blueberries, Fothergilla, Viburnums, oaks, and beeches ending the color at least a month and a half later. It is my favorite time of the year and well worth planning for in the garden. We are lucky to have many natives that are stunningly beautiful in autumn. Because so much of our year my garden is deeply snow-covered, I do try to grow plants that extend the season of interest and plant gardens that can be viewed from the house in winter. Herbaceous plants and short shrubs that stay green in cold weather usually aren't of huge value in my yard during winter since we often have more than 4 feet of snow on the ground. I try to plant a few things in warmer areas on the south side of the foundation that will bloom early like snow crocus, reticulated iris, and snow drops to get some early flowers. I plant taller evergreens (larger shrubs and trees) along with woody plants having interesting bark (beech/Fagus, birch/Betula, Stewartia, Acer griseum/paperbark maple, red and yellow twigged dogwoods/Cornus ) or interesting branch stucture (Pagoda dogwood/Cornus alternifolia) to provide winter interest. I also leave up my clematis obelisks year round since they tend to look nice against the snow. Many folks have bird feeders and bird-friendly shrubs to bring in some extra winter (as well as other seasonal) activity as well. I don't since we have blackbears emerging from dens in just a few weeks and they enjoy birdfeeders a bit too much. Tell us a bit more about your goals for your sister's garden beyond low maintenance - do you want easy or wheel-chair friendly paths or good visibility from a patio or porch? Does she have someone to help with basic mantenence such as an annual cleanup of easy care perennials like type 3 (hard prune) clematis or Baptisia? Will she want chair-accessible raised beds near the house for a few veggies and herbs? Is the garden all on one level? Are you looking to put in almost all trees and shrubs? Are flowers or scent or colorful foliage important? Hope that wasn't more info than you wanted or needed! Here is a link that might be useful: NH nurseries thread

LOL, Carol! Yes, the assistants are important, even if they're not so good looking. Do you have photos from your trip? Did you use a tour company, or go it alone? I've been dying to do an English garden tour, but it never seems to happen. On the other hand, when I come home from any trip, I seem to have photos of nothing but gardens! It's so interesting to visit botanic gardens and even small neighborhood parks in different countries - I tell myself that garden style is as important an aspect of a culture as the architecture and other arts, and I'd really (if secretly) rather visit gardens than museums. Back home ... I think you can try to control views, even without the acreage to create gorgeous views. Perimeter planting with 'appropriate' gaps is my goal, and this is also my worst problem - finding plants that will grow to, say 18 feet, to block the view of neighbors' houses, but not too much taller, to prevent claustrophobia. It's a real challenge to get the appropriate plants to grow around the perimeter, where there are problems like maples (serious shade and root competition), solid wood fences (which rob both rain and sun for smaller plants) and lack of my attention (who can remember to water and weed the unseen?). Please tell us more about your trip!