In my fantasy garden I would have meandering paths with strategically spaced benches ( the older I get the more I need) & lots of rambling roses with a few herbs at the front, In the centre would be a statue with another bench, nobody would know you were there. The colours would be soft pastels with perhaps a pop of purple in an out of the way spot. Ah, dream gardens.

Jane

I would limit myself to one acre and would plant the others with drought-tolerant shrubs and trees to cast shade and cool the area, making sure the plants would attract birds, bees and other wildlife but would need little care and watering. Tall cypresses would be placed strategically to give some cohesion and formality to the garden. The remainder would be divided into differently shaped spaces with hardscape paths and sitting areas, with bird baths and water sources for the birds and animals. I would enrich the soil properly before planting one single thing and add clay kitty litter to my porous soil.

I would select roses in shades that I love, no reds, bright oranges or modern-looking roses. Large tea roses would be the backbone of my plantings with some special climbers in a few areas. I'd confine myself to roses that can tolerate the heat and are resistant to disease in my area, and that have, for the most part, soft bushy outlines. Mutabilis would have a special place, as would La France, Duchesse de Brabant and Le Vesuve. There would be companion plants everywhere, repeating irises, penstemon, day lilies, sea lavender and trailing pelargoniums in white and lavender shades. A drip watering system would be in place to make this a relatively low-care garden with well-mulched roses and other plants.

I would definitely add lots of benches or some other seating option in which to sit and enjoy the garden. I also love pergolas covered in roses. When we lived in another city, my husband built a long pergola with an arched top for me, and I planted Jersey Beauty to grow over the top. The arched top really showed off the flowers when it bloomed.

John Scarman's book "Gardening With Old Roses" does have some ideas for garden layouts and companion planting. Used copies are pretty inexpensive on Amazon. I am sure there are other books that would give you some good ideas as well.

Several years ago I visited North Creek Farms in Phippsburg, Maine. We happened to visit when many of the roses were blooming. I thought the garden was well planned, and I greatly enjoyed seeing it, but I think the maintenance of such a large garden must be daunting, to say the least. Spirea was used repeatedly throughout the garden, and I liked the combination with roses very well. Here is the spirea with roses in bloom:

Here is the spirea with rose hips:

Honeysuckle paired well with this rose:

If I remember correctly, this climber growing through the evergreen is White Mountains:

I would start small and add thoughtfully and gradually. Make it all as easy care as possible. It gets harder to do with each passing year.

If I was 30 to 40 years younger and could afford full-time gardeners, I would try to emulate Sissinghurst. I love the combination of formal and voluptuous.

Good luck with your new garden. I'm sure whatever you do, it will be lots of fun.

Trish

I would have a nice horse barn and corral for my mini horses. Then I would leave an area for large coastal oak trees and native grasses. I would also have a cactus and succulent garden that would remind one of the Huntington Library gardens. I would also have an old rose section and an Austin section. One of the walkways would be studded with arches each with a beautiful climbing rose on it. There would be a wonderful green house for starters and a large vegetable garden. There would also be an orchard filled with interesting and unusual fruit trees.

I would have a beautiful outdoor sunken and walled room in beautiful stone for warmth as a dining area complete with kitchen, a smoker and barbecue and a wood burning pizza oven. This around a beautiful stone fireplace with plenty of seating and tables for dining. Lets not forget the large dance floor and killer sound system for lots of great parties.

Lots of fountains and bird baths for my feathered friends that one could see as they meandered the garden through curved paths that would leave one wondering what is around the next bend. Lots of interesting art and sculptures as well. Each area would be its own little hidden gem of a room to explore around the next curve. The large pond with interesting lotus. The shade garden. The native garden.

Beautiful tubular wind chimes gently sounding as a gentle breeze captures them. One of them would have tubes that would be over six feet in length, hanging from a large oak tree that sounds like church bells, nice and low and soothing. I also love large kinetic sculptures that would move in the wind. Yup. Time to go buy me one of those lotto tickets.........

I am doing it all again...and feel exhausted just thinking about it.

3 acres! :-) That sounds lovely, you can have 3000+ roses!! Can you dig a big pond with water fall/fountain? :-) To do it again, I'd make sure I have ramblers, climbers, rose trees, rose bushes, ground cover roses to make the tiers in every garden, and fountains and ponds go good with roses......I'd collect more fragrant old garden roses, but still love the KO, carpet, carefree, Polar Joy roses as the quick color fillers for the gardens.

Diane, 70 is the new 50! Wishing you an early happy birthday!! :-)

Thanks, summers, but I am dreading it like no other bday. Hope you have a good bday this year, too, only with a smaller number! Diane

I would love to have a large arbor, covered with climbing roses and clematis. Then another arbor over a bench, covered with wisteria.

If I had help (LOL) I would have large garden beds surrounding the rose arbor....with veggies, herbs, flowers and fruit. Then roses climbing over the fence (surrounding the garden) with herbs in front of the roses.

The wisteria bench would be at one end. It would have opening one either side that would go to the waterfall/pond garden. You could sit on either side of the bench, with the wisteria growing on either end and over the top. That would be nice :)

Ha! When I moved here (1.5 acres) I could do it anyway I wanted. I had a plan. Meandering paths, dappled shade, shade, roses by type, color, fragrance, size here and there, secret garden, meadow, etc. etc. That was then, this is now. Betcha Sissinghurst isn't anything like the original blueprints.

Diane, Do something wild this year! Ride a scooter!? :-) It's just like riding a bicycle without pedaling, really really easy, a piece of cake. I spent all my birthday money on roses already, and I stuck @ age 22, forever 22, refuse to grow up. :-)

I found myself holding a potted rose walking around in the gardens all the time, sat the pot and pulled the pot out a few times before finding a good spot to plant it. Still have 2 more potted climbing roses to plant and 6 Above and Beyond roses (climbers) are coming this weekend. The blueprints doesn't work for me....it will be a good workout tomorrow-finding spots for two 3 gal roses. :-)

I would have put in heavy machinery, dug the place up to 5 feet deep, replaced the soil with loam of neutral pH and properly terraced out most of the inclination. It would have cost me less (also in terms of effort and energy) in the long term. If I could not afford to do the whole place up I would have done part of it and let the rest feed only native shrubs and trees. People with good soil cannot imagine how counterproductive and backbreaking having poor stony limey soil is.

If I had a chance to do over my garden, it would be to start it somewhere that had actual topsoil. The kind you can dig with a regular shovel. The soil we have that will grow something was brought in and placed there by us at some point. I figure that all the good soil is probably at the bottom of the hill or maybe in the river.

I have an easy way to have good soil without digging so much, just dig half of normal holes, plant the roses, then pile the compost on top ( buy 3-6 trailers of compost first). :-)

Pure organic material is a poor substitute for good mineral soil. That just needs 5-10% organic material in it and becomes super fertile and self sustainable. Primarily organic substrata creates as many problems as it solves in the long term and needs constant feeding to remain viable.

I guess I agree with Nik and Kes, having awful soil. But back when I started, I sure as heck couldn't of afforded hiring people to do the heavy machinery deal, nor the new soil...nor could i afford it now, methinks!

Diane, remember that the human body , in the course of a seven-year cycle,renews all it's cells. Therefore, every seven years, a person is, in a way, re-born. So when you turn 70, you will be re-born for the 10th time in your life! Now that is something to celebrate,IMO! best wishes, bart

Why, thank you, bart. That is a nice way of putting it, but I'd still rather be renewed just five times, instead of ten. Or at least just a single digit. Ten is awfully large. Best wishes to you on your next birthday, too. And I hope your roses reward you with excellent bloom. Diane

I just started reading Black Rose, by Nora Roberts. She points out (as heroine is growing older) that gardeners know all about cycles and the necessity of them. And without them, there would be no bloom.

Seems to me, the trick is to still have an occasional bloom, even as you get older. I've always preferred the repeat bloomers that surprise you with the late bloom in fall. Unexpected and far more appreciated. Maybe think about that....and enjoy your birthday! :)

Thanks, lavender lass, I have several months to prepare myself (Nov). I'm looking forward to a beautiful fall, and I feel great, so all is well so far. Just fertilized everything in the front garden tonight, in fact, and transplanted a few things. We're having some temporary cooler weather today and tomorrow. Diane

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and photos! Definitely amending the soil and deer fencing! The rest will likely evolve....

Susan

I would combine the once-bloomers with small trees, shrubs and underplant with lots of bulbs, and plant it slowly over two years. The objective would be to get 3 seasons of color. I planted all antique and shrub roses in a circular garden outside my bay window and I would not do that again,. Too dreary in winter months (and some summers too-- like this one!)