This is off the cuff for sure, but: -- foundation plantings are not limited to yews and rhodos but can be just the idea of planting next to the foundation and disguising or blurring it. So a "foundation planting" could be anthing, and could be quite interesting and attractive, and there are lots of discussions about that on this forum. However, if you don't want the foundation "planted," for whatever reason, then you are more aimed at planting out at the sidewalk. Again off the cuff, if you have a small front yard you can get a nice sense of enclosure, without being oppressive, by plantint out toward the street and having a bit of negative space, or lawn, toward the house. Sometimes, from a "gardener" 's perspective, it can be nice to work in/on the garden from within it and not as exposed to the street. If you sit on the porch, you may get a better view of your garden if it's out a bit (with the short distances you described). You still have the option to plant "something" at the foundation if you want to, but perhaps small and more restrained, or bring lawn grass right up to it. If a fence, such as picket or iron, is in line with the style of house, then it's possible to place a low or open-style fence a bit in from the sidewalk and plant on both sides. The street side might contain more manageable plants, more evergreens--things that are less likely to run wild and make you worry about maintenance, especially if you are just learning about gardening, while on the house side you can experiment more, while still keeping the two "sides" compatible. The fence then also becomes a way to train roses or other appropriate plantings. If you determine you have the time and interest, you can always make the street side more riotous and cottage-like later. Then, as might be evident from the books listed above, another "look" is to look streetside in across sidewalk and bit of lawn to "bed" of plantings at the house. The actual measurements will be an important issue--15 feet from sidewalk to house doesn't make for much more than a strip of lawn or a small circle, and some people would consider planting the whole yard; but if done properly, a bit of lawn, assuming you can cut it, can look better and allow you better access to tending the garden(s) from both sides rather than having to wade through them. Hardscape can serve the same purpose. The smaller the yard, the more I favor planting out, since by definition you have to sacrifice a few feet of space at the foundation to avoid crowding or rot (not knowing what yours is like). When I hear "perennials" I hear months of dead/blank space, so remember that evergreen shrubs of some sort should be in the design as well. You would have lots of options, I would think. A final consideration is whether the best design would include small ornamental trees or shrubs for height (maybe only one or 2)--since these have to be placed a bit away from the house, they could then be incorporated into a planting bed. Or, the size of the yard and house may be better served by all low plantings.

Beachplant, It's up to you, I personally swore by the sample (which at 8 oz. is quite generous). Whenever we really got going w/ this (for me maybe 2 yrs. ago), I discovered Ace won't order it to NY State (I forget what the reason for the prohibition was, but there was one). I ended up getting mine (but backordered) from Charley's Greenhouse (I don't recall where, maybe PNW). I only water it in but just this week I went out & got a mister so I can do the foliar feeding some of you rave about! Whoever's thinking about Superthrive, no, this does not compare. With that, some folks like it & some folks don't (personally, I never saw the difference). W/ VF-11 one can literally see the difference the next day. I'll never forget someone here reviewed it in 24 hrs. of their use, I was floored (Leon maybe). I teased him how fast that was, but he said he could really see the difference & he was right. The plants just seem to perk up, like they're standing at attention! (I have no financial interest in this at all, just another crazed Hoya grower who loves it.) Gee, maybe we should consider asking Eleanor for a GW/Hoya Forum discount since I'm guessing almost ALL of us use it! And, we send the newbies (like Brad, the OP) along too.

So far, i only have two plants, one in each bucket. Those are the indeterminate tomato plants that I got from someone who got the seeds from a good tomato they got at the market. I wish I knew more about what kind of tomato plant it is. My winter will start in January, but with the shift in weather patterns being what it is, our winters have been colder and longer than ever. Anything that is left outside will die when we get our really cold weather. Most other things are in dirt in pots, or in Hydro and can be moved. The garage will get too cold for most of it too. This weekend I plan to switch some pepper plants to hydro. I wish I knew which was which because I would prefer to move one of the mild, or Serrano plants to hydro, not any of the really hot peppers. Now I am off to find someone that can tell me why the gender of my cumber flowers is not so obvious as what I saw on YouTube. Joe

Sell first. We recently put money down towards a new build out of state. Our home is on the market. But the market is slow. The good news is we have a year to sell bc our builder will not be available to us until next May 2014. He only builds one home at a time. In order to book him, we had to put money down towards a new home on our lot. (we bought the lot in 2004 and it is oficially paid for) In the meantime, we are flexible and can move out as soon as the buyer wants and rent a home near where ours will be built or we perhaps we can rent this one back from the buyer. One way or the other, we felt it was better to sell first, but we have already laid out money towards the build and the clock is ticking!