It seems like I get an idea..and I have to brood and think about it for weeks. That is part of the fun. I have been thinking I really need to downscale my plans..and when I went outside and really looked at my new rose garden..I have lots of room to grow. Plus I can use pots for more. I have ordered a Mystic Beauty rose, Bolero (for a pot) 2 Double Delights from Roses Unlimited...and I have a Pickering order..I can't even remember what I ordered! I have a Glamis Castle, Parole, Gemini and a Golden Budda to plant. I believe Gemini and Golden Budda are going in pots. I have plans for 2 John Pauls..with maybe a climbing pink and white in between (havent decided yet) I also have a baby Darlow's Enigma that is going to the back of my property. Today I planted some Calla Lillies, and Oriental Lillies near my roses. I have nothing combined in the garden yet to go with the roses. I found a really cool orange Calla that I planted with my Vavoom..I don't know how this is all going to work..but that's the fun right? Oh yah..I bought 3 ceramic pots today for the Double Delights. Since they are so picky..I am putting them away from the other roses..so if I need to spray them alot I can. I am trying not to use to many chemicals. This was my way to get fragrance in my garden. I have to try and pick easier roses to grow..and I don't always get fragrance.

Before you start planting: think about the hard landscaping and your advancing years (whether you're thirty or ninety - they're advancing!) Think about features you'd love to have - glasshouse or tunnel house, entertainment area, breeze-way, extra parking or a turn around, pergola or arches, decking, gazebo, pond, fountain, statuary or elegant pots, garden compartments and destinations. Think about how you will get materials to those sites - and what paving or four season walks you need to install so they give you best value. Think about clearing snow away and where you might need to pile it simply to get your vehicle to the road. If it makes a soggy patch, or an ephemeral wetland/rain garden, how would you like it to be? Or do you want to add a storm water drain? Do you want to install water capture tanks to help ease out drought and water restrictions? Where do your utility lines run? Do you have a septic tank? I don't know about your yard, but I do know that trees such as willows have these damp-finding roots and will be into places such as sewage pipes or leach fields leading to nasty bills Soon. If you plan to fetch foodstuffs from a store shed, tunnel house, or root cellar over winter - very safe footing and garden lighting are such a pleasure. Are they already there - or will you have to excavate to lay those lines for power and water? Look at the number of hose points in your yard. Do you need to increase them? Bring them up to working height? Garden shed and potting bench - is what you have working? Have you enough storage for pots, flats, media, chemicals, and amendments - plus yard tools? Plus, what every garden needs! - a nursery area and quarantine place for plants you need to check, or heel in while you prepare their sites, or grow on before transplanting. Or even a cutting garden, if you love to have flowers for the table or to give to others without disturbing the main garden displays. And protection from hungry creatures for your veg garden, as well as from hungry tree roots. It's easy enough to provide spot shade over summer. Much harder to cope with increasing shade and diminishing crops because your garden is maturing into a woodland. (Keep your neighbours' hedges and trees in mind, too.) Lastly: start keeping a daily journal, even over winter. Record the weather at your place, detailed, if you have the means whereby. What you planted. Where. Where you got it from. What happened to it, or the crop. Your running costs. Whatever else seems good to you to keep a record of. I absolutely guarantee you'll be very glad you did, several times a year. Before you think of planting. Because it is easier to map out those places and features in mind (and on paper) and then put them under grass or mulch, than it is to plant them in shrubs or treasured perennials, only to have to shift them or destroy them later. The other part is to pause until at least spring/early summer is through so you can see what you've inherited. There could be yummy clumps of spring bulbs and hardy perennials out there among the neglected bits. Then you can think about what style of garden you want, and how much work you want to do season by season.

What about this revised version? - switch location of range and sink (pass-through): less structural work (close 1 window, shrink French doors to 1-2 large windows) - moved island a bit closer Left to fridges I don't understand my need for wide open space; I'm only 4feet and 10inches tall. This plan allows me lots of elbow-room to cook. My family uses the sink, DW, and Microwave a lot, and those stuff will be at the far right, so THEY can use the island. I'll use the space to the Right of the range. Also, currently, with the wall between kitchen and familyroom up, the traffic flow is that of the curved arrow, so that's why I felt like I needed a big opening between the fireplace and the island. But w/out the wall, the traffic flow will be that highlighted in pink. THANK YOU very much for your feedback. - malhgold: good luck w/ your plans (fun, yet nerve-wrecking) ú And I had thought about putting my island on casters, so it can roll where I need. But I donft know what is the largest grollableh island, and Ifm not sure how much my hardwood floor would handle all that rolling around. With this updated layout, I plan to put my dishes/glasses/cup in the island drawers; thatfd be a lot of clicking when I roll the island around. - Bmorepanic: that is THINKING OUTSIDE OF THE BOX! I love it. Ifve been stuck in the same rut that I couldnft see past my troublesome fireplace. I like your suggestion, especially with the pass-through window. However, Ifm planning on a 48h range and 2 fridges (like the all-fridge and all freezer), so Ifm not sure those appliances would fit that layout. - Ajpl: while I donft think therefs a fire concern, I would think that putting cabinets right next to/touching a fireplace would put the whole view of the fireplace unbalanced, since therefs no cabinet to the Left of the fireplace, no? We use the fireplace at gatherings, etc, not on a regular basis. - Ajpl: I love the idea of the F-shape, especially the thought of having my edeskf at the short leg of the F. But I donft like a sink or a range at the peninsula, which is what I have now V not good with kids. No one basically sits at the peninsula because I¡¦m usually cooking there/splattering/hot oven-steam, etc. - Lyfia: "I want to think about this some more"¨ --- I would love more feedback. - Do I need another upper cabinet to the right of the sink, to balance out the other upper cabinets? - Do you think w=48"¨xd=30"¨ is large enough prep area? - Any concerns about the refrigerator door hitting the range when opened? - Is there a real problem with putting the Advantium/microwave next to a TV? - Do I have the/any WOW factor? I'll try to post a picture of the current kitchen; you would cry for me. Hopefully you can see the potential like I can. I really should be sleeping; my babies will be up at the crack of dawn.

I think you'd get a better response on the Vegetable Forum. 1/3 acre wouldn't count as small at all in my neck of the woods. That would be quite a big garden here. The main problem would be the lack of light not the space.