Just a comment on the north facing situation. It's the back of my house that faces due north. I'm in zone 6, which for me means very hot summers and winters with bitter cold, and cycles of snow - ice - thaw that can be plant killers. Throw in prairie winds out of the west and it's no fun right now. But my absolute favorite planting bed is a 9' x 20' border snugged up against the back of the house beside my back patio. I understand what you mean about the intense light in summer, but there may be a trick to it that will help you decide about what you will plant. I've watched how the shade line moves back toward the house as we move from spring up to the summer solstice (about June 21). At that point the shade line is about as close as it will get to the house itself. For me, there's a 3 ft band that is always in the shade. I don't plant that close to the house, but I do plant near that 3 ft mark. Those plants have access to growing some of their roots toward the shade. Plus the plants nearest the house are shaded through the days of the spring when the tilt of the earth thingy is moving that shade line. Anything closer to the house also gets the reprieve from the sun soonest as the shade line moves back in the other direction further and further from the house. In other words around the spring equinox (about March 21) the house shades an area extending beyond the bed and the patio. At that point everything is in complete shade and the plants are coaxed up from the ground by the warming earth and gentle ambient light. Tulips, daffodils, hyacinths poke up a little later here because they are kept cooler in the shade. Right at the sweet spot (about 5 ft from the house in my situation) a gorgeously robust clematis is beginning to need a little more space. It usually blooms long and then blooms again in the fall. So far I mostly have shade plants in this entire bed in spite of the fact that I know the afternoon light is coming. Kept watered, and tended, and mulched, I have been amazed at how well these shade prefering plants do. But ... I think it helps that as the earth's tilt again shifts the light southward, the shade in this area slowly begins to give its reprieve to these plants. I once used this bed for vegies ... just to see how that would go ... and the things that really love light to do well and are harvested in Aug and later, didn't produce much once they were tucked under the growing edge of the shade. Your situation is different, so you'll have to watch the light. On a sunny day in January the north side of my house is gloomy and significantly colder. The south side is the brighter warmer side. Anyway, my point is that you can work with this exposure and expect good results. There are all kinds of ways to create shade protection. A stepping stone in just the right spot is incredibly effective for keeping the ground moist and cool near a plant. I sometimes use that technique in addition to plenty of mulch. I love my north side beds and was actually planning to add hydrangia to my little playground in back. Wellspring

I agree with most of what has been said. However, RoundUp will not work against any of the remaining soybean plants. Unless your previous owner was stuck in the stone age, all the soybean seed sold now is RoundUp-Ready. That means you can spray RU on it all day long and nothing will happen. Does your builder have anything in the contract where he has to prepare the surrounding land for a garden? If so then you don't have to worry about anything. If not, then... The only tool necessary is a box blade on the back of a real tractor. You will definitely be able to find someone with that rig. It will take him about 2 hours to run your entire property unless you have lots of obstacles like trees, buried electrical or piping. BE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN TO MAP THE LOCATIONS OF ANYTHING YOUR CONTRACTOR BURIES. And DO NOT let him bury construction material. Almost all of them will do that to some extent or other. Get a trash trailer onsite and make sure everything is cleaned up at the end of the day. Painters will want to clean up their brushes and rollers in the yard. Go ahead and let them do that. It really does not seem to harm the soil or plants. I also agree that 2.5 acres of grass is too much. I have a 1-acre lot out in the country and having half of that in grass is a LOT of grass. Start shopping now for riding mowers. If there is a guy in town who repairs them, ask him for advice on which ones need the fewest repairs. What are the garden restrictions you have to adhere to? Does the entire place need to be landscaped? Can you have a small orchard of citrus or nut trees? A rose garden? A statue garden? A gazebo? I have a long list of garden alternatives to grass but need to see the restrictions. Where are you located? Easton, MD (wild guess) Assuming you are in MD, then I would start researching Kentucky bluegrass as an ultimate turf type. I like it because it is very dense, spreads by itself, and never needs to be reseeded. It takes very well to organic fertilizer and does not need copious amounts. Still, if you want it to be extraordinarily nice, copious amounts or organics will do that for you. The drawback to KBG is that it will turn brown during the winter if it gets too cold. That can be minimized to a few weeks with some effort on your part, but it can be done by normal people without special equipment. The other popular grass for your area is fescue. These do not spread quickly and should be reseeded in the thin spots every fall. The fescues do remain green throughout the year so many people mix fescue with KBG to get the best of both grass types. It sounds like you will be moving in and doing grass no earlier than next summer. That could be perfect. If you will be putting sod down, that is good timing (not great but good). If you are going to seed, then the heat of summer is a really bad time to do that. I would propose waiting until late August for seed. For a first step in seeding, once the land was prepped with the box blade, cover the (small??) area you want in grass with a load of mulch until late August. If your construction goes like most, you might not be moving in until then anyway. Then you won't be needing the mulch and can go straight to seed. What an adventure! Glad you wrote in now rather than writing in July to say you just seeded and nothing happened. I would suggest keeping an eye on this forum and others during the spring and getting a feel for the general nature of the issues. Lawn care is very easy if you simply water and mow correctly. With proper watering and mowing you should not need herbicides, preemergents, insecticides, or fungicides. Watch and learn. Repetition helps you learn.

Martha: I do understand that you are likely operating on a tight budget. Otherwise, I presume you would have just hired pros to construct the greenhouse of your dreams, then simply cut a check to pay for it, all fitted out and ready to use. I expect that virtually all of the posters to this forum are DIY'ers. The very wealthy who hire architects to design then supervise the construction of home GH's don't tend to come here seeking advice. Having expressed that thought, I'll go to another that may seem in conflict, but I truly believe it's good counsel. If you have to compromise on other things you want to buy, don't skimp on the insulation or get trapped into a cheaper up-front but more costly to operate heater or you could find yourself with a GH you can't afford to use except in the mildest days of late spring and early fall. Every extra penny you spend now in tight insulation and a fuel efficient heater will pay back in dollars every year you use your GH and with the cost of energy rising so quickly, the pay backs are coming just as fast. For a solar pool cover in a very cold and windly area, I highly recommend Diamond Clear. It's not the cheapest, but is exceptionally sturdy and will last for many years. If you bought one large enough to literally bundle your GH, it would seal it up against the worst a NE winter could throw at it. To hold a solar cover in place, you might do as we did, starting with fairly heavy guage eye screws set into the wood base, to attach the hooks at the ends of long lightweight tie-downs; the kind sold to hold cargo onto PU's. If you ran two of them over the top, then another around the base, with a pool cover large enough to leave some extra at the bottom, your GH would be bundled up snugly. Then, cut out for the door, leaving the material intact at the top of it. With your GH door facing so close to another structure, it should not be subject to too much wind. Hint: once you have the cover positioned exactly as you want it, if you use a marking pen to ID each corner, fitting it back on each fall will be a quick job. However, if your GH panels are polycarb, DO NOT use adhesieve or double faced tape to hold bubble wrap against it on the interior because any residue will become a permanent mar on the surface, as you can't use any of the compounds used to dissolve old adhesieve on polycarb. Charlie's Greenhouse sells clips to hold bubble wrap on the interior of aluminum & polycarb GH's that fit into the aluminum channels. I've never tried them, but other posters here have used and praised them. BTW: I too have a curved eave GH and as much as I love the looks of it, the curved ceiling did present a challenge when we were trying to get the bubble to stay up on it and my solution was small tension, spring loaded curtain rods. They fit between the polybars and hold the bubble in place against the polycarb panels and the rubber bumpers on the ends of the rods don't scratch the finish on the polybars. We then sealed between each sheet of bubble with clear, heavy packaging tape to seal the bubble wrap without leaving any goo on the polycarb. I hope my notions will be both useful and practical for you, but other posters will have their own to impart and many of them have far more experience in home GH projects than I do, so keep checking back on your thread. You will likely receive many more.

Hi there... I actually "have" a mature woods in my backyard but it's in bad shape. It's an old farm woodlot that was clear cut at least twice. The trees are largely maple with some black cherry and American Beech but these guys are right, unless you like a "rough" walk through your woods, the roots are often above ground and somewhat hard to work around. In my case the woods had no understory at all save for a few species of spring ephemerals. Our project has been to build the woods an understory to fill in the huge gap between the floor and the canopy 70ft. above. I consulted the local conservation authority and they told me to give it up b/c "it's almost impossible". "Understory tree species and shrubs need to grow along WITH the canopy". Being the stubborn person I am, I didn't listen to them and have found many varieties to serve my purpose. I think at last count I've introduced about 44 native species. Do some reading, research the net and find species that you like but that also will grow alongside your canopy species and then still thrive once the canopy is better established. One understory shrub that works well in sun as well as shade is the Serviceberry. In sun the Serviceberry turns neon orange in autumn and puts on a fantastic show. In shade it grows just as well but the fall show is a little more subdued. The leaves tend to turn more golden and yellow with little splashes or hints of orange. Serviceberry has a very nice habit and doesn't mind you pruning it to produce an even more compact appearance. Another species that does well in both sun and shade is the Witch Hazel. I have one in full sun on my front lawn and one in full shade in my wooded area. Both are doing equally well and turn the same colour in autumn. Winterberry is a deciduous Holly that you can plant around the base of your trees now. It loses it's leaves in fall but bright red berries will remain through the winter and are a favourite with the birds. Once the canopy trees are established the winterberry will do even better in the shade. Winterberry need male and female plants to set fruit. "Nannyberry", "Arrowood Viburnum" and "Ninebark" will also do fine in both sun and shade situations. The Nannyberry and Arrowood have deep blue/black fruits that will drive the birds wild. American Cranberry" works nicely at the edge of your woodland design and the red/orange berries last well through the winter for the birds and look pretty against the winter snow (if you get snow that is). Check out some of the dogwoods that do ok in sun but thrive in shade. I'm not up on them but I think Grey Dogwood might be one (don't quote me on that though). Some dogwoods like only sun while others like only shade and a few fit in the middle but almost all will do fine as a forest edge species. A really lovely deciduous tree through all seasons is the Sweetgum. It is deciduous but has the same shape as a Christmas tree and leaves that are like a Japanese Maple. They grow quickly and the best part is the fall colour...it's spectacular and is a bit different every autumn. It can turn any colour from burgundy to scarlet red and some autumns it litterally appears on fire with colour. Nurseries often sell them pruned to look like a deciduous tree with a trunk and then the leaves at the top but their natural appearance is like a christmas tree, with branches coming out right from the bottom and forming a cyllindrical shape. Anyway, I think you should just do what makes you happy. Look up what species will work well in sun or shade, make natural looking "thickets" and use "natural succession" as a guide where to put things. The most fun we had with our little wooded area was planning the little pathways that wind through it. That was the very first thing we did when we moved here, was designate the pathways. From there we planned the succession not just from the middle of the wood to the outside but also from the woods, down to the paths. Right at the path edges we placed a lot of the really nice plants that we want to see all the time. Have fun with it! :o) Barb in southern Ontario, CANADA