I've just looked into the local forecast for the next 14 days. I don't know if the forecast is reliable. It states today would feel like 30 C -- right now it feels like 20 C. Anyway, what's driving me batty is that I want to redesign the front yard. In the rush to establish this year's garden, I hadn't planned things out properly. And so I've been tinkering with some ideas. I have to transfer a beautiful Harry Lauder walking stick which was unfortunately planted in the sunny spot. (It hates the sun) -- in it's place I have to find a nice tree or design a tall pole for climbers. I will also rearrange the David Austin roses - so that's my biggest fear that these may not last thru the transplant. However they are also the core - or first plants that require moving. . Next to be replanted are the blue salvias, delphiniums, lady's mantles, and the lambs ears. Right now I don't know if I wish to keep the spiderwort. The coreopsis moonbeam requires closer grouping for maximum effect. The various echinaceas are about to bloom and rudbeckias are blooming so that will be a challenge. It's like a domino effect situation. Maybe it's best for me to wait till the following weekend to do the massive transfers. While I'm on this subject. Are any of you aware of an annual that grows tall, thick and deep green foliage and columnar and perhaps produces some blooms? I need to interhedge some plantings and am toying with putting hedgings that are replaceable every year. That way I can put out a new design in the front border every year. Ianna

This is great reading about everyone's plans. When I'm snowed in during the winter I always think about all the ambitious plans for the garden. I usually have one big project going on (last year it was the new backyard area where we did manage to get about 13 trees and 60 or so shrubs planted). This year I'm going to work on moving more plant material into that area (it's a pretty large area and I like to plant fairly close so I don't have to mulch). I have about 35 shrubs to relocate into that area and then bunches of perennials will be moved in. I really need to get my daylilies divided (which is my resolution in the New Year Resolution thread, so I must get that done this year....been thinking about doing it for about three). I'm going to divide them and then plant multiple divisions of the same daylily together in the backyard to give big impacts of color. My mom and I are heading to Paris in the late spring (with a trip to Monet's garden), so I need to curtail my garden spending which is why I'm hoping to do more transplanting in the garden as opposed to buying more plant material. Now for all my questions!! LL- do you find any herbs in particular keep the deer away. I've heard they really don't like lavender. Do the herbs keep them away from the garden, or do they just not eat those particular plants? Token, are all those WS soda bottles in your picture on the other thread for your meadow garden? Hollygarden, I think I like your plan better than your DH's! Raised diagonal beds sound great! Scully, I love that sweet pea vine. How long does it bloom? GGG, what is a "bottle border" pathway?

Gamebird, You've had lots of helpful comments today, and I am sure more are yet to come. My answer on beds being oriented north-south or east-west is going to make me sound wishy-washy, but I think either one could work equally well. Most of my neighbors that have veggie gardens run their beds from north to south, but a fellow gardener who lives a couple of miles from me runs his east-west. I have some beds, about 65% of them, that run north-south, and the remaining 35% run east-west. Our veggie garden is on a serious slope, so the contouring of the garden beds was a very deliberate decision to slow down the runoff of water and also to minimize erosion. The classic recommendation in most parts of the country is that you should run your beds from north to south. I think the intent is that your rows get a more equal distribution of light that way. What is more important than the orientation of the beds, though, is the selection of where to plant your veggies. The general rule is to put taller crops in the northernmost rows of the garden so they won't shade your other crops. Here in Oklahoma, where the summers are very long and insanely hot, I deliberately use okra, corn, amaranth and other tall plantings (like pole beans and other trellised crops) to shade crops that benefit from a little shade, like sweet and hot peppers. I like your idea of improving the soil first, then building the beds, and lining the pathways....I was gently trying to lead you in that direction, without sounding like your bossy sister! LOL Torrential rainfall IS a huge problem here when it occurs. Just today we had 3" of rain in less than 4 hours, and you should see the erosion that has gone on today as the water rushes downhill to the creeks that will carry it to the Red River. (It is not at all one of our heaviest rainfalls....two years ago we had 9.25" in one day, and almost 8" of that fell in 4 hours.) So, check out how the water drains before you start doing too much, and the info will be very helpful in your planning. Even though you may not be putting in that water feature for a couple of years, plan it out now so you can take advantage of a naturally low-lying area or can plan to site your water feature so it helps absorb excess rainfall and runoff. We have several water features, some manmade and some natural, and they attract wildlife. Since you have a young child, though, it probably is wise to wait until she's a little older. One thing to remember as you plan your landscape is that the soil on even a small plot of land (and yours is not small by any means) can vary greatly. Even though we have mostly clay, we do have one band of very deep, sandy soil (which I love, love, love), so check your soil in various places to be sure you know what you have. When you do a soil test, the advice is the same. You dig up soil from several locations and mix it together prior to the soil test, so the results will give you an overall average for the whole area. Regarding Randy's comment about shrubs, I'll just say that his comments are right on. Most people plant shrubs too close to their homes and the shrubs eventually get too large, become a problem and have to be removed. You can avoid this through a very careful selection of dwarf shrubs AND by being sure to plant them further away from the house....say 4' to 5' at the closest, not 1' to 2' or 3'. Be sure you understand the shrub's MATURE height and plan accordingly. As Randy stated, I am a big advocate of firescaping....which is landscaping in a way that will help prevent your home from burning during a wildfire. Keeping plants that burn easily further away from the house is an important part of firescaping. We have always had wildfires in this part of the country, and we always will. Some years they are dreadfully bad, and other years they are not. It is wise to design your landscape in a way that will help preserve your home if the worst possible thing....a raging wildfire....occurs. I never worried about wildfire that much until the 2005-2006 wildfire season, which I think was the worst one in recent Oklahoma history. During that year, our very young and very small volunteer fire dept. had over 240 calls (most years prior to that we had 40 to 50 calls per year), many of which were large, raging wildfires. It changed the way I do a lot of things, and I am now very careful about planting anything close to the house if that plant could help a fire climb up onto the house. It's just one more thing to think about, but an important one. Finally, I know you are eager to do your landscaping, but go slow and make sure you understand just how hard it is for plants to get through our long, hot summers. When we say that, it is because we know from experience that summer's heat here can be VERY cruel and very hard on plants. In your part of the state, you also have to plan for the recurring sleet and ice storms that can cruelly destroy gorgeous trees in a matter of hours. (So, stay away from weeping trees, weak-wooded trees and delicate trees that can't hold a huge load of ice.) Understand, too, that Oklahoma's climate is one of wild swings and unpredictable changes. It can, literally, be 60 or 70 or 80 degrees, sunny and clear in the morning and then an Artic cold front can come out of Canada in a matter of hours, dropping the temperatures 30 degrees or more, and bringing cold rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow or a mix of them. In the summer, rain can be scarce and temperatures brutal. Plants have to be TOUGH to survive here, so decide in advance how much (or how little) pampering you're prepared to give your plants, and plan accordingly. It is so much fun reading your plans and imagining how it all will work out. I hope you'll keep us all posted on your progress. Dawn

kt, Glad to hear I'm not alone in my driving aversions. Yah know, ya can learn something about yourself every day. I never really thought about it, but scent _is_ important in my gardens. Maybe that's why I grow so many herbs? As for Roman chamomile, I think that in warmer climates it could be invasive. Mine usually dies back every year (although it stays green well into the winter) and comes up from the roots and a few seedlings around the mother plant. It has never spread out in to the rest of the garden. I kind of wish it would, because it would be a nice groundcover under the roses. The leaves themselves look very light and feathery. Hey, maybe I should buy some more..... I agree that the herb garden is rather full, even with some plants in pots on the wall and others in the walkway. But, I tell ya, working in that garden on a summer morning will be real multi-sensory pleasure. kt, if your design software is a no-show, I can take a crack at mapping out an herb garden in Excel based on these elements. I also have a house design package that I used for the additions this year. It has a garden function that I haven't used. It doesn't look to be optimized for curved/circular gardens, since it is primarily for foundation plantings, but I can give it a try over the holiday and see if I can produce something useful. Like you, I have my entire family coming up for our traditional New England Thanksgiving. My 82-year old parents, sister, brother-in-law, six kidlings from three to 18 and their dog, will be invading on Wednesday. On Sunday, when they all leave, I also have to head down to Newark Airport to fly to Brazil for a week long business trip. Yes, I plan to sleep for the entire flight down. So, if I disappear from the forum again for a few days, ya'll know why. Just in case anyone drops out before me to prepare for a similar invasion (that means you, kt), have a Happy Thanksgiving!!! narcnh (who snuck outside in his jammies while typing this just to crush and smell some Roman chamomile)