> Im just growing for fresh veggies for my little family of 3 and of > course the love of watching things grow :) Dont want too little and > certainly not an over abundance either i was thinking where i already > have 10 tomato plants to continue that pattern and just do 10 of each > veggie if that works. How big of a space would i need? Danger, danger! One pumpkin can take up as much space as ten tomatoes. :) My opinion: - Ten tomatoes: Assuming that they all live and thrive, that's a whole lot of tomatoes, far more than you're likely to need for fresh eating, but, hey, there's always sauce. I'd recommend giving each tomato a minimum of an eighteen inch by eighteen inch square. - Peppers: I'd give them at least a foot by a foot. They're much less productive than tomatoes; ten plants would be fine. - Ten healthy successful cucumber plants will feed Nebraska. OK, maybe that's an overstatement, but I wouldn't grow that many. My plan for my garden this year is to prepare three spots for vining cucumbers, plant three seeds in each spot, and then thin to one plant per spot when they're all up and healthy, for a total of three plants. - Ten healthy successfun pumpkin plants will cover Nebraska with leaves. OK, I'm really exaggerating, but pumpkins sprawl over a _lot_ of space. On the other hand, if you're not overprotective of your lawn you can plant the pumpkins near the edge of the vegetable garden and let them crawl over the lawn. But i still wouldn't plant more than five, and I say five only because it's always upsetting when you plant only two or so, and one of them dies. - Ten corn plants, on the other hand, isn't quite enough. The customary minimum recommendation for corn is a four-plant by four-plant block, sixteen plants total. The block planting increases the chances of good pollination. I plant my corn at eighteen inches; many people plant it much closer. This post was edited by chickenfreak on Thu, Apr 11, 13 at 0:57

http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/ this is plant hardiness zone map. Find the number the coordinates with your zone and never forget it. Plants that only live one season, are call ANNUALS, they are number higher than your zone. Plants the come back eyery year are called PERENNIALS, they are your zone number or lower. Look around your area and see what is already growing there that you like. ASK what it is. Write it down. Look it up. Most plants come in more than one size/color/shape. You may like another one better. Check its zone before you buy. Plants in pots do not usually survive the winter unless you do something to insure their survival (look up overwintering container plants). Resist the urge to buy at garage sales. 'I have plenty" often means 'its invasive' and thats never good. Honeysuckle is an easy choice for a fence, however they can have issues, 'Major Wheeler' is nearly carefree and a good choice, hummingbirds adore it. Check your municipality for free compost. Do not use free mulch, it may contained the wood from diseased trees. Do not use Cypress Mulch it may contain insects not native to your area. I moved to Wisc. from Calif and had to relearn gardening for the Northern climates. Buy a good book, expect happy mistakes. Look for seeds that sprout fast, and engage your child.

I've always said to wait a year before removing plants in an established yard. Sometimes bulbs come up or trees bloom in the spring then look like just normal stuff until the next bloom season. You really can't tell what color the azaleas are so wait and see. They look healthy and require little or no maintenance, hardly get diseases or bugs, that's why so many Southerners have them. Do pull/dig out tree seedlings, they are never where you want them to be. And get a cat, it'll take care of any snakes though unless there are lots of rodents in the natural area you won't have any. 95% of our snakes are not poisonous. If you aren't sure how to identify them, the News & Observer newspaper sells a really nice full size laminated poster with those native to our area. I posted one in my shed since the woods are where I see them (maybe 5 in 15 years, 2 of which the cats brought in and one I ran over with the tractor).

In short, YES!!! I HATE pulling weeds so put down weed barrier cloth. It has helped TREMENDOUSLY in not having to pull weeds. The occasional weed may sprout but since the weed barrier prevents them from sinking their roots down into the soil those that do pop up are much easier to remove. The soil here has a lot of clay so after removing the weeds, I amended it with pumice. I then got a rough idea of where I wanted the plants to go and laid down the cloth. I cut X’s in the cloth where the plants would go and stuck them in the dirt. Once everything was planted I then covered the cloth with rocks. I think that was about 2 years ago and the plants have grown quite well. I’m glad I went to the extra expense and time of putting down the weed barrier. I haven’t regretted it.