greene said:
Ask your husband to picture what this will look like if I ever finish.

And its a FACT!

(Disclaimor;
Of course this thought and concept reflects not at all on any previous contributors and is solely the responsibility of David of Deland. Did I misspell disclaimor? )

"Garden with love;.......create your own world, and pretention will not be a problem if you have faith in your own vision and stick to it." David of DeLand August 2014.

Well, you spelled it 'disclaimor', some would spell it 'disclaimer', but after looking at the photo of that part of my own garden I think the proper spelling might be 'Claymore' - as in...this looks like a mine field.

See how well we work together Greene! Lets just coin a new word!

Disclaymour.
definition: A clay like yard that is soon to be glamourous;... a clay based field or garden with potential;...a field of dreams to be developed.

Thanks, Sequoiadendron. The crape myrtles are still there - only downside is all the falling flowers this time of the year and they get tracked inside the house.



Hazeleyes - have fun putting in your new gardens!

>> A case of selective energy conservation.

Where I went to school (decades ago), the faculty had gotten into a tizzy about "lazy undergraduates", multiple decades before even my time.

The profs knew that not all students completed all homework assignments. When they started comparing notes, and realized it was a very wide-spread practice, they tried to crack down.

"But it's IMPOSSIBLE to do EVERY assignment we get. No one COULD!" the undergrads wailed.

The profs wouldn't buy that theory, and one PhD decided to take a week from his research and "be an undergrad" for that week to show them how reasonable the faculty's expectations were.

He showed them, all right. He couldn't even do as many of the assignments as an average freshman did! The frosh were young enough to work into the wee hours.

So finally THAT convinced the faculty that only Superman (and maybe not he) could complete ALL the homework they handed out.

But they didn't hand out fewer assignments to try to make the work load possible.

Instead they changed the term "uncompleted assignments" to "selective disregard of tasks assigned".

Sandy, keep up the selective disregard! That's what I do!

Rick!

ok here are his attempts to out garden me.(I garden because I enjoy it and its relaxing)He bought all this soil and compost and other bags of stuff.Dug his holes put in the correct soil mix bought his plants.
His tomato plants



I started mine from seed and just stuck them in the dirt already there,one is in a container I had daylilies in once with just soil from around the yard.I realy don't do much just let nature take its course and try to mulch to keep the ground from drying out.
My tomato plants




He thinks my way of gardening is wrong and wanted to do it the right way.



His side of the yard to do as he pleases

Alright, this is part of my backyard being worked on. Sort of similar to greene's. Wood finally split but splitter still sitting out. Haven't gotten to mow in the far back because we never get moving before the bees do. Tree stump is the platform for water pump for water feature and with Chell's inspiration, this area will be a new hugelkulture bed. It is a slow process but I am excited to see how it will turn out. DH is skeptical.

Ah, that is a beautiful yard. Oh, the possibilities!!
Definitely a 'work in progress'.

abhege said:... Tree stump is the platform for water pump for water feature and with Chell's inspiration, this area will be a new hugelkulture bed. It is a slow process but I am excited to see how it will turn out. DH is skeptical.

Has he seen the recent pictures?
Sure, it's been a learning process, and some things do better than others in them, but oh, my! -the plants that do like them do phenomenally, and with very little help from me. This summer, for the first time since I started the gardens here, I've had time to relax a bit and just enjoy them...and I still have bachelor's buttons and violas blooming in them! In August!
In fact, they're way too full and lush... because almost nothing ever quits!

Keep on pushing on, Arlene. It's so worth it!

Love this thread, and I have a gem to add:

A wise friend tells me "There are two types of gardeners, landscapers and collectors" So, of course those of us who want cottage gardens, and want one of every type of plant that might possibly grow there, we are collectors. We know it will look fabulous if every plant grows nicely.

It's also possible that when "opposites attract" and people marry someone who has complementary qualities to their own, you often get one landscaper and one collector in each couple. My DH is an engineer, very fond of straight lines, symmetry and neat and tidy edges. Luckily for me, he is not interested in gardening, and is happy as long as he can walk around the garden without "any plants touching me".

He's wonderful about building and inventing things to help me in my endeavors, I will admit. He loves to buy tools of course, and recently bought something that makes both of us very happy - a rechargeable leaf blower. Battery lasts just long enough to do the pathways around half the house. I have two batteries. So nice not to have to wrangle a power cord.

@chelle I am so excited to be finally working on this. I cannot believe you still have bachelor buttons and violas blooming! I did have one lone bachelor button blooming but I pulled it. I was afraid I would feel guilty not cutting them for bouquets.

Since we are not doing marketing any more I want to move most of my perennials that I have in rows in the garden to my house! I have more than enough plants to fill this bed so another new bed in the front yard as well. I have proven I can keep the latest bed weed free so I am allowed to make another. Husband wants grass. I want flowers. As long as I keep a path to the back yard for the mower from the front he'll be okay. I would love to do what Dianne did to her front yard but I don't think I can go that far.

Luckily DH likes casual, flowing things so I can get away with a cottage garden. He's even learning the names of some of the flowers.

Ironically, my son came over and pulled the honey today. He figures about 30#. Mmmmm. Anxious to see how it tastes compared to what we pull at the farm.

I also meant to add that the hugelkulture thing is spreading around here. My stepfather has recently retired, and now that he has more time available he's been keeping tabs on the new beds I made...and guess what? He made his own a month or so ago and it looks really good! He rather sheepishly told me that he tried it and said, "it looks stupid, not good like yours", but I looked at it just the other day and it's filling in beautifully. It's purple petunias this year...and hopefully a great step forward toward an easier and more rewarding gardening experience down the road.

chelle said:

I also meant to add that the hugelkulture thing is spreading around here. My stepfather has recently retired, and now that he has more time available he's been keeping tabs on the new beds I made...and guess what? He made his own a month or so ago and it looks really good! He rather sheepishly told me that he tried it and said, "it looks stupid, not good like yours", but I looked at it just the other day and it's filling in beautifully. It's purple petunias this year...and hopefully a great step forward toward an easier and more rewarding gardening experience down the road.

My husband rolls his eyes when I start talking permaculture he thinks it should be all chemicals and conformity.

Oh, I can't talk about it either, or I get the glassy-eyed look , but when they see it with their own eyes, sometimes a light goes on.

chelle said:Oh, I can't talk about it either, or I get the glassy-eyed look , but when they see it with their own eyes, sometimes a light goes on.

I can SO relate to this!!

Arlene - I HAD to commandeer the front yard. I live on a corner suburban lot. The backyard has a pool and basketball court with minimal planting area. The front yard was the only space I had for growing my flowers and veggies. 😄

I don't have the luxury of a large back or side yard that many if you have. Though with my inherent laziness, I would be overwhelmed by acreage.

Great thread, Hazeleyes!

I can so relate! Though my dh just wanted the typical yard .... shrubs, a tree or two, and lot & lots of lawn. Ugh.

Over the past 10 years, I've added garden beds. One here, one there, another one over there, and then I expand them and keep expanding them. Today, our backyard only has one long strip of lawn which is probably only a fourth of the backyard. I will leave that strip just so my dh and son have something to mow. LOL! My dh sometimes gets annoyed and says our backyard looks like a jungle! (Yes! My gardening style is "Jungle" with a capital J!) But it is a jungle with a purpose. I garden for butterflies and hummingbirds as well as other wildlife. It does have order to it and does look nice to me and most all my women friends. Their husbands on the other hand agree with my dh. They like the typical expansive green lawns, shrubs around the outline of the house, and a tree or two. LOL! No accounting for taste!

I am currently working on the front yard. Had an area near the front of the house that I turned into a nice butterfly & hummingbird garden several years ago. We had to have our septic drain field replaced last year. We couldn't get replacement grass to fill it back in (too much rain and no sod delivery), so I jumped right on it and expanded the front bed out some more in one day! I recently planted a small nectar tree in the east corner of the front yard with a small garden bed around it. That small garden will be expanded next year! LOL! Once I mark my spot, it's a done deal. I also have ideas to add garden beds to both sides of my yard. I do it gradually. Sometimes he doesn't even notice until he mows the yard. (He switches off with my son doing mowing. So he might not see anything new for 3 weeks .... or longer in the winter time!) I can add more in that short time! LOL! We work different days. So I do my gardening on my days off when he is working. Works out perfect!!!!

If he had any doubts before, he now knows I claim the entire yard. But there is a plus side that he will admit to .... a LOT less mowing! And he does enjoy walking around the backyard or sitting in one of seating areas to enjoy all the blooms, too! But won't admit to that very often. Sometimes doing it gradually and in stages works well when you have someone who doesn't want to budge on their ideas of what a yard landscape should look like. Ten years later .... he doesn't care what I do with the yard as long as it is "me" who maintains it! And that is a-okay with me!