Mostly I am a planner,at least as far as pairing plants for a pleasant color arrangement. When the occasion needs it I go with the flow.
I do not plan so tightly that I have to move whole shrubs and rocks.
I am from the school"If it works,dont fix it" along with there are more than 2 ways to solve a problem.
I am not so tightly wound that I cant punt where needed.
This area was as you see it when we moved here in 2007
Photo taken May 2008.All the scots pines are gone( beetle ) the carved bear stands on one stump at the far right.


4 years later it is a quiet ,pleasant sight from the deck at wine time.


August 2011

I'm similar in my approach, Jo Ann. Do often start with a rough idea of the basics, like bed shape, type of foundation plants, clay soil tolerance, and drought tolerance (especially necessary here!). But it mostly just develops as I go, and from the lesson-learned fallout of my abysmal ignorance in the beginning. Now, I see something I really like, check to see if I can grow it, start looking for similar and/or complementary colors, shapes, and/or textures--and those on sale , and it snowballs into a purple and red daylily plot; a grasses, Iris, and sedum curbside bed; or a roses, Dianthus, and clematis decorative fence line. Still have a LOT of work to do to get the Green Amber side yard cleared. Just haven't figured out how to get rid of all that nasty weedy grass stuff without a lot of back breaking labor that I can't expend, or harsh chemicals that I don't want to use. At least I do have most of the Iris and Daffodils dug out and moved, so that will make it easier. But even here, it will be mostly serendipity as to what structure and contents will be put in.

I have developed more of sa system for choosing plants now. I feel less lost when I have a plan. I am not rigid about the plan and believe there should be a few loose ends that compensate for changes in the future.

I do a bit of both,but lean towards going with the flow.
During seed ordering, I think out plant and color combinations.
But then one of them does not turn out or I see something terrific later.
It is all good!

I think of myself as an organic gardener as in "happening or developing in a slow and natural way" (M-W learner's dictionary def. #4 under organic). Stan has influenced the gardens with his hardscaping and fences, but with both of us, its pretty much, hey, let's do this - now where can we fit it in? And it has gotten to the point where things, uh, develop if there's room. We inherited a mess with this place - nearly a hundred years of plants placed in rows in the yards and untended for at least the 22 years we rented before we bought - the yards and gardens were off limits to us. We've softened the look considerably, but there are places where we are being beaten back by time and decreasing abilities.

I like a planned garden with beautiful clean lines, I have tried to do that with what I had to work with, an odd shaped lot, and harsh weather conditions. I can not plan on paper, I visualize how I would like it to look in my mind. I have worked on this garden for 10 years. I am quite pleased with the way it looks but there is always room for improvement. I still move stuff around.

I love what you have done.
The problem solving always intreagues me.

Thanks Jo Ann.

Hey!! I didn't meant ot plant so many pink roses!!! ;) It just turned out that way...but I like it :)

Alan your roses are lovely.

Margaret, so are your photos. Thank you for posting.

One can never have too many roses, regardless of color.

Thank you Debra, I'm pleased that you like them.

I'm definitely a planner, and Jo (ge1836) is helping me with her artistic eye to get the colors better. Along Pam Harper Color Echo lines.

My type of gardening is a controlled cottage garden, if that makes any sense. I like the blousy, exuberant look, but I want to match things up.

And Color Echoing is not easy, let me tell you, LOL. Right now we're trying to match Oriental poppies with irises, and first you need to get the type of iris right, so they bloom at the same time, we're thinking early tall, or late median, and then the color to match, and of course the heights. Eek!

Those are some beautiful gardens you folks have!

Kathleen, did you find any treasure in the old plants? I would love to see pictures of the gardens before and after. That must have really hurt, for a gardener not to be able to touch the gardens on her property.

Trish wrote a few days ago and said my Tip would appear soon.Its how I spend my winter with Picasa and plant images I keep on file. I use a collage to choose colors. I have also become sensative to online website colors that just dont read right. Many sites use a lot of blue when they want Purple flowers to look deep and mysterious.
I know its OCD but thats what you get with me,works for me most of the time.

I'm sort of an obsessive planner.
But to REALLY do a planned garden, you need to do it all at once, or in significant stages.
And there's no money for that size of project.
So when I moved, I used the upside down type of paint can that surveyors use and I drew out where my beds would be, where the shed would go, and even a little oval brick patio.
I started digging in the centers of the beds and started my compost pile with the sod I removed.
Gradually (as I collected plants) I widened the beds.
Then I finally got my hands on some free, good and flat shale (native) rocks for bed "walls".
Hefted them over the 4 foot fence all by myself, thank you,
AM still collecting plants and haven't quite got the stones "correctly" stacked yet.
But most of the grass is finally gone.
So I started with a full plan, but the execution is very go with the flow.

It's all fun.

Margaret your garden is perfect ! Absolutely love it ! That is the best lawn ! I love the curving flower beds as well !

It is really nice. Love the concrete areas. So nice and neat looking. A lot of good thought and work put into that yard.

Thank you so much Linda and Polly for your very nice comments on my garden!

Well deserved!