Hello. My name is John, and my user name is HoosierGardener, so you can guess I'm from Indiana. I live just west of Indianapolis, in the country on four acres. I'm a retired (36 years) elementary teacher, but have also had a small, quite successful landscaping business for the past twenty-nine years. My dual careers overlapped for 20 years, which were a little stressful in spring and fall. But my wife and two children were very understanding, and the extra income came in very handy for travel, college, etc.
We have about a half-acre in landscaped gardens, the the remainder of our property reforested with pines and various hardwoods. The property was pretty much a weed patch when we built our house in 1983. It took over three hours to mow, just keeping the weeds down. Now, mowing takes a half-hour, and we have lots of trees...and shade, except for the landscaped area around the house. We have great neighbors with a sunny area between our homes that we use to plant a huge vegetable garden. We do all of the work, and they get to share in the bounty, which is fine with us!
When I retired from teaching, my retirement gift to myself was adding on an 18' x 30' sunroom on the south side of the house. This is my winter retreat (I don't do any snow removal over the winter), full of plants and a waterfall for ambience and humidity. I've been a member of All Things Plants since it's start a few years back, having "come over" from DG, where I was a member for years and years. I look forward to reading and sharing information and advice from the many members at ATP. I've picked up quite a bit of useful and practical knowledge from working in the landscaping business, so would be very happy advising anyone if needed. My landscaping business motto is "Creative, low-maitenance landscapes".
