Gardening Software
I purchased a device called Easybloom which is amazing! You put it in the ground, leave it in for twenty-four hours and then plug it into your computer. It tells you what sort of soil you have, your water content, humidity level, and amount of shade/sun is received in that spot. Plus, it gives you suggestions of which flowers will flourish in that spot, or give you suggestions on what to add to the ground if you want to plant something that isn't thriving. I have a really bad editing eye when it comes to flowers. I tend to gravitate to the cooler tones; a lot of purple, blues, deep pinks, etc. I think if I had software where I could map out landscaping, I can be more cohesive in my purchases. Does anyone have any advise? I want to keep the backyard dog friendly, so I was thinking more ferns, hosts, maybe a few butterfly flowers. The front I want to make an English Cottage garden. |
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I agree - I am getting excited too.  You started off with more than we did. Our house/farm is old and established, but a lawn and a couple trees and 3 lilac bushes (on over an acre) were all we got. No flower beds, no landscaping - they mowed right up to the house! And one lilac we had to rip out - for some insane reason they planted it next to the clothesline pole....and of course it grew up right in the clotheslines...by all accounts (from the neighbors) they WERE really odd people.  When we say we live in the Ulman place, we get interesting reactions!One big thing is to copy stuff you like. I am contantly spying other gardens and taking ideas from that. Many seed catalogues have gardens made up, and tell you exactly what to plant. Garden centers (real ones, not at big stores) have sample gardens made up on their grounds, walk though them to get an idea of what stuff looks like after it is growing a few years. I have tons of perennials now. The 1st thing we did is make raised flower beds around 3 sides of the house. We got creative. We used old posts and wooden poles and added in field stone. Then hauled loads of dirt in (luckily just went out in the fields and scooped it up - lots of work, but that was free!). Amended the soil, and we were set! The beds are on the south, east and north sides. Sun loving hardy plants on the south - lilies, tulips, sedum and lots of annuals. More delicate things on the east and my clematis. Shade loving hostas, ferns, lilies of the valley, jack in the pulpits, etc on the north. They all get filled in with appropriate annuals each year. Then I make up big pots of annuals in cheap pots and move them around the beds to fill in boring spots when the perennials aren't blooming. I do mulch them to cut down on the weeding and to hold in moisture - raised beds dry out faster. Especially on the south - they bake. We have many other beds now too - all over the place! But these were our start and give the most impact. We have 2 ponds, a patio, a round bed in the center of the driveway turnaround and more. And always a work in progress! |
| See part of my problem is, I just want to grab all the flowers I like, rather than really making a cohesive look. I really, REALLY wish there was a flower exchange in the area, because I have A LOT of iris' that I could divide and trade for something else. I have really started to enjoy grasses, like the japanese red grass, where it is this deep, almost purple color. It give a nice bit of height. So far, I have this kind of 'junk' spot that Josh's mom had that I really want to fix up. It has a lot of gravel that has sunk into the ground. She used to park her motorcycle there, till the motorcycle rusted out. Right now, the only item that is there is a honeysuckle that has beautiful orange flowers on it, but it's not really in the flower bed. I'm afraid that I'll get over ambitious and get too many things that just look like a hot mess. I guess I just need to learn to edit. Otherwise, I'll end up with three painted japanese ferns, four hostas, two grasses, and 8 begonias. And the spot is only 6x8! |
| You just need to make more beds! I do exactly that - i buy all this cool stuff that catches my eye. Then I get home and try and find spots for it. It used to be hard. Now that I have beds everywhere and everything from full sun to deep shade - I have no limits!!! (well, just my $$$ limits  ). I do make lists of the specific things I want; what general color theme for my pots by the patio, the garage, etc; but I still buy any cool thing that catches my eye!  |
| I'll be happy to help, but am heading out the door right now. In mean time, you have a Master Gardener program there. These volunteers are trained to help with gardening questions. They are also up on garden swaps, etc. Right now they are in training, but if you call the Extension Office or that contact name, you can start hooking up with this valuable source of info: http://web.extension.illinois.edu/rockisland/mg/ |
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