I'm Working With A Clean Slate, Would Love To Hear Suggestions!

[vfem]

Thats right, I have an acre with NOTHING!

I moved here in May (from a tiny 2 bedroom condo in the city) and we have grass, and a pond with some over grown brush.

My husband has cleared most of the brush at the pond and a couple trees that were getting choked out by Trumpet Flower Vines.

So I'm looking to plant...and I mean the whole thing eventually.

We're in Zone 7 I'm sure (Central NC). I soooo love english garden style. I have a tiny bed on the side of the house next to our driveway. It faces East, so I have foxglove and some 'Mexican bearded ladies" planted there. My house faces North where I have a tiny bed set up for more foxglove in the spring. Just have a little creeping Jenny by the walk and a Hygrenda(sp). Facing West I have 4 Azaleas (tiny) and the south is the backyard. There I just have my hibiscus and a chicken coop! (And a large pond shared with several of our neighbors, but we own one whole end so I can do water plants)

I'm dying for ideas!!!

The only big plan, a veggi garden in the spring.

So please please please, if you can think of some great plants and a good location they should go in a mostly sunny yard please post them! Pictures would be great too.

I've tried searching books, magazines and online... but I'm a bit overwhelmed.

 

[mirime]

Do you have a lot of help? Or is it just you doing all the work?

(asking this because I'm the person doing most of the gardening at my home, and I have to do just one bed at a time or I get too overwhelmed. Though I am preparing the soil for my large veggie garden I'm planning in the spring)

 

[vfem]

Generally I am doing ALL the work myself. My husband mows, and was nice enough to clear the pond. He's also willing to do most of the work putting in the front brick pathway. Mostly because he wants something different then me, and if he does that work, he gets to do it his way.

I'm doing the one bed at a time approach. Starting by the driveway, rotating to the front yard, then the west side of the house and ending in the backyard.

My husband and my friend Stef will help 100% with the veggi garden as we are all sharing the work and the fruits of our labor.

I do have about 4 more beds I want in the front and west side of the house, and I want several beds, and maybe some trees for shade in the back.

Fruit bearing trees would be awesome, I'm just not too sure what would do so great here? Something that had some girth to it?

I'm starting a lot from seeds right now. This is LOW budget gardening. I am willing to get some extra $$$ money together for some special pieces too hard to seed in, or to get some good size trees that won't take years to fill out.

I'm so excited

 

[punkin]

As far as a veggie garden, I would start with what I like to eat. Do you like tomatoes, squash or cabbage? Do you use green peppers in cooking? Do you want to freeze, can or preserve? For example, I use lots of green peppers to make tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce and zuchinni. So, next year I plan on planting more of them. It should all be about what you enjoy eating. Maybe start looking through some canning and preserving books to get some ideas about the ingredients you want to use.

And remember, you don't have to do it all at once. What can be fun to plant in May might come back to haunt you later with all the weeding and harvesting.

Just have fun!

 

[robbobbin]

Maybe consider a Wildlife Habitat. You can incorporate both a garden and a wildlife habitat into your area. Check out this link for help in getting your backyard certified. http://www.nwf.org/backyard/
I bet your having the time of your life-have fun!

 

[chickenboy8]

Hey, we are from central nc to.

For fruit trees we have fuji and gala apples, red plums, and some kind of hybrid peach tree. Muscadine grapes grow real good to.

 

[vfem]

Muscadine grapes grow real good to.

Oh how I love those!!!! I still go crazy for Duplin County Wines.

Its looking like I will have lots of Tomatoes, Peas and Peppers.

Long as they all enjoy full sun constantly, I'll have no shady areas for a couple of years still. Thanks everyone.

(Robbobbin, I'm going to check out that site... though I have MAD wildlife around here. Lots of ducks, turtles, herrings, geese, cranes... ect)

 

[897tgigvib]

Vfem, this is one of your first posts. A true classic, the start of your garden, clean slate here,

How would it compare to now?

 

[ducks4you]

I say, get on the I'Net and DVR gardening programs where they feature big gardens. I've been watching those for years, now, and I've gotten some neat ideas from them. One of them is "Garden Smart,"
http://gardensmart.com/
on PBS. They have gone to multi-acre properties, some of them inside of Southern cities, and I know you'll see some things that you like.

 

[canesisters]

hoping vfem posts some before/after picts... a great inspiration as we wait for spring :coolsun