Landscape Gardening

[wifezilla]

Good luck with the new projects....and I did warn you! LOL

just a note on the Love Lies Bleeding Amaranth....mine looks great. Nobody would ever guess it is a "crop". The neighbors have been Oooing and Aaahhhing over them. Hubby even thinks they look cool and he normally doesn't even notice the plants. Two other good plants are flowering kale and nasturtium. My nasturtium plants have gone nuts and look really pretty. Again, nobody has a clue that I am adding the leaves and flowers to my salad. As for kale, I forgot to plant my seeds, but they always have those at the garden centers. I will grab some when they go on sale in a couple of weeks.

 

[vfem]

I'm sorry I never got back to you guys. Thanks to everyone for all the replies. Moving was a hassle and putting new floors in didn't make it any easier. So far the HOA has been very...welcoming. Our first full day in the house we got a notice about weeds in the front rock "flower beds". Well the house has been sitting vacant for a year...of course there's going to be weeds! At least let us unpack the toilet paper and figure out how to work the garage door keypad!

anyway, right now we are working on getting a fence up and that's a ton of fun. We have to submit everything in writing with pictures and samples of finished product for committee approval. Why not just tell us what we CAN put up and we will do that? Apparently they're trying to convert everyone to vinyl fencing but we have wood fences on both sides already so we're grandfathered in so it doesnt look silly. we're very thankful for that because vinyl is pricey!!

Right now the gardening is on hold. We are waiting for the fence to go up so we can put some raised beds in the back yard. I saw the comment about the berry bushes and am definitely going to do that on the side of the house in front of the fence line! There's a huge oak tree in the front yard so there's not a whole lot of room for any new trees but I've seen the 5-in-1 citrus trees at a few places and think one might fit next to the garage. Anyone have success with those? Remember I'm in FL so I feel I can't go wrong with citrus. lol

We also have to get gutters up to prevent the massive flooding in the front yard and once that is done we can actually landscape. I'll be back then with pictures of what all we pick out. Thanks again everyone

I couldn't do it... I could not pay to live where people have to paperwork me to death and charge me for the services! I'd flip!

More power to you... and good luck!!!

 

[desertlady]

I once live where thes HOA, I planted veggies in big pots, I had no problem with them . also had them planted on sides of houses if you have room ..

 

[Collector]

We have a small lot so we do alot of cottage gardening, we put random zuchinni plants in the borders or cucs or whatever will blend in. Our friends think it is cool to reach into a flower bed and pull out a cucumber, zuc, carrott, or some other veggie. We learned it from some friends years ago who rented a house where they were not allowed to put in a garden plot by the owner. They just mixed veggies in the house and fence borders, you could hardly tell they were there unless you really looked and knew what you were looking at. HOA BLAHHHH.

 

[catjac1975]

People who garden NEED to garden. I would rethink the small lots. You can farm without animals or just do a few at a time to may the GF happy.But shouldn't she want to make you happy? You can use edible plant in the landscape/ Fruit trees, blueberries, strawberries are pretty. You will be very frustrated at coping with the small space. You can always garden somewhere else-friends house etc. But wouldn't she rathe you be home with her?Just saying.

Has anyone tried incorporating fruits and veggies into their landscape? Unfortunately my girlfriend isn't willing to buy a farm complete with goats, cows, and chickens so I must make due with what we have. We're negotiating between two different houses but in any case we will end up having somewhere between a tenth and a quarter acre. On top of that we have 4 (small) dogs between myself, my girlfriend, and our roommate so we are restricted to container or raised bed gardening so they wont run through it I got to thinking why not garden in the front yard? We will very likely be moving into a home with an HOA so we can't just have a tiny farm in the front yard. So how about berry bushes or lettuces in the front planter beds? A small herb window box? Just wondering what everyone out there is doing

 

[Adambelmont321]

I grew many fruits and veggies actually me and my mother are very serious about gardening so we are these days working on some seasonal fruits and about the animals on the farm, my mom just hate it so I arranged them separately in a cage which is far away from our garden.

 

[897tgigvib]

If I ever get voted in as big chief of the country, I'll make it against the law for any city or town to attempt to prohibit gardens.

But yes, I think dwarf apple trees and well pruned blackberries might be a way to skirt a heinous ordinance against it. Might have to stick plastic flowers in the blackberry bushes once in awhile though. Then, start picketting the people in charge of that HOA, whatever bad thing hoa stands for. Go to a nearby college and get the students there to picket them too! And woh be to the hoa people, but get every women's club picketting with you too, in fact, get the wives of the hoa writers to picket with you! Once their husbands are sleeping on couches or in their dogs houses, won't be long before the hoa becomes an extinct form of feudalism!

 

[Smart Red]

Something I do is plant a trellis with both pole beans and a climbing flower such as morning glory. The flowers bring oohs and aahs while 'hiding' the beans. I also stick a tomato plant or two amid my perennial flowers. Nearly invisible in the back and a good foliage 'filler'.

Other delicious and pretty plants that come to mind are blueberry shrubs. Pretty flowers, lovely fall color, and juicy berries. - yum - and elderberries. Besides, they make a lovely background for other flowers.