My garden is never as good as it's going to be next year.

Lol. The hardest thing for me has been to plant less variety and more groupings. My resolution is to give plants more time to perform

Yes, yes, and yes to the above comments. :-)

My main resolution next year?

To face the fact I can't grow everything I want in the SW facing section of my yard. It's not the same as my SE facing garden and is a lot more challenging. I'm tired of the challenge.

Fist we have the hot, blazing afternoon sun.
Then we have the tree roots which suck up the water as fast as I put it down. Years and tons of compost have only made the garden more favorable to tree root growth. And these are trees planted on the Blvd., not even in my own yard.
Then of course we have the shade cast by these trees. It varies ac5ross this whole garden and isn't consistent from one area to the next. Should I be planting sun plants or more shade tolerant plants? I can't seem to get it right. In any case, everything bakes once the sun does hit them even for a few hours.

Yup, I'm tired of this area. It's not fun anymore. I need to find a few things that do well, look good and leave it at that.

Kevin

I have to keep reminding myself that the plants on the north side of a full sun bed don't get much sun if the plants on the south side of the bed are tall. My circular bed is out of balance. It's small enough that it's okay to have one each of several perennials. Echinacae ties it together but I've got clary sage volunteers and an annual poppy (dark maroon) that would look better elsewhere. Since the bed is in the middle of our yard, I think it would be better to have plants that don't get taller than 3'. Right now, white phlox is almost 5' tall. A friend recommended a dwarf pink phlox which the local nursery has!

If I am smart, I will start potting up some of these things for the fall plant swap.

I have to keep reminding myself that the plants on the north side of a full sun bed don't get much sun if the plants on the south side of the bed are tall. My circular bed is out of balance. It's small enough that it's okay to have one each of several perennials. Echinacae ties it together but I've got clary sage volunteers and an annual poppy (dark maroon) that would look better elsewhere. Since the bed is in the middle of our yard, I think it would be better to have plants that don't get taller than 3'. Right now, white phlox is almost 5' tall. A friend recommended a dwarf pink phlox which the local nursery has!

If I am smart, I will start potting up some of these things for the fall plant swap.

miclino wrote: The hardest thing for me has been to plant less variety and more groupings.

Me too. Me too. But I know in part why I am like this i.e. too much of a plant collector rather than a proper gardener:

Our home is on a standard residential suburban property. To do any mass plantings or large groupings (of the same plant) which can look so nice would eat up way too much of my garden space.

But what I do to provide some organization to my too large variety of perennials is to plant a neat and organized border (whether it be perennials or annuals).

Regularity or symmetry on the outside edge seems lend organization to the whole space in question.

Divide, divide, divide! I have a lot of plants that are in desperate need of division come the fall and next spring.

Move some plants. I have some that are being totally crowded out. Mark the locations now so I can move them later.

Make note of everything that needs to be staked so next year I do better.

ha, A2mom - I can add your whole list onto mine. Many things simply vanishing under the thugs, only to appear after the summer cutback - which I am already doing with some vim and vigour, having been drowned the whole wet miserable summer, I am going to write off this year and get my head around next year - the perennial gardening condition.
Will fail, as I do every year, with staking, unless there are a number of peasticks to hand.

I like the idea of posting one's garden resolutions for next year - this is the perfect time to do this.

I've spent the past two summers getting rid of a lot of perennials and planting more shrubs. I've also had to be ruthless about getting rid of overly ambitious self-seeders: not only the offspring but the parent plants as well. Basically my garden has become overrun and the maintenance has gone from daunting to overwhelming. Perhaps it sounds like sacrilege on the perennials forum to admit that my primary goal is to reduce the number of perennials. But adding in shrubs, especially those with interesting texture or foliage, creates a more balanced garden overall. My favorite spots in the garden are the places where shrubs and perennials mingle together, creating a much more interesting scene than either would on their own.

My other goal is to replant everything along the front of our house. We are just wrapping up a remodel and most of those gardens had to go. I'm excited about a clean slate and a new garden look to match our improved house!

karin_mt wrote: I like the idea of posting one's garden resolutions for next year - this is the perfect time to do this.

In my MEMO folder of my blackberry I have two lists. One titled "Things to do for Fall 2012" and the other "Things to do for Spring 2013". Having my phone with me all the time allows me to promptly update either list as I think of something. I love it.

yep, this is a weird and not altogether welcome time of year. Everything is pretty much done for this year and there is not much time to change stuff. It ought to be a time of relaxing but I just get quite irked and dissatisfied - partly because I am a bit bored now, with endless watering pots but mostly because I want to get that whole anticipation and deferred pleasure thing going - it is the act of gardening I enjoy, rather than the fact of having a nice space outside. so yeah, I am definately transporting myself into a future garden. Horrendously though, I am finding myself nodding, yeah. definately, and agreeing with EVERYTHING - all these resolutions and plans have traction in my garden so the list is just getting longer and longer (but of course, it is still only in my head).
Still got the tulip order in for next year....and the bareroots - not long now till the start of the next gardening year(autumn).....or do some of you consider that to be spring?

it is the act of gardening I enjoy

This is so me. And that is why it is so hard to leave well enough alone (assuming one has no more 'gardenable' space remaining) as I just love all that is associated with gardening e.g. thinking where to put a new plant which leads to where to move that existing plant and then the actual steps of digging and planting...it is an obsession isnt it?

I had hoped to take more pictures this year, but that didn't work out as planned.

Spring was so dry here there was little done in the way of moving and dividing, so I'm hoping to get alot of that done this fall. I'm also going to try and do more clumps and fewer of the collector's groups of one.

Also I've been cheating on soil prep.... I need to start adding compost and digging things over a little better when planting.