I haven't heard you mention getting rid of your lawn yet?

Buy more dirt.

Let cob webs grow on your lawn mower. aka no more lawn : )
You will find some that you don't like for one reason or another this year and yank out. Then start something new to you next year.
Bonnie

Can you roof top garden?
There is always a way,containers,friends?

Guerrilla gardening

You can always grow things as gifts for friends and family or use some of your goodies to help out a worthy cause. I know theres a few parks and nursing homes in our area that could use some color there should be some near you needing the same.

There are some plants you aren't going to like so you're going to do the culling thing and then you'll have to winter sow to replace those next year...

Buy a new house with more land!

Martha

Along the lines as all the above....you edit your garden to make room to try new plants.

You plant things in the gardens of all your friends, neighbors, and most family members.

You have a plant sale, or even better, have a plant sale and donate your earnings (after you've paid your summer water bill :)).

What Tiffy said. You can cull what doesn't work so well. Lawn in overrated. Donations are nice. Guerilla gardening is good (is there a school near you). Annual herbs need starting.

Oh yeah, you could start a newbie project.

You can never have enough flowers, plant them everywhere. Last year was my first year and my neighbor loved it when I gave her some flowers! I even took leftovers to some friends at work! We have 2 acres but I would love it if there wasn't any grass to mow!!

This place totally cracks me up!!
And my friends think that *I* am a garden nut! LOL!!

While my neighbors are I work, I plant flowers in their yards.

Karen

Been doing this so long, friends ask me to start from seed things, or expect seedlings.
My brother is the worst, not only does he request certain veggies, not buy the seed, but gives me canning books with recipes he wants canned! Never gives me the jars back either
The gardening nuns are my friends at the convent, so I give them veggie seedlings, and in the fall I get cider!
My gardens are forever changing adding, dividing, moving, giving away.
Just had another 2500 sq ft plowed up last year, if the septic system wasn't in the front yard, that would be plowed too.

Retiredprof, rest easy - it takes a loooooooong time to grow all the plants in the world. :)

I just went to see "Amazon" at the Boston Museum of Science's Omni Theater - the subject matter was medicinal herbs in the Amazon canapy, the many they know of AND the countless they believe are yet to be discovered.

I'm shopping for plane tickets...

You can also barter. I have a friend who's a painter, his yard is a mess. I put in a flower bed at his house and in return I get my cabinets painted and glazed.

My animals are all due for a check up and shots. Hmm... my vet just had a new exterior put up. Some stone work done and new siding. They tore up her old memorial garden... I wonder...

There are all kinds of exchanges you can work out, if you get a little creative. Money's tight, this is awesome fun, why not make it work for you?

Well, without going off on some smart-a$$ comment about the NEED to sow this many containers every year, I'll offer up some practical commentary:

Annuals: They die
Biennials: Ok, two years of THAT was enough for me; let's try something else
Perennials: There are some that you simply won't like, despite the gorgeous picture in the catalog. I loved my Chocolate Joe Pye Weed for 2 years, but in season 3, the gorgeous burgundy/brown foliage turned green and boring. Out it came; I'll have to save seed and remember to sow this every other year for best show. It also got too tall the 3rd year, whereas in years 1 & 2 it was no more than 3 feet. Then there was the Maximillian Sunflowers. UGH! Yep, the picture was pretty, but when it's topping 6 feet and hasn't bloomed yet, well, that was enough for me. Out it came.
There's also the "coded" catalog words, that one needs to be wary of. This is excerpted from Paul Krantz, editor of some garden magazine, and although humorous, it's very true, and if you end up with something that you weren't sure of it's nature, out THOSE come, too:

"Vigorous" is code for "has a Napoleonic compulsion to take over the world."
"Zone 5 with protection" is a variation on the phrase "Russian roulette."
"May require support" means your daughter's engineering degree will finally pay off.
"Grows more beautiful each year" = "Looks like road kill for the foreseeable future."
"Carefree" refers more to the plant's attitude than to your workload.
"Grandma's Favorite" -- until she discovered free-flowering, disease-resistant hybrids.
"A favorite of birds": avoid planting near cars, sidewalks, or clotheslines.
"Moisture-loving" plants are ideal for landscaping all your bogs and swamps.

MM, You nailed the code on the head!

"if the septic system wasn't in the front yard, that would be plowed too." Sounds to me like the perfect place for annuals.

Well, this is only my second year to WS. I am trying to fill (overfill?) a 30 x 90 garden. Trying different annuals than last year. The perennials should bloom this year so I can see what I like and what I need to yank up. You know us women are always changing our minds! Oh, and did I mention that WS is addicting! Once you start you can't stop. In fact, I'm pretty sure it becomes an obsession. If I get everything WS this year that I have I should be close to 600. Now, who's going to come and help me plant out? Working in the garden and free meals. What more could you ask for?!?

I wish my b.f is ready this, maybe if he reading he will be willing to give me a little more space in the front yard ! and would not think I am crazy...pls...
Moved to this house last Nov. with a deck in the back yard (a very nice huge deck takes the whole back yard), so this is my second year w.s, I am planning do containers for now. ......

Remember that many perennials are short-lived - such as gaillardia.

Yes, winter sowing can go on forever, because the world can be an ugly place. Our goal is to beautify it, one plant at a time.

what the heck are you saying nancy...ONE plant at a time?! You jest! Add a couple zeros, and you'd be WAY closer...

Give plants away!!!!

Get rid of the lawn and gut the lawnmower of any hazardous parts. The use the lawnmower as a decoration or train a vine or two on it!

nancy drew,

You are right. With this economy, we should be able to make out well as people love plants but won't be able to afford them. We trade for something that we need.

Remember that guy whose traded a paper clip for a house when all was said and done? HHmmmmm.....

I want to put in a koi pond.....

Ok, Ok, already! Sheesh! Since I posted this question 48 hours ago, I've definitely decided to back-fill one of the ponds, construct another raised bed, and clear out a nice patch next to the house that has a lone hydrangea (she'll be moved). So... more perennials and veggies. Told son he better clear the back 40, cause daddy has stuff a-coming big time!

You should all feel guilty! Do you realize this time last year I didn't own a seed packet, and now I have a shoebox full? Not to mention a patio table filled with jugs and containers, and yet another OCD trigger that will require therapy?

Just ONE shoebox full????

So, do you have happy feet now? I'm sure you garden will be happy.

Yep, I'm a happy boy! :-)