My thoughts lately. I really love sunflowers and regret not planing more every year. My dahlias weren't as well thought out as I'd have hoped - all shades of purple and nothing else. Won't ever plant celosia again, always a failure for me no matter how many times I try. Missed some of my annuals. I overplanted the creek around my pond - have to fix that next year and stop buying really large grasses! Maybe next year I'll put in a real veggie garden instead of being limited to containers. I always regret not having a greater variety of veggies......hmmmm....now to the front yard. ;o)

Well, I have sworn for the past several years that I am actually going to leave things alone and let them grow. So as soon as I finish replanting the dozen or so perennials that I just dug out of the back garden because I figured they might need a good home, I'll come back and make another resolution... :-P

Well, my main resolution is to make more garden beds, and get some of my pot ghetto planted, while in the meantime not buying any new plants... well, okay not buying *a lot* of new plants.

This was my resolution last year, and I did make some headway with it. I was especially good at not buying new stuff; not so good at making as many beds as I had wanted to.

I also want to get more late summer/fall color. I say that every year! Although I have a dickens of a time establishing japanese anemones and aconitum, two of my favorite late season plants. I keep trying, though!

:)
Dee

I agree, it is a good time to get hold of the mistakes (and successes) of the season while they are fresh in your mind. I make the same resolution as Blackswamp girl (every year) and I will also need to make it again as I just decided to double the size of a couple of beds that I vowed to leave alone...I wasn't doing very well with it anyway, I've been messing with those beds all year.

My biggest mistake of the season is one that I make every year, not giving plants enough growing room (ala the above mentioned overplanted pond area) I always end up burying and losing things...I am missing a salvia May Night and a couple Heucheras, I know one was devoured by catmint and the others I will find under some rougue Heliopsis when things die back.

My greatest lesson of the season is the effectiveness of shrubs in the border or perennial bed. They add height, structure and texture that can not be achieved with perennials alone...they rock.
:-) Helen

My resolution is to get rid of the phlox on which I battle powdery mildew every year, get more of phlox Jr. Dance, so far at least it seems to laugh at powdery mildew, started blooming in July and is still going.

You really want that snow to fly, don't you Kevin LOL!!!

My resoution: STOP BUYING PLANTS!!

I want to move within five years (don't know if I'll make that goal, but there you have it), and there is just no sense pumping more money into my garden. I've made a really nice garden here (well, I think so....) and I just don't need anything else, and I feel kind of guilty I really went overboard this summer buying a lot of plant material (going on a rampage and ripping out 20' of landscaping and replacing didn't help the budget, that's for sure...).

So my resolution is to be happy with what I've created and if I have any bare spots or want to tinker (I always want to tinker), I will try to use what I already have.

I have already been thinking through what I want to change next year, too, Kevin. I have been taking notes in my daily garden journal, which I just realized was my resolution last year!

I have tried many times to keep a handwritten bound journal. I always loved buying a pretty one for the year. I never kept them up for long though. This time I have succeeded. I started it in January and have kept extensive notes on a spreadsheet, using one column for each day. Now when I want to remember something, the spreadsheet has a search function and all I have to do is type in what I am trying to remember and it has made finding them, as easy as pie. Something you can't do with a bound journal.

For next year, I am planning to cut back on gardening chores and work as much as possible. I've decided we have too much to do. I am going to limit the number of containers that I pot up to something more manageable. I may group most of them all together to make watering easier and either use a sprinkler or set up a drip system to avoid having to hand water everything. Also along the lines of container resolutions, I am planning on using more foliage plants and more annuals that don't need deadheading.

I usually do winter sowing in the winter and the past two years I have overdone it and I am hoping to cut back to a bare minimum this coming winter.

I want to create a better work space. I am not happy with what I have and not being able to put my hands on what I need quickly. Also having more than one area that is messy from working in them, I would like to consolidate it all into one area that is out of sight. I think I would like to incorporate the 'pot ghetto' into this area too.

Watering seems to be at the top of my resolution list though. I wonder why. [g] I have had rain barrels at the bottom of my list of resolutions every year for awhile but I am putting it to the top of the list for next season. I'm also thinking through grouping perennials/annuals that need more water in one area and putting all the drought tolerant together. I have been doing that mostly, but I think I have a few in the wrong places that just need juggling. Then I really think it is time to get an irrigation system installed. At least for the shrubs, trees and the lawn too. So I am going to price having that done and see how expensive it is. I hope it is not out of sight.

That's it so far. That should keep me busy for awhile. [g]
I think it is a great idea to figure all this out now because there is still enough good weather left to get started working on it now..lol.

Kevin, were you talking more about which plants you want to use next year?

:-)

prairiemoon - Nope. Not just plants. Anything really.

Last year I resolved to get rid of a lot of the pots. Did it and life was much easier this year. I didn't miss them either. I'm also very big on keeping notes on my computer. I don't have anything as elaborate as a spreadsheet - just a Word document labeled Garden Notes. Whenever I have a thought, I put it there. Sometimes I don't look at it for months, but when I do I always find something I forgot about, but still want to do. For me it's just so easy keeping all this on the computer vs. a notebook. I type much faster than I write I guess and I always know where to find it.

I also think it's a great idea to spend some time figuring out the things like watering and basic garden organization like you're doing. Once you get a system that works for you, you'll have so much more time to do the things you really like doing.

My resolution for next year is to plant more of the stuff that I know works, and limit my "experimental" plants. The holes I have in my beds this year are largely due to new plants that just don't like my climate or growing conditions.
I'm also trying to cut down on so much spending. I have been studying the seed sites and am going to try starting more annuals from seeds next year.

My biggest lesson I learned this year was purely by accident. I will begin to haunt the garden centers as early as they are getting in plants come spring. I will buy six packs and bring them home to immediately pot up into gallon containers. I did this this spring because my pansies were so gorgeous I wasn't ready to replace them. Lo and behold, my summer plants were huge and blooming by the time I put them out and my beds looked just like a professional had planted them. I only had to move those pots inside one time for a late cold snap.

My other lesson is that next year I will order seeds for fall annuals in the spring. I will plan to start them inside in late June or so, and use them to replace stuff that is pooped by the end of August. The garden centers here have nothing but mums, and in our heat, they don't last two weeks, yet we can have summer blooming annuals here until pansy planting in November.

Hi Kevin..how many of your containers, did you get rid of and how many did you keep? I would really love to know how you managed to not miss them. [g] I am wondering if I will miss mine or not. I figured out a few places that I can plant some thing in the ground instead that might be easier to take care of. It might take me a few seasons to figure out how I can reduce them more.

As for a spreadsheet vs Microsoft Word document...do you have Microsoft Works on your computer? The spreadsheet is very simple and not elaborate and is easier than a word document to me and organized the way I work. Once I knew how to make headings across the top line and how to change the size of the columns, I found that was all I needed. I just write the date at the top of the column and write my notes under that and that is all I do. But either way, having it right there on the computer is so convenient and I remember it more often. I agree, typing is faster than writing..and I don't have to search the house for a notebook. OR leave it out in the rain!

As for working out organizing and watering issues, I've worked that out a couple of times already and still changing it. One of these years I am going to get it just right. :-)

Donna...this year was my year to cut down on spending and I barely spent anything so far. I have a lot of new plants in the past 3 years, so it didn't bother me at all. I want to keep the experimenting going, but maybe less of it and I agree, I want to use more of what is working. I started winter sowing two winters ago and that has saved me a lot of money and I have lots of plant material and I feel like I am spending a lot more than I am.

prairiemoon - I got rid of at least 3/4 of my containers and no, I didn't miss them once I realized how much work they were.

I do have Works on my computer, but what I use now is really meeting my needs. I don't take that many notes.

Hmmm....so the not missing them part, is the relief of a lot less work. OK, thanks, looking forward to that.

Yes, probably the reason I enjoy Works, is that I do take extensive notes. It seems like we both found something that fits what we need. :-)

I forgot to mention this. Originally I thought my only reason for eliminating most of the pots was a "less work thing", but after I did it I realized how much the clutter was bothering me. I had most of my pots in one area and they just got out of control. I still like doing an occasional pot here and there, but I'm much more careful about how I use them. As a focal point they can be stunning. I guess the old rule of thumb - less is more - really is true.

Hmm! Seems you're better at resolutions than I am. I intended to do fewer pots this summer, I actually bought fewer plants than in the past, but then people to whom I had given plants in the past brought me rooted cuttings of things and well I just sort of ended up with a few more pots that before. Maybe I just have to stop making garden resolutions.

Kevin, that is very interesting about the 'clutter' issue. I usually place mine and feel good about them, but then I remember I have to bring out all my houseplants for the summer and you're right,it gets too crowded in some areas.

Which brings me back to the 'less work' resolution again and fewer houseplants. I am not going to try to overwinter more and more and more. lol I have some plants that do well for me every winter and I have had them for years, but I have been experimenting with different plants and just making more work for myself and 'cluttering' up the house. I hear you! :-) Fewer houseplants inside equals fewer outside next year.

HH2...well it wasn't your fault! lol

My resolution is to keep up with plant maintenence. My New England asters are taking over the front garden. I just need to remember that they must be divided every year, & then do it! I'm way too laissez faire for the garden's own good. A 2d resolution is to turn or stir up the compost pile more often. I'm cold composting by just tossing things in as they become available, then throwing a layer of soil on once in awhile.

A couple of resolutions for me to ponder:

1) Try HARD not to overplant the garden. The veggies are running amok. Again.

2) Plant more in drifts next year. I was accused rightly of having a planting identity crisis this year.

3) Leave my credit card at home when going to the nursery to pick up "one" plant. I can do it! I think.

4) Have fun gardening without worrying so much about the final product.

Kate

Okay, I've decided I don't like this thread anymore, because I keep seeing resolutions that are very sensible and should be added to my list, and now I have too many resolutions to keep! LOL!

Since I started selling at the farmer's market, the focus of my gardening has really changed. Whereas I usually had a few annuals in pots and mainly perennial gardens, now I WS a ton of annuals, have expanding cutting gardens, and am still trying to plant my pot ghetto of perennials. Sometimes it is overwhelming. So, one of my main resolutions is to try to make improvements (both in the gardens themselves and in my work habits), to try to keep up with the chores and projects, and most importantly, not to get on myself if everything doesn't get done. There's always next year!

:)
Dee

Every year, when mid-July/mid-August rolls around, I look around my garden and see green, green, green! I have so many great perennials (mostly planted by the woman who owned our house before we bought it), but by the time mid/late summer rolls around, there really aren't any flowers blooming. So my vow is to find some beautiful perennials that flower in late July and early August.

I usually fill the gaps with annuals, but didn't really do that this year due to impending construction that is happening later than we thought.

On a nice note, my Autumn Joy Sedum is just blooming now! How pretty! I must plant more of that, too.

Helen, I'm glad that it's not just me!!! lol.

Hmm... maybe I should go and enlarge some of the beds I've been putzing with, now that I think about it... *grin*