I'll be following this post too because I'm anxious to see how others handle it. I thought your gardens look lovely! There maybe a few plants you want to move as you said to create more structure. I like the way you have the creeping thyme lining the walkway. Maybe put in some 12-24" plants in between the thyme and the lilies. I think there is a ground cover right under the lilies? Is there another spot to relocate that? Maybe around the fountain? Around the birdbath? It looks like a hydrangea near there? I'd move that (maybe near the fence?) but keep the hostas where they are. It looks like nasturiums near a plant that I can't identify.... but how about moving that near the lilies? I'm not sure what light requirments that plant needs, or what exposure you have, so that's another thing to keep in mind.

I'm having the same problem. It's a new garden and this is my first full season with a blank slate. Also, I'm fairly new to gardening, so I'm still learning what grows in which light, what you have to deadhead to get to rebloom, heights etc. This year I've ended up with plants that are too tall in front....others that are too small in back. So the first thing I'm going to do is imagine the garden without the annuals I planted to fill up holes. There are other perennials planted in between that are still small and haven't bloomed this year. I'm on a limited budget and I participate in the seed exchange. So I work with what I've traded for, and then it depends what germinates after winter sowing. So the thing is - I'm usually flying by the seat of my pants!

There are other more experienced gardeners here who I'm sure will have tons of great ideas.

Estelle

Scorpgirl, in a lot of ways your garden looks much better than mine. I don't think there is anything wrong with your lovely beds! They look healthy and exuberant, not messy!

Even though I AM a designer by profession, I have found it very, very difficult to get my flowerbeds to look the way I want them to. I think I'm finally figuring it out.

Plants are alive. Seems simple, doesn't it? Gardening is basically different from interior decorating (or graphic design) because you just don't reach a point where everything is "finished". It keeps growing, reseeding, keeling over, luring in bugs and slugs and such. Birds move seeds around. Plants don't grow exactly as the tag said they would. One plant grows too large and smothers another, trees overshadow and shade out innocent sun lovers. And so on and so on. Gardening is a lot more like raising children or pets - like kids and animals, plants seem to have wills of their own or, at least, they are responding to far more than just our influence.

I love the gardening magazines with their gorgeous photographs. I sigh and wonder why mine never looks that luscious. But since I've been photographing my own flowerbeds I have discovered that you can really make things look better by choosing your angle carefully. Even though it is the first thing you notice when you walk out into your garden, you don't HAVE to include the poor blighted plant that succumbed to powdery mildew and hasn't yet been laid to rest. You don't have to include photos of the flowers that just never really thrived. But the ones you DO photograph become permanent in a way that real, living plants do not. To that extent, the lovely photos are really not true representations. No wonder we feel inadequate when confronted by flowers that never fade! On the other hand...those photographed flowers never grow and change through the seasons and I'm learning that gardening is all about dancing gracefully with changes over which you have very limited control.

I'm beginning to be comfortable with the fact that my garden is a work in progress - as it should be. As it MUST be. I will always be out there moving, trimming, rearranging, and trying to encourage my plants to grow and become their best even though that "best" is so very temporary. That is what gardening IS.

I see lots of room there ;) Actually, I have a similar problem. There are several parts of my garden I am not pleased with, but when I post pictures those are not generally the part I show! Last week I posted a thread to the Oklahoma Forum and I chose to end up showing the garden that I am REALLY not happy with. You can see the different angles I show, the upfront angle doesn't look too bad, but when I shot the photo from the truly honest angle it really shows the problem!

I think most of us show off our good stuff and not the bad. However, when I walk through my garden, all I see is the total picture, which I am frequently not happy with! But I shoot a couple of photos of a few good things, get them up on the computer and think, good grief, my flowers DO look good (see, I can fool even myself!)

Lisa

Here is a link that might be useful: Just showing off....

I think your garden looks fine. You probably want to prune and deadhead from time to time for good health and general maintenance, but really I didn't see any obvious need for it in your pictures. In fact, I thought I saw some space to tuck in some hardy geraniums or a dianthus or two. Maybe a lily. Lilies don't take up much space.

As for those mature oak trees, if they are healthy you might want to consider having the branches thinned to lighten the shade rather than really removing entire trees. Not only would it be less expensive, but an oak tree takes a lifetime to grow. If you change your mind after it is removed, you can't put it back. Just my opinion. Oaks are among my favorite trees, so I am prejudiced here. Of course, sunlight for a vegetable garden is also important. Perhaps the vegetable bed could be relocated?

Rosefolly

I posted the "P.S." to this post above. Pictures 1, 3 and 4 are from this spring. Pictures 2, 5 and 6 are from today. The plant near the nasturiums is pineapple sage. There is also a hydranga I rescued. That will probably HAVE to be moved! Thanks for the responses so far. I, too, look at magazines and dream of having a garden like the pictures. I guess I never thought that the WSed seaside goldenrod was going to reach a height of 5'!! I know gardening is a work in progress. I love learning and hearing from others with more experience. Thanks again!
Jo

Rosefolly- the oaks will only be thinned, not removed. One thing that is worse than a little shade-is blazing sun! I wouldn't be able to enjoy a cocktail on my deck if those trees were removed!
Jo

Jo ~ Your gardens look very nice, and you've still room to plant more. All of our gardens are a work in progress, and we can be our own worst critics. I do have lots of weeds and vines to get rid of around our property. Have just been too drained with all the heat and humidity we have had and are still having to get out and work. Do post more pictures as your really do have lovely cottage gardens.

FlowerLady

I think your Garden looks nice. Maybe after you move some plants around and thin out your Oak trees it will inspire you to plant some more flowers.

I want to remind everyone that the pictures in magazines are usually not plants that are growing in the ground but are potted plants moved there and arrainged to look the best they can. To actually get a garden to look like that is going to be very difficult. Keeping that in mind you may want to pot plants yourself and move them to fill spaces that are empty during different parts of the flowering season. I see too that you have garden "accessories". Think about moving these around too to fill in spaces as the season changes.

Jo,

I agree wholeheartedly with Lindakimy's post. The photos we see in magazines and books represent a moment in time, not a sustainable state for any plant or garden. I know from my own experience that at times I am eager to invite others into my garden--like when my Zepherine Drouhin roses are at their early Summer blooming peak. At other times (like now), however, they are merely naked sticks with few leaves (due to inevitable black spot) and I'd be reluctant to show them to anyone.

I have learned to enjoy the emergence/cycle of each plant throughout the growing season and to rearrange things as needed over time to keep the garden looking the way I want it to. All of the chores you described fall into the category of "gardening" in my estimation and all hold some appeal for me. All of the upkeep of a garden including pruning, replanting and adding plants, etc. keeps my mind and body active and unites me and my DH in a shared activity which results in something beautiful for my family, friends and neighbors to enjoy.

Your garden looks lovely and is a work in progress as it should be. Imagine how boring it would be to actually "finish" a garden?

W.G.

I think it looks pretty good. The thyme does spread, so if you want to contain it, you have to sink it or put a barrier of some sort around it. It's a never-ending process. You can always move things around. It doesn't have to be perfect, you can have things that vary in height for an element of interest. Some plants do better than we know they're going to, so they happily spread themselves around. You have free plants, move them somewhere else in the garden. The more the merrier! Plant things with different bloom times and make sure it's in your zone. You can also bring in more shrubs and trees for the wildlife. It doesn't all have to be perennials.
Keep up with the deadheading and that will help alot.
It's always evolving, so you need not fret so much about it.

Jo, I think your gardens are beautiful. I know how you feel, it can be a bit overwhelming at times, but I just do what I can when I can and hope it all works. I'm forever editing my gardens, pulling out plants that don't work, dividing ones that are too big for their spots, cutting back something that's encroaching where it shouldn't, planting more babies to fill in somewhere. I just replaced some scraggly autumn sage with summer bouquet viburnum, and DH couldn't see the difference. In the eye of the beholder, I guess.

I was talking to a lady at the nursery this summer who was looking for shade plants because after 35 years, her oaks were completely shading her yard. I've always had so much sun to deal with, it never occured to me that I might have shade to worry about some day ! Things are constantly changing, that's for sure.

Carol