Great topic dryad!
Well, I have a few things for spring 2009. I plant to toss out those plants that have never done anything. Space is at a premium!
I also want to do those things that I say I am going to do or buy every year and then never do. Maybe this year I will actually get around to top-dressing the gardens with compost!

As for buying...I keep saying to myself that I will buy some nice garden statue or ornament, but always back out because what I want is too expencive. I have the spot picked out and this year I WILL get something. I figure that because I am buying less plants (no more space) I can afford to buy some nice decoration.
I also hope to get one of those black-box composters to speed things up in the soil making department.
CMK

Well I moved this summer so my first resolution has to be LET THE OLD GARDEN GO....I HAVE A NEW ONE! And then of course really bond with it and make it my own.

I also resolve to learn from the past and plant what I know will do well for me here (I did not move far)

That said I will also try new plants and try and make this garden very distinct from my old one (which I need to let go...)

Well, I moved to this new to me home in January 2008. I didn't know if I even had gardens. Fortunately, yes, there are gardens, but they were sorely neglected, so were treated with lots of manure!!! Added Pink~ and edged, larger that some of them were....added some plants from my old home - yes, in the same Zone. The bones are great, trying not to screw it all up. Dug a new veg garden, and in the Autumn, was starting a new border, along my property frontage, by lasagna. Added many bulbs for Spring pop. So, much more border to go... I plan on adding many more annuals, more daisy-like flowers, lots for scent and butterflies.

That's the plan, in my head. lol!!

Nancy.

I'm trying to keep better records of what I've done to I can refer to them when someone asks me what I planted, how well it's done, or just photographs detailing my plants from year to year. I'm hoping by taking photos each week from the same location, I can keep track of bulbs, perennials, and annuals from year to year too. Only my second full summer here next year, so I'm looking forward to seeing some good growth in my plants that disappointed me in 2008. Why didn't they tell me about biennials? :(

My goal is to get the entire garden under heavy mulch, ala Ruth Stout (you youngsters will have to look her up!).

Ruth Stout. Already found her. :)

I've seen a garden done in this way here on the island, straw was used as the mulch in this case. I have to say it was one of the most luxuriously healthy veggie gardens I have ever seen.

Annette

Our city collects leaves each fall using a huge vacuum truck. They also collect branches and whatnot from the curb all year. They take it to the landfill and shred the woody refuse and pile the leaves. Occasionally, they turn the leaf piles, but not often it seems. I take my pickup out there about once a month and get another load of leaf mulch. I put at least 6-8" of the stuff where I wanted to create new beds or amend existing ones. The mulch is working its way down into the clay and stone soil I have here. I spread my wood ashes from the heater in the basement over the area as I empty them to control the acidity. The plants in that area were so large last year, I'm doing this over the whole garden. I think I need another 3-4 loads, but it's been so wet lately that they can't load them for me at the landfill. Maybe we'll get a break in the rain next week.

Ruth Stout recommends using straw as mulch. I use leaves because it's free and collected by the city.

What is that? Do I see sunlight? I need to get dressed and get outside!

A Ruth Stout Interview

To put blinders on when walking thru Lowe's clearance plants. I need to tend what I have!

Re: Ruth Stout.

I was a devotee back in the 70's of the what they then called the Organic Gardening movement. Ruth's book, The Ruth Stout No-Work Garden Book was written by her and her brother, Richard Clemence(a mystery writer)in 1971. Periodically I get it down and re-read it for inspiration.

It is worth looking for.

Resolutions? Keep up on what I already have. Finish what I started. Maybe get a pergola built this year.

I also want to keep up with what I have, grow more from seeds, and cuttings, and try not to stress with what doesn't get accomplished before summer's heat and humidity and hurricane season get here.

I worked outside yesterday and it was gorgeous, probably between 75 and 80. I transplanted a Penelope rose bush, trimmed and weeded, and cleaned up a messy area. Still have lots more to do, and hopefully will get some more done this week.

Happy Gardening ~ FlowerLady

Hello everyone~
I'm glad I'm not the only one staring at the snow outside and making big plans :) Thank you for Ruth Stout's name Gldno1! She sounds like my kind of gardener. Maybe the dogs won't get so muddy if there's a foot of mulch on the ground.

Jackie - I understand how hard it is to let things go. We moved maybe 45 minutes away and I check up on the old house (we're renting it) every month or so. It's my first real "established" garden - it's about 3 years old - and I want to take it with me! Your new garden will be just as pretty though. I've discovered enough shade and mosture on the side of the house to grow hostas! Exciting :)

Token - Do you have a blog? I'd love to see your garden

Seventh Street Cottage

dryad58: That's the link. I started it on Winter Solstice this year so it's really new. As are my gardens. I've been busy reclaiming the old beds that were put in back in the 50s and 60s by the original owner. The lady that lives behind me was best friends with the owner and has given me some direction as to what was here in terms of bed layout. She's not much of a gardener these days being in her 80s, but she still loves what I've done to the place. This spring will be my first real attempt at creating new gardens from the beds I've reclaimed last summer and this fall.

I did have some flowers last summer, but I hadn't discovered GardenWeb at the time. Most were purchased or gifts from friends. You can see some of the pictures here, as well as more before/after shots of the yard. I really wish I had documented more of the work. I had a friend come out who hadn't seen the place since I bought it, he passed it because he was looking for all the overgrown trees and bushes. :)

I've also done work inside the house as you can see on my blog. I work inside when it's too hot/cold to do anything outdoors. I hope this spring to hire someone to paint the trim and powerwash the brick. It was built in 1946 and I don't think it's ever been done.

I was ill for a couple of years and haven't done a lot out there. But this year I plan to garden with one target in mind-everything in preparation for next Christmas. We haven't decorated for Christmas in three years, because first he was sick, then me, and this year me again. But next Christmas, my three daughters and our two yo grandson will be with us. I am going to pull out all the stops, lights on everything, elves, trains, ponies, you name it, I'm gonna have it.

Next fall I'm going to clean out the yard as soon as we get our first cold snap even if I have to take a couple of leave days to do it. I'm going to hire someone to hang the lights. I have wonderful childhood Christmas memories of lights and trees and animated window displays. I would love to give those kind of memories to my little grandson. And I plan to invite my neighbors to bring their grandchildren over to tour the yard, so they can enjoy it too.

Most of my gardens are now established, I have just a few shady areas I want to finish filling in with hostas and hydrangeas. Then it will be just a matter of maintenance and ho ho ho!

Cheryl

To rig up two rain barrels, one at the small barn to be near the perennial and rock garden and the other down at the veggie garden.

1. Add pelargoniums (Geraniums) to the garden.

2. Attention to edges.

One more: Every sunday, at 1pm or thereabouts, I plan to take a picture of each of my gardens from the same spots. I figure it will give me a nice record of when things bloom and how fast things grow. At the end of the year, I can put all the pictures together in a video file to show the progression through time.

Got this idea from a friend of mine.

My intention for this year is to enjoy the garden more. I get so wrapped up in what needs to be trimmed, fed, replanted, raked, that forget to relax, sit and enjoy what is.