Dan

I very insightful article. I enjoyed it very much.

While I must confess that I fit your definition of a "perimeter gardener" to a tee. I have 2 reasons (rationalizations) for doing so.

1. To quote the fiddler on the roof..."Tradition!" ;-)

And,

2. I may only own this property for a few years. While some folks may own a home for an entire lifetime, most of us move every few years. My 6000 foot city lot and house is my most valuable asset and I need to landscape it to please me...AND...keep it a saleable asset. I also do not want to sink lots of $$$ into landscape that would be lost should I decide to sell the house and move to Albuquerque.

I have owned 5 homes in 4 states and I have always tried to landscape my places ...well, like a REALTOR.

So to "accentuating what I have" is what I must do.

Pete in IF

Pete,

Of course, from that perspective and set of priorities, you are absolutely correct. "Normal" (as in "Realtor normal") is by far the best approach if resale is always on the horizon.

From experience, I can attest that horticultural over-improvement diminishes the pool of buyers interested in a property. They all love to look at it as long as it is YOUR property and not THEIR property. I wound up removing planting areas and replacing them with sod. The house then sold quickly. The guy has since ripped out even more and cut down all of the major trees -- much to the neighbor's horror!

Would I do it again? Not to a house that I plan to sell in the near future. However, I plan to stay where I am at for a long time. And, by the way... all of the plants I ripped out at the old place, I potted up and brought here. :-)

IronBelly

I am terribly guilty of perimeter planting, go ahead, beat me with a stick. I got into perimeter planting so as not to have to mow around certain objects, most notably, trees. :) Then, I actually started adding fences, and now we've moved to planting around rocky out croppings. My biggest failure was not watching the sun close enough where I had located a couple hosta beds and by the end of August the poor things really looked sad (it was also a good 200 feet from the nearest hydrant). But alas, you are correct, we all love our own gardens be they perfect or in my case perimeter. :)

Diann
IA Z5a

Tickertoo, that is a beautiful picture. It makes me want to go out and start planting around all my trees.
I just keep making my flower beds larger and larger and the border around the fence wider and wider.
Jeannie

Jeanniez5, Thank you. :) That first little clump of trees, well, I got my riding mower wedged in between several of them in about 3 seconds one day. It took me a good hour and a half of fussing with it to get it out. Thus, a hosta bed was born for that clump of trouble makers. :) Have fun with your gardens!

Diann

I was hopeful that I would see a few of you at the Project Green lecture in Iowa City this past Sunday. Gordon Hayward was the featured speaker and he actually addressed this issue of "perimeter paralysis" quite thoroughly. However, he used different language to describe the same thing in his lecture and new book, The Intimate Garden (And, are we not all really trying to create a garden that becomes more intimate?)

He states on page 214, "The problem with perimeter gardens is that they do not engage." He goes on to say that, "We walk past plants, not among them and therein lies a world of difference."

Of course in his lecture he also gave many before/after pictures and examples which most anyone could incorporate into Joe & Jolene Averages yard. Surprisingly Diann, your photo almost looks like it could have been one of his examples of a garden that he redesigned.

Gordon Hayward gave a great lecture. It was almost eerie that he covered (in much more detail) the topic that I wrote about this month. His explanations and style of presentation were so down to earth that the entire audience was amply impressed.

IronBelly

*grins* Ironbelly, before or after he redesigned it? :) This year, we are going to add several benches to spots in the gardens that are level enough to put a stone or cement bench and have it be safe. I will definately check out Mr. Hayward's book.

Diann

Ironbelly, I got a real chuckle from your description of garden jewelry. My yard is just dripping with jewels! Now I'm trying to back up and plant the bones I should have concentrated on in the first place. This will be the year of the evergreens at our house. I did it bassackwards, just like you said. My yard is pretty but it certainly doesn't speak to me - yet.

Any suggestions on a good book for wildlife habit in a semi-rural area? I hope you keep writing articles for us to ponder. I enjoy the "aha" moments.

Cricket