The best advice I have is: ItÂs your garden and youÂre the one whoÂs going to be looking at it, so donÂt worry too much about what somebody else thinks is "right!" With gardening, the only "right" is what you like! Visit some public gardens and some good garden centers and find the things you like the best and then decide where YOU think theyÂd look good in your yard. I guarantee you, as long as youÂre happy with the way it looks, everybody else will be too. And once you get started, if something just looks "wrong" to youÂwell, perennial gardening is all about moving things too.

Because my yard is small, I only have one of each of almost all of the perennials I have, and youÂll find lots of people who say that makes it look like polka dots since youÂre "supposed" to plant in 3's, 5's, etc! Well, I donÂt think it looks like polka dots at all, but even if it did, itÂs my yard, and IÂm very, very happy with the way it looks. And I never had any kind of a "plan" at all. I started by taking the things I had brought along from the last house and just decided where to put them as I had time to put them in--and as I was able to get the #@$%#& rock out. And thatÂs how I still add things as I buy or start somethingÂor get it at the swap! :-)

I think maybe youÂre thinking too much again! Just relax and enjoy it!

Of the books you mentioned, I donÂt have that bookÂyet, but Jim Klett is really knowledgeable, and the Sunset book is an excellent "encyclopedia type" reference book. But in that one you need to know the zones are different, and z5 is zone 2 in Sunset. If you donÂt know that youÂll be totally lost in that book. (Jim Klett is at CSUÂthe two books you have listed are the same.) I never have been a big fan of Lauren Springer, but thatÂs just personal preference!

My favorite basic perennial book is the Heritage Perennials, Perennial Gardening Guide. It has lots of pictures and basic information about a whole lot of perennials. When I was selling them I used it a lot to show people the pictures and to find info about things I hadnÂt run into yet. I sold a lot of the books too. I donÂt have the Fourth Edition yet, but each edition gets better.

http://www.perennials.com/gardeningguide.html

But, again, get a few books for reference, but spend most of your time actually "doing." ThatÂs the best way to learn, and the funnest.

Skybird

In addition to looking at gardening books you might also want to look at house design books. Why? To really pin down the 'styles' that appeal to you.

If you find you love a 'minimalist look', for example, then decking out the garden in a multitude of colours and species will not please you for long.

If the general mood of Japanese gardens, with the use of rock and a small palette of species appeals, then rustic and cottagey may look better in someone else's garden, but not yours, thanks.

If you have a 'thing' for indigenous species - and who could blame you?! - then think habitat/ecology as well as 'style and interpretation' of a wilder landscape that has caught your heart and is able to be copied in your location.

And if the gardens of places that have more climate than weather have caught your imagination - think several times before slavishly copying the layouts and species. You can probably get a similar effect using locally reliable species without incurring large losses or costs.

Also remember to look beyond your own boundaries when you are scheming. The tree might be on Their Side - but the roots are pretty much guaranteed to be sharing your side, too. And if they have a fixation with screaming cerise plants that are clearly visible from your place - then you might need to think about a mitigating colour scheme on your side of the fence.

If there is a glorious view beyond the boundary - that, too, may need to be factored into the scheme of things as a destination view, or a fascinating glimpse, or background/inspiration perhaps to be repeated or echoed in the 'hard architecture' you have in mind.

You might also want to think 'mood' and 'purpose' as you contemplate developing each area. Even the wildest party has a few quiet spots for folk to be at ease together...

I love looking at gardening books and mags. But, have never actually used any plans. Primarily because they always show everything grown after years and if I followed their plans I'd have tons of empty space in between plantings. My favorite comment heard on a gardening show was to plant what you want, where you want. A couple of years or more, you can always move it. Right or wrong, I liked this idea and just plant...with a bit of planning inside of my head.

I'll get little ideas for small areas, or see a plant that is new and appealing from photos, but am more like Skybird. Tis' your garden. Things seem to just evolve wherever I lived depending upon what was there before, wasn't, wanted to be, cost involved, etc.

The home I am in now has probably been the hardest to put a design into. It is very old and at one time must have been beautiful, but over the years no one cared. I wish they had just let things grow wild, now suspect they just used weed killer for anything not wanted to spend time taking care of. Lot's of areas to plant in, grass to rip out, patio to fix.....but is coming around. Planning on my part was deciding what areas the yard would be used for, sun exposure, need for shade and creating a couple of places for enjoying the garden. Oh, and two dogs which thankfully don't dig, but they love the yard too.

On the otherside of personal endeavor, if you are a detail person then a plan probably appeals to you and Vetivert has some really great points. Looking at houses similar to yours is such a good idea, especially for how plants really look matured. Plus, hardscaping is something to start with for "grounding". I am in an area that just a mile up the street, the plants are about a week later to show. They are closer to the mountains and even though the blossoms are in abundance this week around my area, theirs are just now coming out.

Skybird, how big is your garden? I'm going to sneak over some day and really find out.

Verti, Have been to NZ twice and you live in the most wonderful landscape possible. It changes at a curve in the road and there are flora/fauna never seen before in the stages some evolve. How fun to have you hanging around here with us. And, I actually like beets on McDonald's hamburgers.

. . . and very well expressed, Vetivert8!

We make tremendous physical use of our side yard (which was at one time part of the driveway). But, we still want coolness and comfort there so will continue the struggle to have grass rather than go to a hard surface. There is little room for plantings because we are continually pounding up and down on that landscape.

The remainder of the yard is small, especially with the little greenhouses in the back. What is there has evolved as a cottage look. It is populated each Summer with the cut flower varieties that don't make it into our flower gardens off property.

I have a little theory about cottage gardens, actually it is a BIG theory - no matter the size of the garden many of the plants, maybe the majority, should be taller than a 3 year-old. Since cut flowers are tall - voilà , cottage garden. There are other parts to this theory but we conform to this particular.

I see that our library has that book by Janet Macunovich, Stevie. I'm going to check it out when I get out there.

DigitS'
jardinier invétéré

Emagin, as long as IÂm home and you give me a couple days warning, youÂre more than welcome to "sneak over here!" Wish we werenÂt so far apart! IÂm on the WAY north end of metro Denver. But anytime youÂre going to be up this way, IÂd LOVE to show you my yard!

At least weÂll get to meet at the swap,
Skybird

Great advice...as usual, I'm taking notes.

I'm with Stevie right now in thinking so much (too much in my case) about what to plant around my house now that the junipers are gone.

I have several of the books mentioned. I'm a book junky and half.com, a discount/used online bookstore, is my favorite addiction source.

I actually really like Lauren Springer's book, Passionate Gardening, with lots of great pictures of her garden and clever combinations of mostly low-water plants.

I've been looking at some of the High Country Gardens pre planned gardens. There's one called "Colors and Textures Garden" that I'm considering for my front walkway and another "The Inferno Strip Garden" for a hot, low water area. The no brainer factor is what appeals to me so I can spend my time in the veggie garden this summer.

I'd love to sneak in on all of your gardens!

Charlene

Here is a link that might be useful: High Country Gardens pre-planned gardens

I just recently bought Tracy DiSabato-Aust's "The Well-Designed Mixed Garden" which I haven't gotten far into yet. I've read others saying she does good garden books, but I have to say I'm disappointed with some of it already. It has a large section in the middle called an "encyclopedia of plant combinations" showing photos of what are supposed to be great combinations, but I think they're mostly boring! I don't know why she spent so much time producing the text and photos for that section when it's utterly uninspiring. But I am hoping to learn from her principles of mixed design, using perennials, annuals, bulbs, shrubs, and trees. She's from Ohio, so perhaps it's not as regionally focused as you want, anyway.

I like the Sunset Western Garden book, and it has some nice photo examples of good western gardens. They also have a companion called Sunset Western Landscaping, and I really like it. It has some good garden designs and some design principles. It's easy to follow. I'll link to it below.

Has anyone else been disappointed with the DiSabato-Aust books?

Here is a link that might be useful: Sunset Western Landscaping Book

Klett "Best Perennials for the Rocky Mountains and High Plains"

That's my favorite book. I'm on my second copy, I read the first copy so much it fell apart on me. :)

I have had too many best laid plans for my garden go astray. Like some stuff dies, or blooms at the wrong time, even though the books said they would bloom at the same time. As an example, I splurged last fall and bought 200 daffodil bulbs, all Winston Churchill, and slapped them all into the flower gardens right in front of the front door, figuring I would get a wowzer display when they all went off at once. Except they didn't, because the ones further away from the house heated up faster then the ones closer to the house, and were finished before the ones closer to the house even started. Oh well.

I do look at the High Country Gardens catalog for ideas, because their climate is about as close to mine as is possible.

Ok, jaliranchr, I know what I want for Christmas.

Hi Stevie,

I own Lauren Springer's Undaunted Garden, I absolutely love that book! I also own the latest version of The Sunset Garden Book and it is a great reference. Neither of those books have given me step by step practical advice on garden design other than Lauren Springer advises that you pick plants for their interesting foilage. I recently checked out a book from the library called The Perennial Gardener's Design Primer by Stephanie Cohen & Nancy J. Ondra and it has been very helpful in teaching me the basics of garden design. It has sections on creative coloring effects, working with white, dry-soil sites, super impact for spring, flowers and foilage for fall, minimal-maintenance plantings, formal borders for elegance and bringing large landscapes down to size. I learned to "stay centered" which means to keep the bright colors, gold, yellow, orange, red and white toward the middle of the border otherwise they draw your eye to the edge of the planting which is very important since I have a relatively small yard.
Oops, I didnt mean to do a book report, I just happened to have the book right next to me, lol. I am fairly new to gardening and I still occasionally do the "oooh thats cute, I think Ill buy one and plop it in somewhere" type of gardening. I hope I never mature too far past that stage though because its getting really expensive to do that in threes every time! :)
Jill