Gardening is a lifetime of experiences in my opinion and the great thing about it is you learn something new every day even for experienced gardeners who had been doing it for years. Nothing is written in stone. What the person meant to say, I think is that you need to have the backbone of your garden done first, that is structures that can't be changed easily to avoid frustrations later.

Just remember that the garden is your creation that reflects you and your taste. Every garden should be different. What style may appeal to me may not be for others. Are you creating a garden for your own enjoyment or trying to impress other people?

On one of the post I started last year about garden style, there were many responses by fellow members about what their style is. I realized that I am more of a rose collector than anything. I do not go with current style or what the "experts" say we should do. In the end, I am not trying to impress anyone else but myself. It doesn't mean that I don't enjoy reading about gardening styles or about other people opinions but I simply do not try to go with current trends. What I do pay attention is what I like about what others has done. That is where inspiration comes in.

In the end of course is your budget, time and interest. If money is not an object to you then hiring a professional to "create" your vision is the way to go. But like most of us who is tight on budget, we start small and add something to it every year. Keep in mind that taste also changes. I used to love, really love formal gardens, the knot gardens type. As I get older, I am enjoying the more romantic and cottage gardens. This is what inspires me at the moment. As I am planning how to rejuvenate my front garden, I try to keep that in mind.

Good luck to you.

Hi Ickle Cat - Yes I do remember you! So you're doing some research - that's great. I don't suppose you know yet what house - well garden, for our purposes - you'll be getting, do you? I would suggest that if you are currently house-hunting, you try to find a house with a south, or close to south facing garden - or at least one with a nice, open, not-overshadowed-by-big-trees-or-buildings area that's south facing for your roses, if they are to be a particular feature of your garden. (Think, 6 hours at least of full sun if possible.) In England, I think it's always rather blissful to be able to have a sunny seating area right up near the back of the house - so having the back of the house facing south would be good for that too.

For developing your ideas, I'd suggest beginning by poring over every gorgeous great book you can haul back from your public library, every magazine you can lay your hands on, and everything you can possibly Google up on gardens and garden design. Go out and visit some open to the public gardens, and stare shamelessly over other people's front garden fences, Start collecting photos, of anything that you really love, using the Ideas section on your personal Houzz page or elsewhere on your computer to store and review them; or on paper, if you prefer - eg a scrapbook or a huge 'mood board' (as I believe the more Houzzy-types like to call it :¬)) - but just keep a record of everything you love, that makes you feel aaah! YES!....

I was quite amazed when I started doing this how ALL my truly heart-and-soul-touching images fell into such a distinct, consistent style and colour palette... But it could take a while and a lot of false starts and chucking outs and startings again to refine it down to the rudiments of a little world you'll be truly happy and excited about creating for yourself/ves. If there are significant others involved, you should ask them quite early on about their priorities too - whether they want to write a list, pick pictures, or just tell you 'I must have a decent shed and a flat bit of driveway to wash the car' - not everyone's that romantic about gardens! LOL ...Or, perhaps they are in fact harbouring a secret desire to start their own little private vineyard/ hop-garden there... ?! (Better to find out sooner than later, I guess..:¬) )

Ummm... you will of course need to fit all these wonderful dreams into a realistic framework eventually, like having landscaping you can actually afford and plants that can actually be grown in that particular soil, with that aspect, in the South of England; but I do think a good bit of pure mind-cleansing openness at the outset is very useful for beginning to define what sort of general feel and look you are truly most comfortable with - even if that does alter over time.

OK - on your specific Q re the rose and the gypsophila: I checked Grand Prix on HMF, and it looks like it's definitely a florists' rose, which means it's not very likely to make a good garden rose. But don't despair, because there are plenty of other gorgeous, dark red, full-petalled roses that would - AND with wonderful perfume too, which GP doesn't have. I don't know of any particular reason why you shouldn't be able to grow them with gypsophila, but I'll leave that to others with more knowledge to advise you. If you're going for dramatic red and white, I might suggest considering a more neutral/restful green, grey-green or blue-green leafy border around the bed; but that is just my personal taste, and may not be yours.

SO-O-O sorry to be so-o-o long-winded (I just can't help myself!), but I hope it helped at least a little...

Comtesse ;¬)

I'd like to commend both of you for the really excellent and all-encompassing advice you've given. Lots of food for thought before even beginning on a garden.

You've gotten wonderful encouragement from everyone so far to follow your heart, and ultimately that's what a garden should be. I thought I'd throw in a more prosaic word of caution about gypsophilia from my mom's experience as food for thought. She planted the perennial baby's breath (or maybe mixed in with the annual) in a wild birdbath area in full sun. There was a wonderful mix of varied perennials and annuals when she started, and she thought the gypsophilia would add some height and wispiness. Turns out the gypsophilia was an absolute thug in her zone 5 Michigan garden, and it totally overpowered the other well-established plants already there and well suited for that spot. I tried to help her get rid of it or at least tame it, but by that point the gypsophilia had put down roots clear beyond where I could dig, and I'm sure it's still there to this day.

Now none of this says you can't have that combination, but I might suggest putting the gypsophilia in a pot behind the roses, and watching it very carefully to deadhead before it goes to seed. That way you could move the plant if it gets scruffy or out of control, and still enjoy the effect. Particularly a florist's rose may be less able to fight off a thuggish perennial, even in your more temperate zone than mine.

Just my two cents.

Cynthia

Thank-you so much to all of you. This is all really helpful advice! Not sure what house we're getting yet (or what state or kind of Garden we'll get) Hopefully we can have Christmas in the new house and I can get it ready for the January-March planting time.

Good to know about gysophilla, I might keep it potted and see how it goes, I've *ahem* got it on my windowsill in a plant pot, so I'll just keep it in that when it goes outside. There's no holes in the bottom so no chance of it rooting through the bottom.

I like Grand Prix for it's aesthetic rather than any specific reason of heights, etc. If there are other roses that grow in that colour (the size is quite nice too) then I will definitely go for something more suited to a garden and climate. I'm happy to spend some time with my rose looking after it, but as a new gardener, I would rather have something a little easier to deal with!

I'll keep the note about south-facing garden, but I don't think it's a priority for what we're looking for in a house. I think I'll have to work with the garden attached to the house we want, rather than the other way around!

I've recently been getting into Pintrest, so I might use that as a place for garden ideas as well as the other stuff I've been using it for. My real loves fit into a nice colour palette of black and red. So far I've thought of dark red roses, some black grasses I believe? Gladioli blackjacks (currently growing and spare bulbs) and maybe the black hollyhocks. And definitely some of what's growing in the people opposite's garden which I will photograph and identify at some point!

I also like the idea of doing an area with edible plants, definitely raspberry (which I've been told is a wild weed so I may need to contain it) and then maybe strawberries, tomatoes, avocado (if I can ever get it to grow!) and maybe a small herb section as well?

My friend has a mini-greenhouse as well, so I might get one of those!

As far as the formality goes, I was thinking originally I would just do haphazard, anarchistic gardening, but I got told on here that planning was a good idea! Turns out I already had more of an idea than I thought I did :)

I'm sure I'll have loads more questions when I get to actual garden-ownership and planting, and I'll be back :D

Thanks again to everyone for all the help so far!