Well, my advice to you is - by all means do your planning, construction and preparation over summer, but realistically, you have missed the boat as far as planting successfully is concerned. I am assuming that you are wanting an herbaceous border (perennials, some annuals, roses etc) that will repeat and grow more established every year! The earliest I would be planting now would be autumn - and that is assuming we don't have an incredibly dry and windy summer (which I think is promised) Landscaping these days is not a particularly cheap pastime, so it would be foolish to expend large sums of money on plants that will struggle to survive. Rather, be patient, know exactly what you want and plant at the correct time for the new plants to establish over winter and make a good display next season. You say you want plants that look good all year - well, sorry, but that takes a lot of work too and generally you will find that this look tends to be quite structural (clipped - a lot of the time) and does not incorporate the smells and flowers you say you want. Time for a long hard study at the library, me thinks!
rusty-bones,
Dec 4, 5:35pm
Oh a Blank Canvas so lucky. It will take a bit to organise but likepiquant said its a big job and a lot of work. My advice is to get books from the library for ideas, or better still go to an op shop and see if they have the Weekend gardener magazine, or start buying them they give lots of ideas andinspiration. Home and Garden or Gardening magazines are great, I picked up a heap for 10c each from a op shop.
stevee6,
Dec 4, 8:24pm
How exciting - I love a blank canvas too. Planning is key as is soil preparation. Over Christmas you might mark out the shape you're considering(a hose is great if you want curves), and one fine day put a few bamboo canes where you're thinking of tall plants and maybe some chairs or something where you're considering medium plants, buckets for small plants and scatter teatowels where groundcover plants are being considered. Now stand back and squint your eyes. What does it look like! Balanced! Right proportions against fences etc! Copy the idea down on paper, then start the search for suitable plants(don't buy 'em, just find out what works with others). NZ Gardener has a design section which might give you some good ideas(copies in the library), and as already mentioned, the library is a great source for landscaping books.
figjamto,
Dec 7, 12:59pm
You have a lovely blank canvas.I do not count myself as much of a gardner, and found mine depressing.needed a bit of work.So I hired a landscape/gardner, it was a little bit expensive but I am so happy with the end result, and find myself"pottering" about every evening now after work and really enjoying it.(I have gone for a Victorian/Cottage garden look).If you do not want them to do all the work, they will do you a planting plan and design at least.I felt it was money well spent
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