A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion New Members City gone Country

I moved from the city to a great, old farmhouse minus the farm. Last year I unsuccessfully started to plant flowers. I made my first dig with a shovel to plant flowers around my whole house--breaking a nail, getting a splinter, and seeing the hole FULL of (had to be) thousands of bugs varying from ants, spiders, and who knows what else. It looked more like digging into bugs instead of earth. I had my brother come in and dig the rest of the area around the house out and I didn't actually plant ANYTHING after getting crazy poison-ivy rashes and giving up. I really dream about having beautiful flowers around my house, and the back acre full of wild flowers! I'm really ready to take off my heals and put on some tennis-shoes and go start my gardening this year! Found myself here after realizing, I have absolutely no idea what i'm doing!

Dpp

Welcome to the forum AND the world of gardening!

It sounds like you just need to make yourself a little plan. What zone are you in? That's very important. What kind of sun do the areas get? That's VERY important. Too much sun and you'll fry shade loving plants.

Bulbs are always great because they are so low maintenance. And there are tons of flowering shrubs that you could get also.

Just pay close attention to the zone and sun/shade requirements of a plant.

I personally grow a lot of Zinnia, Cosmos, and Sunflowers from seed because they are super easy and foolproof. I start them out in the early spring in long flowerboxes outside.....then I transplant them around the yard. Of course I go a little hog wild at the nursery too.....

I hope that you have a wonderful spring creating your gardens! And if you have questions just direct them in the right forum area and we'll all help you out.

Laura.

I'm in zone 5. Im searching for a site that just lists the flowers that can survive our winters, but its a long process to find the perfect site! This site was the best I could find for advice-- Mostly because i noticed a lot of activity! I got a little too excited and bought TONS of seeds (mostly in bulk) from Ebay... which im sure to give most away since now, realizing, i should start small before i feel like i have my work cut out for me. I think it would be just the most fun spending time with my 2-year-old in the gardens this year! (she'll be 3 in June, so maybe We'll learn through our trials and triumphs together throughout the years of gardening). She killed my Venus Fly Trap I've had for ten years, by poking it with her finger, but now she knows for when my new seeds come in... not to touch it! I keep tons of indoor plants, "saving babies from K-Mart", as i like to say! I do know now, that i went too crazy buying seeds this year, and found too many deals--too early. I have way more yard here than I'm used to and guess I have tons of work to do in the next weeks even though spring is hardly around the corner(but feels like tomorrow)! I definitely need more tools and experience would be nice to have as well! My parents grew their first vegetable garden last year, and realized that 50 tomato plants and 3 rows of leaf lettuce were too much! My boyfriend wants the vegetable garden, I want the flowers, my daughter likes to pull weeds and dig! I'm sure we have our work cut out for us all, but i'm determined more than ever to get the city out of me and put my hands into dirt this year! I have no idea where to start, what to do, or where to begin... I bought the cutest little book to write about all the plants, my ideas, my errors! the first page says, "don't ever buy 8700 snapdragons, 2500 wallflower seeds, with 500x different other variations of seeds--EVER AGAIN!

Cindy & Laura are right, Dpp! Sun requirements & zone limitations are key and there is no better remedy for life's woes than digging in the dirt.

When my son was 2 I let him dig in the garden with a spoon while I did my work. He also enjoyed planting seeds. By the time he was 8 he was an accomplished gardener of vegetables & flowers in his own right. Now he is 13 and is a member of the forum himself. In his early days of gardening, he enjoyed Sunflowers and Strawberries.

Something I like to do, especially with a new garden, is to draw it out on graph paper. I read about recommendations for individual plants -- how much growing room they need, how much sun. And then plan it on paper. Of course I have never in my life followed the graph exactly, but it certainly has prevented me from making colossal mistakes.

I don't think there's a gardener alive who hasn't overindulged and overplanted. Good thing we have seed swaps around here, huh? If you don't really want 2500 snapdragons, perhaps you could trade 2400 of them for something else?

Merme

welcome. you are in the right place!

What I'll be working on mainly now, is looking up the plants online to see what their requirements are, hopefully most, if not all, will grow here in the chill zone! My boyfriend loves the idea so much that he bought me gardening gloves, i hate them-- doesn't let my thumb work right, and he agrees that we need different styles. Im loving that he is so supportive of something that seems so time consuming-- hope he doesn't buy me more seeds! I am going to do the plan thing really soon, because it looks I'll have to start some seeds next month (Perennial Chrysanthemums planted 2 months prior! i've learned that much) Instead of being simple, i have 13 different kinds of flowers, so i have tons of research to do, because it would just break my heart if im the cause of them not blooming! I might just have to swap some out... i really don't think i have the room to plant all these seeds indoors to get them going. We'll just have to wait and see what i can manage and what i can not!

Thanks to you all for being so friendly and helpful!!

dpp

Welcome. Some of your plant info can be found right here on every page of TGH. There are two search engines in the upper right hand corner. In google search, The Garden Helper, type in your plant name and it will open a page with some info if there is any. And safer than surfing the net. Most things beginning with Willy World are sort of tutorials.
And if you want to see posts with these plants in them, type them into the forum search.
Have fun. We were all beginners at some point and we are all still learning.

This site has definitely became my best friend! I do believe i made mistakes on the kinds of plant seeds i purchased... but I'm still studying this site. Tons of great info here! I keep the "glossary terms" on tab, so i don't get overwhelmed about not knowing what a gardening word means, heh. I can't wait for the seeds to come to my door! I'll have wayy too much i think, and have to give some away to you all so they don't go to waste. I still have to go buy something to plant the seeds indoors, only the necessary tools, and i want to paint my wheelbarrow before spring. I'm thinking red!

dpp

If your wheelbarrow is red, you won't lose it too easily in all of the green. Really, we have all made many mistakes. When my gardens were at their best and people stood around awestruck, I kept telling them that I have killed as many plants as I have ever grown with success.

Hello and welcome. and yes you most definately have found the right place.


I have 2 pieces of advice.

1) start small and add more as your confidance level goes up. This will also give you time to decide what you really want to have in the way of flowers and veggies.

2)----you might want to stay away from the packets of wild flowers for first.

My grown daughter bought one of those huge packlets of wildflowers last year, and planted them in 2 different places in her yard. They were beautiful !!! BUT they also drew bees/hornets something that were 1 to 1- 1/2 inches long. Lots of them. she has no small children like you do but her dogs and the neighbors pool were both given a run for their money.

as the saying goes, baby steps---

wow, I really don't want bees. Maybe i'll let the guy win his debates for once... after all the flower talk, he said he would rather set something else back their besides a yard full of flowers. he wants horseshoes, lawn darts, and stuff in that sort set up, he said maybe even a pool (which even in the hot months sounds relaxing, but much much work when i want to start gardening too).
I was winning, but i'm going to give in! I have much work to do without the worry of bees around.

Has anyone really lost their wheelbarrow? I've never even used one!

Welcome to the forum!

You have found a wonderful, friendly place with lots of information! I just moved to the country a few years ago and am still getting my flower beds established. I do a lot of trial and error. I move a lot of plants every year because I decide that I didn't plant them in the best spot or planted things too close. You will get it! It takes a little time and patience!!

I didnt mean that you should not plant flowers---I was saying do not plant that big dicounted pkg of wild flower mix. The really TALL ones. I have flower beds, as do a lot of us-----do your research. bees are not bad they are a necessary item, and yo can teach you r daughter to stay away. It is just that the ones these flowers drew were REALLY BIG.---and that might be bad.

i think you and your guy could both have what you.---draw up a schematic----have him tell you howmuch room he would need/want & then you can work out where youcould put a few flower beds. Both of yo could be happy!!!!

it is luike plantqueen says--it is a work in progress....

I'll be very very busy this summer... I'm thinking of doing before/after pictures too... the make-over of my yard! The guy's idea of the horseshoes and yard fun stuff, isn't a bad idea at all! it would definitely accent the fire pit we have, and go well with the "not finished-hardly started" pond he started last year!

My neighbors all have wonderful plants, flowers, gardens... and I'm the oddball of the whole small town! They can grow the tall wildflowers and keep those huge stingers! We already have the smaller bees, they always come and smell my lotions and perfumes (another thing i'll have to consider leaving my city-ways)

my seeds are starting to come in!!!! I know I made really bad choices when buying them! 25 venus fly trap seeds came in! When i bought them, I had all intentions of keeping a few indoors to eat these country flies up... I live 1/4 mile from a dairy farm!! I'm still confused if i should put them outside or not I'll just have to decide after they are seedlings, and if they even sprout or not!!

I just can't wait to join in all this fun!

dpp

Go look in all the forums Dpp. Their are specific places to ask specific questions---it is easier for people who can aswer them to find them that way.---

Go look aorund you will find your way I am sure----

DPP, you've fulfilled my dream. :) I dream to buy a house somewhere near the lake or river and live quiet live. But at the moment life dictates it's rules and I am unable to do that.. Hopefully time will come. :)