As far as I am concerned
spring is here. I am in Ontario outside of Toronto,
zone 5. The snow is melting and I picked up the garbage and dry plants today. I am already ready to get back to gardening.
I am here because I have tried to create a lush garden from nothing. It is a new development area and there was nothing here but clay and rocks when we moved here 2 years ago and now some sad looking grass.
I had 2 summers here. The first one was spent reviving the grass that dried out shortly after it was laid (it was partially my fault, I didn't know the date they were going to lay the grass and when they did it I couldn't find the sprinkler and I couldn't leave the house to buy new for 5 days). The grass was starting to look OK last summer with a lot or work but that only resulted in my hatred of the grass.
I decided last summer that I didn't want to spend my entire free time dealing with grass so I started to remove some and planted some
flowers as I could remove the grass. Most of my plants were free cycled or planted from
seed, collected from the side of the road, or transplanted from my mother in law's garden.
The ideas are coming I don't even know where to start. I have taken on line courses to design the garden. I have googled, I have bought books, I am trying to be patient. However the biggest problem I have is the soil quality, drainage and run off. Not knowing how to fix these things takes a lot of trial and error and time and energy, not to mention cost. So I hope I can find some advice to correct a few things that are becoming obvious now that the snow is melting. I will post my questions in the appropriate forums and I hope eventually I will have a garden where I can have some weekends to just sit and relax and enjoy the kids, dogs, butterflies and the birds. While I love gardening, I honestly don't want to spend every free minute digging, cleaning, crawling in dirt, hurting my back etc. My reason to have a garden is to enjoy it.
I am glad I saw some Canadians so I don't feel like I stick out like a sore thumb.