Garden Dreaming/Planning

Now that our house is pretty much set, I am setting my sights on the outside of our house.  The thing is that I am not a garden person...I want to be so badly!  But I have a hard time keeping things growing or even knowing where to start.  This is what the front of our house looks like now...

It is kind of plain jane...which isn't a bad thing necessarily but we need a little love.  Anything in my life that I have done well has been because of interest, enthusiasm, education and practice.  So here I go...

Introducing:  Project Decent Yard

Here are some pics of gardens I like.  I love black eyed susans.  And I love the fullness of the plantings here.

umn.edu

And again the fullness in this one and the terrace.

mosaicgardens.wordpress.com

lyndakelly.webs.com

I have the interest and enthusiasm.  Now for the education.  I found this great resource from Iowa State University for building your landscape plan.  Here are some of the steps they lead you through.   

I like how they keep it basic and give you examples of plantings.  It is a step by step workbook that is free and by the end of it you will have your own plan for a landscape.  I am a very visual person but also pretty type A when setting a goal, establishing milestones, timeline, etc.  So this speaks to me in that way.  Of course this will be something to work on probably all summer long so I will keep you posted on my progress!