Help! New Gardener!

[rnjroberts]

Hello all! I am a new gardener this year with my new house. I want to do some landscaping but I am so not swift when it comes to picking out flowers! My husband and I have been going around town trying to fiugre out what we want but man are there a ton of flowers!! I wanted to do two or three different kinds in front of my house. We live in Ohio so our weather is not always wonderful. Like yesterday with about 3 stinking storms that were tearing down trees!! I need something that is easy to take care of. The flowers would be in the full sun most of the day. I had been told "impatients' would be good but when I looked them up it said that they needed morning sun...they would get that but also afternoon and evening!

I also have a shrub problem. The people who lived here before us decided to plant a privacy shrub in the middle of the "flower bed." How the heck do I get rid of the thing. We already cut one down but we are left with the wonderful stump! Not bug enough to use a stump remover but big enough to be a pain in my a**.

If anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them!

Thanks!!!

[Vox Humana]

Regular impatiens like partial shade. The do not like afternoon sun and will wilt. You can however plant New Guinea impatiens in full sun as long as you keep them well watered. There are small plant tags in most annuals that are sold in garden centers and box stores. The tag should have an indication of the exposure (full sun, part sun, part shade, full shade) and how big the plant gets. Most tags have a bit more information. Read the tags and ask questions. I would recommend that you go to a real garden center if you don't know much, because if you go to Wal-Mart or Lowe's or other stores where plants are a seasonal item, you are unlikely to get good advice.

The shrub roots will have to be removed by digging them out. An alternative (which I am not necessarily recommending) is to tie them to a sturdy vehicle with a rope and pull them out. Of course there is potential for serious injury with the latter method, so use precautions.

One way to get an idea of what you think looks good is to visit display gardens and garden centers. There are also books available that discuss the selection of annuals. You must live in northern or central Ohio because we didn't have any severe weather here in the Cincinnati area. Let me know where you live and I might be able to suggest some display gardens.

[Kay Lancaster]

Before you go whacking and chopping, you might want to find out what you have. Might be something really nice.

Shrubs and trees are typically the backbone of landscaping, with perennials and annuals providing most of the color.

Personally, I'd suggest some easy annuals for you this year, and maybe some easy perennials, while you visit gardens and garden centers and think about what you'd like your yard to look like and how you're going to do it.

My nomination for a beginner's full sun perennial that is fairly low care and hardy in Ohio is garden chrysanthemum. Sun, decent soil, water until they're well established, and they're good for 20-30 years. Run a lawnmower set very high over them in early July if you want lots of flowers instead of a few big ones.

For beginner annuals for full sun, there are lots of marigolds, ranging in height from 6 inches to about 3 ft. Dahlias from seed are fun, though it's a bit late in the year to start them from seed. Sunflowers come in all sorts of sizes now, and are easy and quick to come from seed, while petunias are a common and easy plant with lots of colors. A little fertilizer, a little water, a little deadheading and you can have quite a show.

A very famous landscape architect was supposed to have said, "Figure out what you can grow, and then grow lots of it". It's a good rule... a big bed of petunias tends to be much more impressive than a petunia next to a salvia, next to a marigold, next to a dusty miller...

Some sites for you:

've mentioned it before, but still my favorite book for beginning gardeners: Rodale's Chemical-free Yard and Garden, by Anna Carr et al. Any edition. Pay special attention to the initial chapters on soil and water.

Gardening can be relatively easy when you spend some time initially on basics, like building good soil and proper digging of beds initially, and on choosing plants that will do well with your conditions. It can be a real backbreaker if you don't pay attention to the basics and choose unsuitable plants in unsuitable locations.

Kay Lancaster [e-mail]

[rnjroberts]

We have tried tying a truck to the shrub and it wouldn't budge. Plus it is right by my steps and I really didn't want to yank them out!!! Thanks for you advice though!

[rnjroberts]

Thanks for all your help! I appreciate it!!

>

[Michelle]