Garden Re-Design Update

I wrote this post over the weekend only to discover this morning that it had completely disappeared. POOF! Add that to the ongoing issues with uploading photos and I'm not too pleased with Blogger right now! Anyway...

Awhile back I shared that I am working with a landscape designer to help me re-imagine my flower beds to create cottage-style gardens. I've been frustrated with them -- or myself -- for a long time. Each summer I work so hard but fall so short of my vision!

There are lots of ways to create cottage-style gardens but this internet photo is a good example of the look I've been trying (unsuccessfully) to create -- very full, informal beds with lots of colors and textures:

After a few more "tweaks" I think the plans will be ready and I will be able to get started on whatever can realistically be done at this point in the summer. I have a ton of perennials but many are in the wrong places. The idea is for me to move and/or divide as many as possible and fill in with some new ones, following the new garden design plans.

The only flower garden I'm happy with is this one in the front of our house. It started out as a woodland garden, but it has some of the same characteristics I'd like to achieve in other parts of the yard. I had the designer look at it to help me articulate WHY I like it so that we can replicate some of those same ideas. We concluded that this bed works because of the variety of textures, colors, and heights. The ground cover -- which I once tried to kill...don't ask why! -- seems to pull it all together. Other than the ugly black plastic edging, this is the one thing in our yard which I seem to have done well.

 

Unfortunately, it's all downhill from there!

Trouble starts at the back of the house with large gaps between plantings.

Looking deeper into that same garden, you can see that there are height issues, too: tall plants where there should be short ones, and short plants where there should be taller ones.

 

 Here's a view from the end of that garden. You can see the gaps and height issues. In addition to a new design, the shape of this bed will be changed and expanded to smooth out the sharp corner near the windows.

Worse yet is this garden which is shaped like a giant crescent roll. It will also be expanded to soften the lines and allow for better design flow.

There have been serious issues in this flower bed for a long time. Each time I think I have the problems fixed, it seems to look worse. When it comes to garden design, a lack of knowledge goes a long way!

  This bed is my most recent creation. You'd think I wouldn't be able to mess up an area this small, but I did! This bed will stay the same size but the mix of plants in it will change.

I've also asked for help with the design of this back area, an overgrown, embarrassing No Man's Land. It needs serious attention because it adjoins our neighbors' garden which is neat, tidy, and newly planted. I'm afraid to go out there because Spouse told me recently he once saw a snake in the vicinity. I may have to hire some help with this bed...or get a very long-handled shovel!

So now you can see the scope of my issues. I'm excited to jump into this big project. I'm pretty sure I'm about to get in way over my head, but isn't that what gardening is all about?