May I enthuse here for a moment? After about 1.5 years, I have
finally gotten a slot with the local landscaper who does things
without using herbicides and pesticides. And he speaks English,
so he will know that I want to leave the pine needles under the
pines, and I want to naturalize part of the back yard (minus a few
extremely aggressive weeds), and I don't want the moss blown off
the ground, etc. I am sooooo happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I've been doing a lot of planting here this spring. Putting
in a lot of colorful things. I wonder if anyone else just starts
with appealing-looking plants (checking for suitability, of
course) and then just proceeds where that logically takes them.
Or do most people actually have plans? Seems to me that when I
have had plans, they go awry because of availability or price or
other factors I can't control.

And I have been paying attention to ultimate size, which, alas,
makes things look rather sparse right now.
--
Jean B.