greengrass wrote:
hello, I live in pennsylvania, u.s.a. and I'm landscaping my yard.
would like to do something akin to an english garden. I thought I would
go right to the source. Can anyone over ther tell me exactly what an
english garden is. how would i start? thank you for your advice.

I have friends who live in Philadelphia who love English gardens and
who go annually to that wonderful flower show. I think your chief
problem is going to be your sometimes very cold winters. We do have
comparatively mild, wet winters and long weeks of snow and ice are not
the norm. They just feel like it at times! I know your winters aren't
always terribly severe and you might live in one of the more mild areas
but whatever you plant is going to have to survive the worst case
scenario, unless you're prepared to keep replacing them. So - start
with the 'bones' of the garden, which is made up of the permanent
planting, such as trees, shrubs, lawns, hedges and any water interest
you want to add.
There's a magazine called The English Garden and if that's available in
USA, it will show you pictures of lots of different gardens here.
For the interest of urglers, I found this link:
http://www.pennsylvaniapride.com/default.aspx?pageid=19
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon