01-04-2003, 10:44 PM
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New house, big yard, what next???
The message
from (Keegan Alex) contains these words:
Hi folks,
Well, I just purchased a house, and it's on a 1.2 acre lot with a few
nice trees, but no landscaping at all. I want to do some landscaping
in the front and back yard, but I have no idea how to start.
My last garden began as nearly 4 acres of open rough grazing, and even
though I'd been gardenng for many years I hadn't a clue where to start
on that scale. Someone who had done it before, gave me this excellent
advice:
"Secure the boundaries early on", otherwise wildlife will spoil plants
as fast as you put them in. You've got a head start there.
"Paint boldly, large swathes with a big brush". He meant, plant the
same thing together in groups (odd numbers are better than formal rows),
which looks far better than dotting a lot of different things around
like a mixed fruit cake. Cheap ways to do this include propagating easy
cuttings, divisions and seeds, buying bulbs by the sack, and buying
trees/shrubs very small from a tree nursery (a fraction of the price of
garden centres, and because small transplants make better root systems
they catch up in size very fast and soon overtake potgrown specimens).
Janet.
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