Lawn / Garden

We know that everything must die. But does it have to die after 2 weeks and hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars? That is not a circle of life, that’s a life of pain. If you’re looking out your window at the bleak landscape called your yard, before you cast yourself in the role of Mr. Green Jeans, know these things…

Thing No 1

Go toward the light.

The first thing you have to do is evaluate your light. Do you have it? When? Where? And how strong? The two biggest killers in the world of lawns and gardens are water and light. Overabundance and lack thereof are equally deadly.

Thing No 2

Try to get an idea of the look you’re going for.

This is kind of like haircuts. You may not be able to pull off the exact look you’re going for (due to light constraints that you have identified in Thing No. 1) but you’ll at least have some parameters to work within like “wild and rustic,” “minimal and Zen,” “old-English and manicured.” Etc. Some pics from Martha marthastewartliving.com or sunsetmagazine.com or the gazillion gardening mags and books aren’t a bad place to start. Try to put a rough color palette together. Maybe you want only green and white, or purples and pinks or an extravaganza of color explosion. There are a myriad of books available on this subject at all the usual places amazon.com or powells.com and at home & garden stores. If you want to go all out, you can even be your own little landscape architect and sketch something out. If you’re not comfortable with a pencil maybe a software program is more up your alley landscapeyourvisions.com.

Thing No 3

Consider getting professional help.

An hour long consultation for $50-$100 with a real landscape architect might be worth it’s weight in fertilizer; The-landscape-design-site.com/professional/.

Thing No 4

Shop off-hours.

A sunny spring Saturday morning is not a good time to go to the nursery. You’re going to need special attention and lots of it and you aren’t going to get it when the place is mobbed. Friday afternoons are best. You’ll have your pick of the new shipment of plants and everybody else will still be at the office trying to pretend they’re not buzzed from their long Friday birthday lunch for so and so. Use the down time to hook yourself up with some friendly, knowledgeable person (assuming you can find such a creature.)

Thing No 5

Get started early in the season.

Early spring and early fall are both good times to plant.