Gardening/Planting HELP!!!???

I know absolutely NOTHING about gardening/planting..

Underneath my windows and up the walk way I have some "beds" with overgrown/dead plants, bushes, flowers... There is weeds growing and its just a mess....

I really want to clean it out and plant some new plants,bushes, flowers, maybe put down some mulch or woodchips (again I know NOTHING about planting so please dont laugh at me )

Where do I begin? How do I know what to buy? I want something simple thats easy to maintain....

Message edited 4/12/2011 8:10:07 AM.

Re: Gardening/Planting HELP!!!???

Before buying any plants you need to look at how much you are getting. Is it a sunny spot most of the day, shade most of the day or some shade/sun depending on time of the day? Start looking at when the sun hits and for how long.

Remember to look at surrounding trees that don't have leaves yet. They may create shade late Spring/Summer that you may not see now since they don't have leaves yet.

Next that you know if it's SUN, SHADE or MIX, you can go get your plants for those specific spots in your garden.

Your choices will be evergreen (never lose their leaves) plants (rhododendrons, camelias, etc....) or deciduous (will lose their leaves in the Winter).

Then you have a choice of annuals (will die at the end of each season)...pansies, geranium, etc... or perennials (they will come back next year).

Re: Gardening/Planting HELP!!!???

Bring pictures of your house to Garden Depot in Coram. They have designers who will ask you what types of plants, shrubs, etc. are you looking for and what your budget is. From there they will sketch out a design and let you know what you should buy.

We did this.....bought everything there and then had the mulch delivered. We have used them ever year since for mulch.

They are very helpful and also let you know what fertilizer, etc. you should used when planting also.

Good Luck

Re: Gardening/Planting HELP!!!???

DH and I were also clueless when we first started to plan our landscaping.

We took pics and drawings of our house/lawn to the Peconic Herb Farm out East and their landscape design consultation (I think it was $250) got rolled into our first purchases.

They worked with us in the fall to plan out the work we needed to do (pruning, digging, removal of unwanted things), then worked with us again in the spring after we planted the first round.

I think we ended up spending $1k but we were very pleased (and confident that we did it right so that it will last for years) plus it looks good =)

Re: Gardening/Planting HELP!!!???

Please come visit us when you are ready for your garden. We have a knowledgeable staff to help. We usually get first big shipments of the season around Easter.