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| I love the look of big messy perennial gardens, cottage style. My husband and I are planning on moving in the next year, so I will finally get to create the garden of my dreams (location/state unknown right now!). I try to grow from seeds to save money. My question is: how long does it take to really establish one of those big, messy gardens (mostly from seed)? Is it the "three years and they leap" rule? Just curious. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Wed, Apr 25, 12 at 15:18
| it takes a lifetime.. your or its .. lol ken ps.. the real answer depends on what you sow.. and how long each takes to thrive.. and reseed.. etc ... |
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| well, there are many perennials which will flower in their first year (gaillardia, echinacea, coreopsis) and there are some which will take 5 years (trilliums, lilies, paeonies) so.....it depends - but am mostly inclined to agree with the previous poster - a garden is never 'finished'. |
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| Yes, I agree with the above. Also keep in mind although some plants may bloom their second year from seed, they may not fill out to their full potential for some years to come. To achieve that "messy" look you want (and one I also adore) can take some years. Kevin |
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- Posted by bosewichte 5 (My Page) on Wed, Apr 25, 12 at 16:11
| Oh, I figured! :) I guess I'm feeling a little intimidated, sitting here with my stacks of books and trying to chart out some of my favorite perennials. I've lived in my current house for 8 years and have a nice, basic perennial garden here, but I've always planned on moving 'soon' so I didn't want to invest the money and time into it to really make it amazing. Now I wish I would've, if nothing else, for the practice! My little garden here has surprised me time and time again, the strangest things striving despite my lack of attention (columbines!) and the 'easiest' things dying (coneflowers). Sigh...always learning! I don't mind the wait for a great garden, though, and despite being incredibly intimidated, I'm ready to get started on something amazing! :) |
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- Posted by gardenweed_z6a 6a CT (My Page) on Wed, Apr 25, 12 at 16:46
| I started growing perennials, shrubs & trees from seed via winter sowing in 2010 and had excellent germination rates but my beds are still far from stuffed. It does take years to get that overflowing look but since it's what I love doing, it's a goal worth waiting & working for. Some gloriosa daisy/Rudbeckia hirta cultivars bloom first year from seed as does Gaura lindheimeri/wand flower. Winter sown hollyhock also bloomed first year. My WS Echinacea bloomed second year from seed along with blanket flower, verbascum, Maltese cross, rose campion, globeflower, sweet William, delphinium and a long list of others. |
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- Posted by nicoleternity none (My Page) on Wed, Apr 25, 12 at 17:53
| I too am trying to get a riotious, "messy" cottage garden going... To add to your responses: I'm in my third year - In the front yard, where I planted as close as practical it is filling in nicely but still shows areas of mulch and it's not crowded in yet as I'd like. But this year I intend to fill it in with Zinnias from seed and other things that will bloom the first year. In the backyard I'm at 2-3 years, it's all still very neat and compact lol. Darnit. But working hard starting from seed. lots of direct sowing, and will also add a few mature plants this year. Also intend to ass alliums and hollyhocks from bulbs in the fall. Good luck, post inspirational photos you find, I'd love to see them!! |
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| I don't think it takes all *that* long. There's a difference between achieving a style and being satisfied that it's done, lol. Depends on what you grow, how well you can plan (to make it the way you want right from the beginning), and how much care you can give the garden. Or not, lol. This is only one bed, and personally I think it's pretty messy, but with a little planning and perhaps a bit more attention, this could have been a nice garden bed. Dee |
Here is a link that might be useful: my neglected bed
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| Some of the re-seeding annuals will help you get there while you're waiting for the perennials to reach flowering. Nigella, larkspur, necotiana & cleome will all flower the first year - from seed, and all you have to do is toss the seed about (no need for planting) and you'll have them in your garden forever. |
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| Forgot to add - that bed took about two years, maybe three, to get that messy! Dee |
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- Posted by bosewichte 5 (My Page) on Thu, Apr 26, 12 at 7:51
| I love that messy look! So nice for bouquets, too. I guess I'm a type A person...that wants a type B garden...LOL! Over time, I've gone through stacks of gardening books and picked out nearly 200 that I like. I've put them into an Excel document by name, color, bloom time, height, soil needs, etc. They aren't anything exotic...just nice perennial all-stars. I will eventually sort the chart by season, and then size, before I plan that big cottage garden. Did I mention that I'm type A? :) I just want to be prepared. It's a little daunting, though, looking at this list. Where do you FIND all of these perennials? There are some independent nurseries around here that sell common things like coneflowers, heuchura (sp), bleeding hearts...but mostly we have to rely on on garden centers at big box stores. |
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| "...I guess I'm a type A person...that wants a type B garden..." Too funny! But I understand! My problem is that I just can't make a decision, and that extends into my gardening life also. I see a big, rambunctious, wild cottage garden and absolutely love it, and then I see a formal, ordered perfect garden complete with little boxwood hedges and I absolutely love that too! So which one do I want for myself? I can't decide and so in the meantime (i.e. last ten or so years, lol) I just plop things where I have room until I decide. I'll let you know in another ten years if if I made a decision. (Note that I didn't say "when" I make a decision. I may not be able to make a decision on anything but I guess I'm realistic about it!) By the way, do a search here on something like favorite nurseries and you should get some threads on nursery suggestions. If you can't find anything (although you should) start your own thread and ask. And before you buy anything on-line, check out Garden Watchdog. Dee |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Thu, Apr 26, 12 at 9:19
| feeling a little intimidated, sitting here with my stacks of books and trying to chart out some of my favorite perennials ==>>> boy you dont understand this type of garden ... all you need be studying is bed preparation ... once the bed is done .. go get seed in the proper season .. and mark off sections.. and sow the seed... and see what comes of it.. upon success.. start moving things around ... interplanting .. etc ... i would suggest the winter sowing forum ... i saw one pic.. of someone who had 100 milk jugs on a sidewalk.. all filled over the brim with new plants .. ready for the garden.. i wish i could see that pic again ... i used to do the book thing [and now the web] ... and its a great start for info ... but the over abundance of information.. is crippling you into INaction ... [well that and the move] let me put it this way.. your FORMAL study of an INFORMAL garden system.. is crippling your ability to act in an INFORMAL manner ... [or form a INFORMAL plan] when the time comes .... JUST DO IT ... but start with well prepared beds ... GOOD LUCK!!!!!!! ken ps: perhaps one of the things that you are missing.. [being a bit presumptuous] ... is that this type of garden is NOT!!! a plan and plant it once.. and get what you want.. what i was trying to say about it being a lifetime thing.. is that you plant.. experiment.. move things... destroy things ... add things.. its not really a plan it out once and be done with it thing ... this type of garden can actually be harder to perfect.. as compared to the formal type ... whats that all about ...
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- Posted by athenainwi (My Page) on Thu, Apr 26, 12 at 11:32
| The thing is that no matter how much you plan and how perfect the plants you pick are, something isn't going to work. For me it's the darn rabbits that keep eating things, then there's a slightly curved spot to my garden where water pools in the winter and kills plants, and I love scabiosa but it doesn't come back every year. So pick a nice independent nursery, come with your list, pick up a few plants, plant them, see what does well, go to another nursery, buy more, and keep repeating. I've been working on the border of my backyard for about 5 years. It's too big to add a lot at once but I add a few things every year and someday it will look like how I want it. |
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- Posted by bosewichte 5 (My Page) on Thu, Apr 26, 12 at 11:46
| Ken, I know you're right...I'm studying bed prep too...but pre-selecting and then charting the flowers/plants I like is helping me to learn about them. I'm the girl who re-copied my notes in college to tidy them up, and the act of writing the notes again helped me to learn the text. I've moved lots of things around in my current garden so I definitely don't mind doing that. I only wish I knew where I'd be living! I live in the midwest now but my husband is currently interviewing for a job in South Carolina. So we'll see! I know what you all mean by 'something won't work' - here I have tons of squirrels that nibble down my sunflowers, despite putting circles of red pepper around the bases. I will occasionally have a sunflower that miraculously makes it to full grown, but then the squirrels chew off the flower head and eat the seeds. I just caught one digging up my newly-planted snapdragon seedlings, too. They're so tame here that they don't scatter when you run at them...they just step aside! |
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| When we moved to a new house (NO landscaping) and cleared a strip of lawn to establish a perennial garden some of our gardening friends 'gifted' us with shovelfuls of plants and we established a 'friendship garden'. In general people only give you things that are invasive in their own gardens, so in rather short order you have a messy cottage garden!!!Although I suppose moving a few states away might discourage you from relocating 'gifts'. Jan |
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