Reply to I'd like to get into gardening. Teach me how!

Forum Index » Lawn and Garden

Reply to "I'd like to get into gardening. Teach me how!"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]So, we are about to close on our first house. I've actually never had a yard that I've maintained myself. I either lived in condos (growing up and adulthood) or lived in a house that had professional landscapers.

I'd like to slowly build up a really attractive flower garden. My backyard is sloped away from my house, there's a small hill in the middle of the backyard and then sort of backs parkland and a creek (further down the hill, I think). It's got really high trees and is somewhat shady. [b]I'm not exactly sure if it gets enough light for grass[/b], but I'd love to hear people's ideas and tips as I start this new hobby![/quote]

Congratulations on the house.

I would think about what it is you want out of a garden--entertaining space, vegetables, just something pretty to look at, etc.

Measure your space, test your soil, note sun/shade etc.  There are lots of existing resources from the DMV on how to do this as well as info for basic maintenance, e.g.,:
https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/earth-friendly-landscaping
https://extension.umd.edu/sites/extension.umd.edu/files/_images/programs/hgic/Publications/HG306_How_to_Measure_Your_Yard.pdf
https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/information-library/monthly-tips-hgicgiei

If you're looking to grow grass in shade, I think it will be a very boring and frustrating hobby.  My neighbor did it with a lot of determination and water, but it took years.  I would look to "ground covers" that are native; try red fescue or Pennsylvania sedge.

Native is not just better for our environment and easier for you as a home owner.  There's a reason why certain plants are native--b/c they can thrive in their native environment and save you from a huge water bill.  The problem is that invasive plants thrive and take over native plants.  They are hard to kill and that's why you see them for sale everywhere like Home Depot and Lowes.

Lots of beautiful plants thrive in shade.  This is the greatest guide ever for the DMV:  https://www.nps.gov/plants/pubs/chesapeake/pdf/chesapeakenatives.pdf

If you're on a slope, I would seriously look into Bayscape and water conservation management resources for home gardeners as well.   [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics