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Sep 13, 2011 5:08 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Red
Knoxville, TN
Charter ATP Member Region: Tennessee Region: Georgia Garden Art Cat Lover Butterflies
Seed Starter Container Gardener Plant and/or Seed Trader Ferns Irises Bulbs
What's your design style? Do you design a plan, install it, and leave it alone as long as everything stays healthy? Or, do you "design by shovel", walking around with a pot and shovel, trying to decide where to cram in your latest impulse buy?
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Oct 3, 2011 11:11 PM CST
Name: Dianne
Sacramento, CA, zone 9b
Bulbs Region: California Cut Flowers Peonies Plant and/or Seed Trader Vegetable Grower
I tend to be a plunker, but I do keep in mind whether it is a sun or shade plant, how tall it gets, and how much water it needs. But, in a general area where the needs are met, I just stuck them in there somewhere.
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Oct 4, 2011 5:20 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Red
Knoxville, TN
Charter ATP Member Region: Tennessee Region: Georgia Garden Art Cat Lover Butterflies
Seed Starter Container Gardener Plant and/or Seed Trader Ferns Irises Bulbs
I'm a mixture of styles. For my clients, it's easy to plan / install / maintain, because I can be objective about it.

For my yard, it's a constant jugging act to fit in whatever I brought home, and make my various plant collections look like gardens instead of a plant zoo. One of this, one of that...whatever catches my attention at the nursery. The idea of ever being "done" with my yard makes me shudder. Half the fun is moving plants around, trying new plants and different plant combinations, and seeing if I can grow plants in a large range of conditions. When I use a plant in a client design, I've already tried it in half a dozen places in my own yard. This experimenting really helps in design, because very often you have a long bed that is sunny on one end and shady at the other, especially where the house casts a dark shadow.
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Oct 20, 2011 12:40 PM CST
Name: Dick Strever
No.Calif amongst the Redwoods (Zone 9a)
I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Region: Pacific Northwest Region: California
i place the potted plant in a place i think it will survive & look good
if it is still doing well after a year i dig it in *Blush* Smiling

Dick
Gardens are a thing of Beauty and a job forever
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Nov 1, 2011 5:02 AM CST
Name: Cinda
Indiana Zone 5b
Dances with Dirt
Beekeeper Bee Lover Overwinters Tender Plants Indoors Cottage Gardener Herbs Wild Plant Hunter
Hummingbirder Butterflies Birds Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge) Organic Gardener Vegetable Grower
I am always just looking for a space to''put'' the plant , I am more of a collector so sometimes I group plants together.

Having confessed that, I do admire a well planned garden and find them very pleasant to stroll through.
..a balanced life is worth pursuit.
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Dec 12, 2011 10:49 AM CST
Name: Mary Stella
Chester, VA (Zone 7b)
Dahlias Canning and food preservation Lilies Peonies Permaculture Ponds
Garden Ideas: Level 2
I guess I am more of a plunker, but as things grow and succeed in my garden a try to take a more serious look and 'rearrange'. I have totally moved my gardens several falls. Sometimes sadly things don't survive the move. Fall really isn't a good time to dig up stuff and move it. Not always time left to reestablish itself. But bit by bit there is some order to my garden. And it is a living garden, not static. Always room for a new plant, color, form.
From -60 Alaska to +100 Virginia. Wahoo
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Jan 8, 2012 2:19 PM CST
Name: Kathleen Tenpas
Wickwire Corners NY (Zone 5a)
Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! The WITWIT Badge Raises cows Farmer Region: New York
Garden Ideas: Level 2
I'm one of those people who puts things, then moves them, moves them again and is always surprised the next spring. I really can't tell you definitively where things are from one year to the next, except for the rose fences, they are mostly roses.
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Feb 8, 2012 9:54 AM CST
Name: Jo Ann Gentle
Pittsford NY (Zone 6a)
Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Cat Lover Heucheras Hellebores Container Gardener
Birds Region: New York Avid Green Pages Reviewer Irises Garden Ideas: Master Level Lilies
I am a planner altho I do not become anal about it.
I needed to plant a large area in a short time so I made up my own system.of graphs and plastic spoon markers.
I moved here 5 years ago and started to buy plants I loved in my old garden. I put these favs. in the garden area and a year later and a much expanded vision for the garden,I had to work around those first plants.
I like combineing colors "color echoes" using different plants for texture and shape.
2008 MAY

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2011 August

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Feb 8, 2012 10:28 AM CST
Name: Debra
Garland, TX (NE Dallas suburb) (Zone 8a)
Rescue dogs: Angels with paws needi
Dragonflies Dog Lover Bookworm I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Garden Photography Bee Lover
Plays in the sandbox Butterflies Region: Texas Garden Sages I sent a postcard to Randy! Charter ATP Member
Plunker, mostly. Even my tiny front yard has a big mix of soils and sun exposure, so I am constantly plugging in and moving things around. Being in the Dallas area, generally only get what at maturity can survive on minimal, if any, supplemental water, but even there I will experiment, like with roses.

Do have a baseline in three of the areas. Sort of skeletal structure to those where Bearded Iris and Daylilies make up the framework, especially in and around a line of Rose of Sharons in tree form growing along the driveway. I stick other things in among them that might work with color and offer some textural contrast. The ROS are the only things the original owners had besides one scraggly holly shrub and a nasty photina up by the house, and a narrow but tall shrub-form crape myrtle along the west property line. Had a contractor dig that last one out to install decorative fence panels and I'm STILL finding pieces of the roots growing back up. I like tree form crapes a lot, but my goodness!

Been wresting something a little more interesting to look at for the last seven years and I don't see an end to that anytime soon. Sticking tongue out
It’s okay to not know all the answers.
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Feb 27, 2012 9:30 PM CST
Name: jennifer
central nj (Zone 6b)
Charter ATP Member Butterflies Roses Region: New Jersey Lilies Hostas
Dog Lover Daylilies Bulbs Enjoys or suffers cold winters
I am SUCH a planner, on paper, on the computer. I stay up late making plans.... sometimes making myself crazy, though
I love doing themed gardens I have a couple fairy gardens and some color themed gardens, sometimes the plants don't cooperate properly so I change them out. I always go to the garden center knowing exactly what I'm looking for.

WOW typed out like that makes me sound crazy...LOL
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Mar 25, 2012 11:57 AM CST
Name: Jo Ann Gentle
Pittsford NY (Zone 6a)
Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Cat Lover Heucheras Hellebores Container Gardener
Birds Region: New York Avid Green Pages Reviewer Irises Garden Ideas: Master Level Lilies
I plan that way too. Its how I spend the winter. I couldnt garden without plans,files of flowers and plants,maps( I even made my own grids)
Obcessive? Ohhhh yeahhhh
Avatar for Pippi21
May 10, 2012 11:18 AM CST
Name: Pippi21
Silver Spring, Maryland 20906 (Zone 7a)
I would classify my style as a plunker..I know what I like when I see it but don't always know how to put it together. Last year was my third year of wintersowing in milk jugs. I got carried away and finally stopped at 83 which really isn't that many compared to what some other gardeners wintersow. I'm only allowed foundation type flowerbeds, so I have limited space. When it came time to plant out,;I became so overwhelmed and just Plunked/planted them where I could find a bare spot. I gave half of what I wintersowed away to gardeners that rent garden plots in our Sr. Citizens community. They have a table that is just for plant donations, and when I unloaded all those plants, one lady came over with her wheelbarrow and took most of them. The next day I went back with more and when I pulled up and gardeners saw me putting plants on the donation table, you have never seen Senior Citizens move so fast! It was fun to watch. This year(2012)I only wintersowed 16 gal. milk jugs, but did some seed starting in 4 in. pots to take to plant swap.

Because of my plunking actions, I will be doing some major transplanting and attempts to organize my flowerbeds better in the Fall. Too many plants that have lots of foliage and it looks like hodgepodge.It is fun to see different new colors popping out every few days. I am organized in my mind but not physically and my ADD doesn't help. I have a tendency to get side-tracked easily and not complete projects in a timely manner.
Last edited by Pippi21 May 13, 2012 5:34 AM Icon for preview
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May 10, 2012 12:50 PM CST
Name: jennifer
central nj (Zone 6b)
Charter ATP Member Butterflies Roses Region: New Jersey Lilies Hostas
Dog Lover Daylilies Bulbs Enjoys or suffers cold winters
WOW 83 wintersown plants...
Avatar for Pippi21
May 28, 2012 5:40 PM CST
Name: Pippi21
Silver Spring, Maryland 20906 (Zone 7a)
Jennifer, that is not very many considering some people plant 200 or 300... I have very limited space and believe me what I have in my beds now is keeping me busy. I'm not sure if I'll even do any wintersowing come Jan. 2013..By the time you buy all the potting mix, you can almost buy the starter plants just as cheap. You've heard of the slogan about "Letting the bus companies do the driving for you? Well, I'm in favor of letting the flower growers/garden centers/nursery do it for me. Of course, it is my freedom to change my mind. LOL!
Avatar for rickdon
Jun 21, 2012 3:56 PM CST

I think I like to plan out what it is I want to do, but I often find myself making changes during the actual creation process. So I'm gonna say both I guess.
Meditation
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Jul 3, 2012 11:04 AM CST
Name: Clint Brown
Medina, TN (Zone 7b)
Beekeeper Garden Art Hellebores Heucheras Hummingbirder Garden Procrastinator
Sedums Sempervivums Region: Tennessee Region: United States of America Ferns Echinacea
I plan some; however, the accidental combinations are usually better than the planned parts.
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Aug 1, 2012 9:16 AM CST
Name: Polly Kinsman
Hannibal, NY (Zone 6a)

Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! I helped plan and beta test the plant database. Region: United States of America Irises Lilies
Seller of Garden Stuff Garden Ideas: Level 1
Planner here. I plant most everything in my commercial beds, and then when it blooms I look to see what it matches in the existing garden, and move it. No matter what time of year.

It's so hard not only to get plants to color match, but to also time match.

I do also buy some plants specifically for a certain spot, and those go right in.

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Nov 17, 2012 6:20 PM CST
Name: Susie
Leonard, Minnesota (Zone 3b)
Annuals Herbs Heucheras Canning and food preservation Irises Lilies
Region: Minnesota Native Plants and Wildflowers Peonies Sedums Seed Starter Vegetable Grower
I plan and plan and plant it like the plan but then I get other plants and have to find a place to plunk. Hilarious! Thumb of 2012-11-18/4susiesjoy/8da4ee
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Nov 17, 2012 9:42 PM CST
Name: Polly Kinsman
Hannibal, NY (Zone 6a)

Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! I helped plan and beta test the plant database. Region: United States of America Irises Lilies
Seller of Garden Stuff Garden Ideas: Level 1
Hi Sue! Welcome to ATP. Welcome!

Love your gardens, good combo of plan and plunk!
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Nov 18, 2012 5:24 PM CST
Name: Susie
Leonard, Minnesota (Zone 3b)
Annuals Herbs Heucheras Canning and food preservation Irises Lilies
Region: Minnesota Native Plants and Wildflowers Peonies Sedums Seed Starter Vegetable Grower
Thanks Polly, Smiling
Once in a while a plan comes together even with the plunk! Big Grin Thumb of 2012-11-18/4susiesjoy/7fa215

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